#i mean in canon the reason he left the lan was because he was mad that they protected the inner disciples but left the rest to die

[yunmeng-jiang]

possums are actually extremely unlikely to carry rabies, possibly due to their low body temperature, so it would probably be some other kind of animal, like a cat or raccoon or something! (really a very small thing but I wanted to share the fun fact lol)

Mdzs modern AU head cannons pt. 2

1) LWJ has a very impressive collection of weighted blankets- he normally sleeps under 60+ pounds of blankets for sensory reasons. The first time WWX sleeps in his bed, he is struck with the pure bliss that is a weighted blanket and never wants to leave

2) LSZ gets cold really easily and likes to be carried in his dads’ jackets when they go out for maximum warmth

3) the Jiang own a water transport company (selling boats, water skis, kayaks, etc) and manage the local rivers (land preservation, erosion control, species census, etc)

4) JYL was very into the land management side and went to college to ecology and conservation sciences

5) JC works water rescue in the local rivers- he’s not only a certified diver, he can also hold his breath without a tank for up to 3 minutes

6) the Jiangs host a yearly sea food boil, and JYL makes a special vegetarian soup for the Lans

7) JYL died in a car accident swerving to avoid hitting WWX- WWX was widely blamed for this accident, despite the unsafe conditions on the road that day

8) WN, bringing WWX along with help wrangling a rabid possum, lost control of the possum when spooked by JZX. The possum bit JZX, and he passed from rabies days later. WN didn’t have a proper hold of the possum, WWX was not supposed to be there since he’s not a professional animal handler, and he was held liable by the Jin

9) WWX, instead of dying, became a missing persons case, and no one- not even him- knows where he was for those 13 years

10) the Jins own the bank, the grocery store, the general store, the post office, basically every place of daily necessity in town. And on top of all that, after the impeachment and jailing of the last mayor WRH, JGS is the new mayor

11) JGY is the deputy mayor (later mayor after the sudden and tragic death of his father), and SMS in the county sheriff

12) while the Nie own a hunting supply store/lodge, NMJ is also the head of the volunteer fire department

13) NHS doesn’t hunt, but he plucks the birds that his brother brings home and turns the feathers into beautiful art pieces he sells online. He’s very well know on social media not only for his art, but also his fashion and gossip content

14) NMJ suffered a massive stroke, and has been on life support in the hospital for a few years, bleeding dry the Nie family with medical expenses

[noodlehaku]

When I saw the new art of the bending!au I thought 'OMG they match!!( forehead decorations.)' But then I started thinking how it shows that Wangxian are the same yet not. Like the Lan headband and airbender tattoos are symbols of prestigious cultures yet the Lan headband is one of many and in Gusu, especially in the Cloud Recesses, signals that Lan Wangi is part of a group, a sect, a family, that he is not alone. But Wei Wuxian on the other hand, his tattoos mark him as an outlier both as an airbender among a water bending sect AND also an airbending MASTER at a young age.( I'm just spittballing that last headcanon since in canon WWX is a prodigy and in atla its shown that Aang was beginning to feel ostracized bc he was an airbending prodigy before he was frozen so my brain connected the two.)

Also for some reason seeing WWX with the airbending tattoos a thought popped into my head saying that Lan Qiren can't get that mad at WWX w/out coming across culturally insensitive in public since airbenders are known to be playful, silly tricksters and fun loving.

Either way I love ur new art piece and it's understandable if u don't want to put in the tattoos as a permanent design as small detailing for an overall bigger design can be a pain. ( I say this as someone who was part of the transformers fandom and saw many artists leave out the faction signs out of their 'bots and 'cons art pieces bc it was often at times a pain to draw something relatively small and detailed among a bigger detailed design. So it's understandable if u want to leave it out.)

I love these insights!! The main reason I haven’t added tattoos to his design so far is because in my mind he would’ve been taken in by the jiang water tribe at a fairly young age (about 7? Or 9?), like in MDZS canon. Which means he wouldn’t yet have earned his tattoos.

In my (mind you, very vague) world building, air benders would have been rare even before wwx was born; baoshan sanren would lead the last, elusive group of air nomads in a hidden location & cangse sanren would’ve left their community to roam the world (& meet water bender wei changze!). Wwx would’ve been raised and taught air bending by her before his parents’ untimely passing.

So I guess I’m trying to decide whether my story would include an arc where wwx meets boashan sanren & learns from her at some point, then earns his tattoos. I like the look of both anyhow so I’m trying not to overthink it!

[yuyuntianyu]

[2HA analysis blog] To love you is torment but leave you I cannot

I wanted to write this (hopefully not-too-long) blog to give 2HA fandom a different perspective of the events in the past timeline. I noticed that there are many little things that could not be carried over to the English language. These little things can give more explanations to our characters’ actions so I hope sharing this would help the novel make more sense. This blog focuses on Taxian-jun and Chu Fei.

Warning: Spoilers ! ! ! Taxian-jun and Chu Fei are their own trigger warnings ! ! !

Despite the novel having 350 chapters, we really know little about what happened between Taxian-jun and Chu Fei besides the abuse and mistreatment and that little is relayed to us by the Most Unreliable Narrator of the Cultivation World - Mo Ran Mo Weiyu. If we only take Mo Ran for his words then a lot of his and Chu Wanning’s decisions told later on would seem irrational and almost silly. So let’s dive deep in the past so we can understand how the great cultivator Beidou Xian-zun could raise such a dumb husky since the events in the past would explain the more irrational decisions made by both main characters.

Given Mo Ran’s narrator is about as reliable as his character in the first 120 chapters, we have to look at other more subtle clues and some of them are due to cultural and linguistic differences.

1. I used to like you a lot

At his coronation day, Taxian-jun stated that he once greatly looked up to Chu Wanning and that he used to love and respect him dearly. Maybe I am reading into this too much but this is my theory: The flower could erase the memory itself but cannot erase the feelings associated with the memory. He had his memories of the good deeds Chu Wanning did for him erased but still remembered that he used to love and respect him. It doesn’t make sense unless it is indeed that the flower could not erase its host’s feelings. So throughout the novel, Mo Ran’s complicated emotions are complicated possibly because he could not remember how he came to have these feelings. Similarly, Hua Binan could mess with the undead Taxian-jun’s memory to a great extent but could not erase his obsession with Chu Wanning.

2. I gave you a new title

Chu Fei. 楚妃. In the Imperial Chinese harem hierarchy, “Fei” means consort and not concubine (嬪 “Pín"). Consorts were highly respected positions in the palace weidling much political power and were only seconds to the Empress Consort. Another major difference is a consort would be married to the emperor while a concubine would not. So if Taxian-jun had truly wanted to only humiliate Chu Wanning and keep him for the carnal pleasures (I am intentionally ignoring his breeding kink completely), he would keep him as a concubine but he gave Chu Wanning the Consort title and hid him from the world. At this point, Taxian-jun had almost lost Chu Wanning once and had spent a lot of effort to bring him back from the verge of death after hearing Chu Wanning’s apology so his anger might have softened a bit. Also, given that Chu Wanning is a man, having a legitimate offspring ( (I am still intentionally ignoring Mo Ran's breeding kink completely) is not an issue so although this is not clearly stated, I believe Taxian-jun wanted to force a relationship and somewhat proper marriage on Chu Wanning. Another hint of this is in an Extra chapter where Taxian-jun tried to get Chu Wanning a birthday gift. He recalled that in his past timeline, he had wanted Chu Wanning to give him something on his birthday as well and that he had wanted Chu Wanning’s heart.

3. Shizun likes to write letters and poems

On Book 3 Chapter 247, Chu Wanning sat down and wrote a few unsent letters to the people he used to know. He also wrote a few lines of poetry. In the first few lines taken from different literature works, he expressed his sense of helplessness and his wish to remain untainted despite the circumstances. The more important two lines are from a poem written by a real poet named Fàn Chéngdà ( 范成大) who lived in the 12th century Southern-Song dynasty. The two lines read:

“May I be like the stars, may you* be as the moon. Night after night, may we shine together side by side.” **

*In the original work, the character used instead of you is “jun” 君 (as in 踏仙君 Taxian-jun). 君 could mean king, emperor, lord, or gentleman ** This is my rough translation - I haven’t found an English version of this poem

These two lines are commonly used in romantic novels as a way to express one’s unchanging love and loyalty to another person despite the circumstances. He compared himself as the stars and wanted to remain by Taxian-jun whom he viewed as the moon. Chu Wanning wrote this to express his willingness to stay but he would never voice this out loud. In the next timeline, he did the same thing by quietly loving and caring for Mo Ran 1.0 despite the mistreatment and was content with never expressing his feelings vocally. Mo Ran was rather uneducated and thus could not fully comprehend these two lines and misunderstood that Chu Wanning was missing Xue Meng.

4. You are all I have left

In chapter 252, after Chu Wanning returned to The Red Lotus Pavilion, he found Taxian-jun already waiting for him. Taxian-jun told Chu Wanning about a dream he had and said:

“I am afraid I don’t resent you… I want to resent you… Otherwise, I…” “In the end, it’s just you and I”.

This is not the first time he expressed that Chu Wanning was all he had left or they only had each other. I believe that at this point, Taxian-jun might have somewhat believed Chu Wanning and recognized that his memories were missing. His words and behaviors seemed a lot more gentle and he mentioned they did have periods of time where their marriage was easier. I believe it was after this point. He told us about the numerous times he attempted to spoil his consort or expressed his affection through gifts, a trip outside the palace, goods, jewels, and even teaching Chu Wanning how to cook or personally taking care of Chu Wanning when he was sick. At one point, Taxian-jun expressed his wish for a more peaceful marriage with Chu Wanning through his breeding kink by saying that if they had children, perhaps they would be more civil towards each other.

Edit: I really wanted to go about this blog without having to refer to their particular taste in bed

5. Are you still mad?

This is a smaller detail but in the original text and the Vietnamese official translation, the way they talked to each other had a bit more of the “husband-wife” dynamic. Especially Chu Wanning ( l┐(︶▽︶)┌ ), the comment section said he sounded like when your wife is mad that you didn’t take out the trash but still says: “I’m not mad” and Taxian-jun, the husband, would come around and ask “Are you still mad at me?” after every fight.

6. I did not think you would really leave me.

On Chapter 99, Mo Ran recalled the fight between him and Chu Wanning after an assassination attempt. In order to convince Mo Ran to not go to Taxue Palace, Chu Wanning said:

“If you destroy Taxue palace, if you kill Xue Meng, I will die before you”.

Now the line “I will die before you” in my language is less of a suicidal ideation but more of a threat. It's used when a person already knows that they are important to the other person and is using their own death as a threat to make the other person do something. This line is thrown around a lot during heated arguments between people close to each other but they almost never mean it. (Even my mom said it numerous times before T_T . I personally think it’s manipulative). Therefore, it is understandable Taxian-jun did not take this line seriously and replied almost mockingly. After all, they had been married for almost a decade at that point, Taxian-jun probably felt somewhat comfortable that Chu Wanning would not do anything reckless. He could not foresee that Chu Wanning meant what he said and actually followed through with his words. I believe that if Taxian-jun had known that Chu Wanning was serious, Taxian-jun would not have gone to Taxue Palace. 7. Don't leave me, ok?

Then Chu Wanning died and Mo Ran spent two years alone. In those two years, we know he basically went insane because of grief, talked to a corpse everyday, and deep fried his Empress Consort. But strangely enough, Mo Ran 1.0 did not immediately mention this after being reborn although it was the main reason he committed suicide. And at that point, it had been well over a decade since Shi Mei faked his death in the past timeline, yet Mo Ran 1.0 seemed to still hold a lot of resentment towards Chu Wanning. Also, he said he could accept Shi Mei’s death but would never accept Chu Wanning’s. So honestly, it did not make sense to me the first time I read the novel and I believed Mo Ran resented Chu Wanning for a different reason.

The answer was first hinted at in chapter 9 when Mo Ran scolded the sleeping Chu Wanning. He called Chu Wanning a donkey hoof (lol) and this is actually an idiom to scold someone who is disloyal and unfaithful in love. The puzzles came together when the undead Taxian-jun showed up and immediately went after Chu Wanning (and not Shi Mei). He believed Chu Wanning used his death to hurt him and was angry at Chu Wanning for leaving him. This is the resentment Mo Ran 1.0 carried over to the next timeline. He hated Chu Wanning for abandoning him. This is solidified in chapter 262 by the undead Taxian-jun pleading to Chu Wanning:

“Don’t betray me” “Don’t leave me the second time. The first time you left, I could choose death as a relief. This time, even death is not an option any more… I won’t be able to bear it…”

So there it is! I hope this blog brings some new information and feel free to discuss! Let me know if you have any questions for me ＼(￣▽￣)／

Disclaimer: Plenty of this is my conclusion drawn from the already ambiguous original text and various translations. Unless Meatbun says it, it’s not canon. I am looking at the novel in three different languages so I might have made some mistakes. Pls forgive. Also, I am not making excuses for Mo Ran 0.5’s actions nor am I justifying the abuse in any way. Chu Wanning never said Mo Ran 0.5 was innocent of these crimes nor will I.

[plan-d-to-i]

Tbh, people who say that JC was a great uncle in canon concern me. Haven't we moved past the whole "punishment = love" thing? I also feel like this falls into the Tiger Mom, or at least close to it since everything Jin Ling does—even when the kid has a point—is apparently never good enough for him. And if you're a PoC like me, JC's behavior unfortunately isn't really anything new, though certainly no less horrible.

He's become Madam Yu, and I doubt anyone will ever claim that she was a good mother. I also feel like if the Jins—some more than others—weren't horrible and Yanli hadn't died, the idea of JC being a good uncle likely wouldn't be as popular as it is.

I mean for one there's this.

The only positive thing I can say about jiang cheng when it comes to jin ling is that, he would die to protect him BUT he would also probably die before he'd give him a hug or a kind word... Jin Ling trusts jc to be violent and powerful but he doesn't trust him with his pain or hurt. Jin Ling's description of jc is really telling :

From as early as Jin Ling could remember, he had never seen Jiang Cheng’s face make the expression it was currently making. His uncle, who had led the distinguished Yunmeng Jiang Clan alone since the man had been young, had been cold, severe, and gloomy for years and years on end. Not a single lenient or merciful word left Jiang Cheng’s mouth if he could help it, nor was he ever willing to offer charity and kindness. But right now, though the man spent every ounce of effort suppressing all unnecessary expressions, his eyes held a terrifying glimmer.

The face which had always and everywhere been etched with sneering arrogance, the face which had forever been shrouded in a layer of dark haze, seemed to fill with light. But it was difficult to determine whether the emotion which penetrated and lit all its corners was a fuming, teeth-gnashing rage; a festering, bone-penetrating hatred; or a mad, violent ecstasy. (Chapter 23)

I love that: "nor was he ever willing to offer charity and kindness"! Jin Ling is like 14- 15 and he already has his uncle's number. By the time WWX comes across Jin Ling, JL has picked up most of jc's bad habits trying to please his uncle. He's sneering, arrogant, homophobic, ragey, and can't communicate with other kids his age or express his emotions in a constructive way. Hell Jin Guangyao did more for him gifting him Fairy! JGY!!! (↼_↼)

On the other hand Lan Sizhui is sweet, kind and thoughtful. He's even patient with MXY. Neither jc nor Lan Wangji came from ideal home environments but Lan Wangji clearly made an effort with Sizhui to be more open and communicative. Considering how tight MXTX's story is, this contrast is pretty telling between parenting styles, and yzy & jc (yzy 2.0) emerge as critiques.

But I suspect ppl know at heart jc is not #1 uncle, they just say it for the same reason they try to make him #1 dog dad even tho he never shows an interest in dogs past his childhood- because it sounds a hell of a lot better than: the dude who led the siege to kill WWX, and "the old, the weak, the women and the children"...

[red-talisman]

An unbetaed snippet of post-CQL canon Yunmeng reconciliation, which is mostly extremely morbid and blunt conversation after beating each other hard enough that they’re too tired for their usual conflicting modes of emotional avoidance.

EDIT: now edited and posted on AO3. :D

CW for past suicidal ideation. Part of my “let WWX express some of his cynical humor and creepiness more often” and “let WWX find out about JC’s own sacrifice goddamnit” agendas.

___________________

Jiang Cheng stares blankly into the trees, their trunks slowly disappearing in the deepening darkness of twilight. Wei Wuxian’s back is warm against his and heaving for breath just as heavily. He thinks his ankle might be broken, but Wei Wuxian is probably worse off.

“You’re an asshole,” Wei Wuxian says thickly.

“Hypocrite,” Jiang Cheng mutters without heat, and Wei Wuxian manages a snort between his gasps.

“Yeah.” After a moment, he adds, with an echo of the old Yiling Laozu in his voice, “You know that if you ever do something like that again, I’ll probably find a way to do something worse than I did before.”

“If I do what, save your life by pulling the same fucking sacrificial shit that you do?”

“I swear to every god out there that I will bring you back as a fierce corpse and kill you myself,” Wei Wuxian says in a pleasant, albeit still somewhat breathless, tone. “I will dismember your carcass and make Jin Guangyao look like a fucking amateur.”

“Good thing Mo Xuanyu’s core isn’t worth shit, then,” Jiang Cheng replies. All of his attention is focused on the feeling of his brother’s bones and muscles moving against his own spine.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a pause. Somewhere distant Jiang Cheng hears the panicked yells of what’s probably the juniors they left behind a few li back. Then Wei Wuxian sighs. “We’re really fucked up.”

Jiang Cheng takes his time considering and discarding several possible responses. His ankle hurts like a bitch; Mo Xuanyu’s core may not be worth shit, but damn if his asshole genius brother hasn’t figured out how to make the most of it anyway. He finally settles on a tired, “Yeah.”

The silence stretches on long enough that Wei Wuxian goes on, more quietly, “You and Shijie are the only reason I didn’t die in the Burial Mounds. The Wens grabbed me before I knew whether or not you’d even survived the core transfer.”

Jiang Cheng tilts his head just enough to glance briefly over his shoulder. “How did you survive the Burial Mounds?”

“Nope, no, I’m not putting that on you. Not even Lan Zhan knows. I can’t...I can’t do that.”

“Fine. Then tell me, is any of it going to come back and bite us in the ass at the worst possible moment?” he asks dryly.

Wei Wuxian snorts, humorless. “Nah. It’s all mine.”

“Would you tell me if it wasn’t?”

When Wei Wuxian hesitates for a few telling seconds, Jiang Cheng mutters, “You fucking asshole.”

“Yeah.” Wei Wuxian sighs again.

“You left me.”

“You didn’t need me.”

“Who the fuck said that?”

The knobs of Wei Wuxian’s spine are starting to press painfully into Jiang Cheng’s. Wei Wuxian snorts. “I was practically a fierce corpse myself when I dragged myself out of the Burial Mounds. Your position as sect leader was too precarious,” he says bluntly. “You were seventeen years old with no real family, a sister who was getting married off anyway, and an adopted brother who’d been controversial years before the war even happened and who was clearly half-mad and getting worse. And I...my mind never really left the Mounds, honestly.” He coughs, makes a wet sound, and spits. “If I stayed much longer I was going to end up dragging you back into Hell with me. I was a risk you couldn’t afford and I wasn’t going to destroy Yunmeng Jiang a second time.”

"Don’t pull that bullshit, Wei Wuxian.” Jiang Cheng is so, so tired. “Mother was wrong. You know Wen Chao was looking for any excuse. You’re as responsible for that as our shidi was for using a round kite.”

Wei Wuxian doesn’t respond. Jiang Cheng makes a mental note to beat that nonsense out of him in the future, when he can lift his arms again and his ankle isn’t most likely broken.

But Jiang Cheng remembers what it was like to try turning weapons, human and sword alike, into tools of peace. There are still whole weeks of the Sunshot Campaign that are just smears of sense-memory: the cacophony of screams and curses; the reek of mass funeral pyres and the soft ash drifting through the air like black, silent snow; the startling warmth of being suddenly drenched in blood after Sandu sliced open another living human. Half the time he’d come back to himself laughing hysterically, unable to see anything through the tears on his face, and as the war dragged on, the tears eventually dried up. It had taken months afterwards to settle into the mindset of rebuilding for Lotus Pier. (If he’s honest with himself, he never really did settle there. There's always a part of him still dragging itself through mud made by blood spilled on battlefields and churned up by soldiers' boots.)

“Jin Ling’s the only reason I never actually killed myself after you died,” Jiang Cheng says. “...Don’t you ever tell him that.”

“Wait, what?” Wei Wuxian snaps.

“You saying I would’ve died without a core - it was never about not having a core, you idiot, not really.” Not to say that hadn’t hurt, and Jiang Cheng really doesn’t know how he would’ve managed life as a commoner. But there were still worse things to lose than a core, which had also just lost and was about to lose yet again. “I had a few ideas on how to do it, depending on where I was and what was available when I decided I might as well get it over with.” He huffs a brief laugh and idly rubs his thumb over Sandu’s hilt. “I thought poison might be a good option, if a little heavy-handed on the metaphor.”

“I’d be laughing,” Wei Wuxian says flatly, “if you weren’t talking about killing my little brother.”

“Am I?”

“You never stopped.”

The silhouettes of the trees start to blur in Jiang Cheng’s eyes. “You left. You left, and everyone died, and somehow I was responsible for keeping our sister’s baby alive while the wolves tried to eat what remained of our sect from every direction. You left.”

“I never wanted to.”

“But you did.”

“Because I didn’t see any other way to keep you safe.”

“Because you chose strangers over family.”

“Because I didn’t see any other way to keep you safe,” Wei Wuxian hisses. Apparently they’re not so exhausted that they can’t get pissed after all. “I was hardly human anymore, Jiang Cheng. If I was going to die, then at least I’d die actually managing to save innocent people this time around and you would be safe from me.”

“I never wanted you to do that for me!”

“And I never wanted you to do that for me!”

The tension that had them both struggling to sit up straight suddenly breaks, and their backs collide again. Jiang Cheng grits his teeth against the urge to groan over the pain that ricochets through his chest and down his limbs. He hears a muffled yelp from behind him.

“You’re a damned fucking asshole and you’re my fucking brother and I hate you and don’t you ever assume you know what I need again, do you understand me,” snarls Jiang Cheng.

“You’re the damned fucking asshole and if you ever do that again then I will brand a reminder into your flesh right over the scar from the discipline whip,” Wei Wuxian snaps back, because he's never held back from fighting dirty if he thought it necessary.

“Fine!”

“Fine.”

They both stare into the dark forest, in opposite directions. It sounds like the juniors have finally picked up their tracks. Useless, the whole lot - Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian hadn't exactly been subtle in stepping aside for a private conversation that inevitably escalated, how could it take the kids this long?

"Those dumbasses had better not forget that we're on a night-hunt," he says.

"Like we did?" Wei Wuxian replies.

"You started it."

"Did not."

"No, I'm not doing this with you."

"Hey, you started this one."

"Shut the fuck up."

They fall silent again. A cold breeze picks up and Jiang Cheng feels Wei Wuxian shiver, pressing back just a little more firmly against Jiang Cheng for warmth, and he...leans back too. Just a little.

"I'm still fucking pissed at you," says Wei Wuxian.

"And I've got years' worth to pay you back for," says Jiang Cheng.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Sect Leader Jiang!" they hear. "Senior Wei!"

"If you don't show up for the mid-autumn festival," Jiang Cheng suddenly says, "I'll come drag you out of the Cloud Recesses by the heels."

"But the dogs - "

"Don't be an idiot. Jin Ling's dog is the only one allowed in Lotus Pier, you know that."

Well, come to think of it, Wei Wuxian probably doesn't know that, but whatever, now he does. Wei Wuxian is terrifyingly silent, but before Jiang Cheng can say something that will inevitably bring them back to throwing fists, he hears a quiet, "Yeah, okay."

"Do you think they killed each other?" they hear Lan Jingyi asking loudly. "I mean, Sandu Shengshou versus the Yiling Patriarch - who would win?"

"Don't be an idiot," retorts Jin Ling, and Wei Wuxian's body briefly shakes with a laugh. "My uncle, obviously."

"They're both your uncle, idiot!"

Jiang Cheng just sighs and lets his head fall back against Wei Wuxian’s shoulder.

[drwcn]

Not to bring up the distasteful teenager memory of Twilight LMAO, but yall remember that part of the story where it is revealed after Rosalie turns into a vampire she goes and devours every single one of the men who r*ped her.

Fierce Corpse!Qin Su coming for Jin Guangshan’s life.

JIGGY was always looking for ways to make a fierce corpse wasn’t he? Well consider this.

Madam Qin confronts JGY, but it was already too late. Qin Su was already pregnant. JGY, being the dumbest smart person, realized he has fucked up, but what to do? It’s not like he can tell Madam Qin he knocked up his own sister accidentally. Unknowing of this, Madam Qin then went to Qin Su to tell her the truth. Surely even if that degenerate won’t stop this marriage, once Qin Su finds out they are related, she wouldn’t go through with it.

Well, little did Madam Qin expect, once Qin Su finds out, she’s so overcome with disgust she takes her own life (canon compliant, I think? idk what that episode was about to be honest. I always assumed Jiggy drugged her to keep her quiet, but Qin Su was the one to take her own life. Jin Rusong is at best a ball of cells at this stage and abortion is a staple trope of cdrama don’t @ me. I take no criticisms.)

Well shit, now Qin Su is half a step away from death. Jiggy discovers this first, and is like O.O oh feck, but also... opportunity????  He recruits evil gremlin extraordinaire Xue Yang, and beginner’s luck takes them to a successful resurrection.

*cue Mary Shelly shaking her head from beyond the grave or... in the future....technically.*

Qin Su is rightfully like wtf JGY, but Jiggy is like aight sis i know you’re mad, but hey now that everyone knows what’s the deal here, I think we have a common enemy: Jin Guangslut. Should we kill him or should we kill him?

Xue Yang: yo so .... you still gonna get married or what?

Qin Su: if you even think about getting married i swear to god -

JGY: ....okay, how about “fake” marry. Once dear old Dad is dead, we can...idk have an amicable separation. I can even set you up on a date with a guy I know in the fierce corpse community. His sister is still in my basement come to think of it -

QS: what

JGY: what

QS: you are a fucking nutjob, Jiggy, you know that? I can’t believe I was attracted to you.

JGY: first of all that’s hurtful, but... hey at least you didn’t insult my mother.

QS: why would i? our mothers are innocent. *deep sigh* okay fine, how should we kill JGS, I vote for castration. Also *points to the black veins on her paste-y complexion* this is gonna be a problem.

XY: *quirk an eye brow* realllly starting to see the family resemblance now. Don’t worry I got make up to cover that up. Also gotta find you some blush, so you don’t look so ... undead.

~

JGY “so we get prostitutes -”

QS “No. Jiggy, I’m sensing some internalized classism. Let’s just sic Xue Yang on him and be done with it.”

JGY “....you were less bossy before.”

QS “I was also less dead before. Also, Xue Yang doesn’t mind, do you dear?”

XY *eating the candied pastries QS got him* “Nah, not at all, jiejie. I can wear a dress and get dolled up if you want, but I want silk and the dress needs to be tailored. Bespoke. *points to his plate* These are great. Do you have more?”

JGY: *facepalm* what have done.

QS: created a fierce corpse you can’t control. Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it brother?

~

QS “I feel bad for Chifeng-zun. If I had to sit and watch you and Lan Xichen make eyes at each other over the guqin day in and day out....”

JGY “Oi, you’re not even my real wife.”

QS “Doesn’t mean I can’t nag you. Also, you have an issue, you know. You can’t just murder your way to the top.”

JGY “I wasn’t -”

QS “Save it. If you give Xue Yang enough candy, he’ll tell you anything.”

JGY “NMJ is a problem. He disrespects -”

QS “You think maybe the reason he thinks you’re a untrustworthy little shit is because you are...an untrustworthy little shit? Also he’s always violent and aggressive towards you...yeah ‘cause you’ve been playing Terrible Temper Tango on repeat for weeks.”

JGY “.....................” *well sis does have a point, maybe i should re-evaluate my strategy “Then what do you suggest I do?”

QS:  I believe Xue Yang calls it “when it doubt, fuck it out.” 

JGY: ...............................you two need to stop hanging out together. 

~

Jin Guangyao and Qin Su spend many nights in the secret chamber plotting together. Apparently the Jin crazy can both be inherited and developed. Qin Su decides her second life is rather nice, and having power is nice too, but she’d rather have some friends. 

*Jiggy and Qin Su’s Ten Step Plan to Un-Fuck the Cultivation World*

Aka Jiggy’s illegal but necessary emergency U-Turn. 

Step 1: Start playing some nice music ffs, and maybe when NMJ is in a better mood, the venerated Triad can be the venerated Triad. ;) 

Step 2: start treating MXY better. He could be useful as a loyal brother. 

Step 3:  Sic him on Nie Huaisang. They seem like they could do well together. Also, the easiest way to get through to NMJ is through his little brother.  

Step 4:  Make Jin Guangshan disappear.

Step 5: Speaking of little brothers, they’re gonna have to eventually deal with Lan Wangji. Even Qin Su’s 78 year old grandma with cataract can see he’s just a liiiiittle hung up on Wei Wuxian, who is unfortunately....dead. 

”How do you suppose we fix this particular problem?” 

”Isn’t there some cultivator prisoner found guilty punishable by death in your single minded cleansing of your political enemies?” 

"Of course. Go on I’m listening, mei-mei.” 

”So while you were off being shady, I did some research. There is a spell. I think a potential trade off could be made if we bargain right. Their soul, which was forfeit anyway, in exchange for a lifetime of protection and financial stability for their families.” 

“>:) dear sister, where have you been all my life I’ll never know.” 

Qin Sun, “Just make sure they’re not too hard on the eye. Lan Wangji doesn’t seem to be the shallow type but one never knows.” 

Step 5: Jiang Wanyin needs an emotional laxative like... last year. Look into resurrecting Jiang Yanli. Once she’s alive, all that Yunmeng Bullshit will resolve, and you will also have a Lotus Pier forever grateful for Jin Guangyao and Qin Su’s kindness. If that doesn’t work...idk get Jiang Wanyin a dog. 

“Okay, hooow are you going to get a woman to give up her soul to -”

“Can we fierce corpse her? Wei Wuxian had a bunch of undead ladies hanging around right?” 

“........worth looking into.” 

Step 6:  Jin Zixuan. Yikes -

JGY “I didn’t kill Jin Zixuan. Wei Wuxian did.” (note: CQL washed WWX of any responsibility for the deaths of others by making it so that the Song of Turmoil caused him to lose control. This, in fact, is not what is written in book canon. WWX did lose control by himself without external influence. I can cherry pick the plot points I want to keep.) 

QS “..........but you sent him to his death.” 

JGY “..........”

QS *Deep sigh* “Who can we throw under the bus this time for Jin Zixuan’s death, Jigs? Someone that won’t be missed...got it. Su She.” 

JGY “He’s loyal to me, he’s an ally -” 

QS “Listen here, once you resurrect Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian, you will have the eternal gratitude of Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan. Who gives a shit about Su Minshan that simpering turd.” 

JGY: True. *he’s understood by now that he could get rid of those who would talk shit, belittle, and disrespect him...but he could always do more with a couple of important influential people who would spread words of his goodness. Stubborn righteous cultivators like the Jiangs, Nies and Lans.* “Also Jin Zixuan’ll be an undead, not able to inherit. We’re safe.” 

QS: “Exactly.” 

Xue Yang: eating candy......... *eye roll* 

Step 7: Because Step 6 didn’t work out, forget about Jin Zixuan. 

JGY: “you know... maybe Jin Zixuan moved on.” 

QS: “Would explain why we couldn’t call his soul back the way we called back Jiang-gu’niang.” Qin Su glances back at Jiang Yanli’s soul-infused clay body in the process of being reanimated (lifted this idea straight from Inuyasha - ahem- kikyo.) “It’s probably better this way. I don’t like the thought of sharing the control of Lanling Jin with more people.” 

JGY:  “Ah, blood of my blood you are indeed.”

Step 8:  Reveal Jin Guangshan’s evil deeds. Once they kill Dear Ol’ Dad, they can just blame EVERYTHING on him and have him be the disgrace of the entire cultivation world, and them the unfortunate children left to do his bidding and trying the best they could to salvage what they can from his trail of ruins.

Step 9: Reunite Wen Ning and Wen Qing. Lie. Blame it all on Jin Guangshan who is too dead to argue in his own defense. If Jiang Wanyin finds out about Wen Qing...well, information gets around. 

JGY “So about that Date.” 

Qin Su: “Yes I distinctively remember you promising me eligible young men of the Fierce Corpse Community.” 

JGY: >:) I’m here to make good on my words. 

Step 10: Reap the benefits of a world restored. 

[crossdressingdeath]

I'm sorry but all these recent it was okay for NMJ to lash out because he was "poisoned by rage" takes are really irritating to me. It reminds me of all the times people excuse JC lashing out at WWX or torturing people cause he's just so traumatized and angry. If NMJ felt his temper rising, as an adult and sect leader, he should have left the room, not attack JGY or destroy NHS's property. As for attacking JGY, it doesn't matter if he was guilty or suspicious, if NMJ had killed JGY without evidence, JGS would have destroyed the Nie sect regardless of how he felt about his son. Also I don't condone NMJ's death, it was clearly an assassination and power grab, but I don't think it is as simple as to be 100% due to the collection of turmoil. After all if NMJs cultivation didn't need medical intervention to be viable, it would have been much harder to kill him, or at least his death would been a lot more suspicious. Speaking of his cultivation, the Nies cultivate their sabers with the resentful energy of beasts, which sounds an awful lot like WWX's cultivation, and what was it that LWJ said, it harms the temperament. Also according to JGY, NMJ is only interested in his cultivation, to the exclusion of all other hobbies. Given how dangerous his cultivation method is and NMJ's extreme dedication to it, his worsened temperament should have been a clue to him that something was seriously wrong. I feel like at that point he should have stopped his cultivation to assess his condition instead of putting out his very busy sworn brothers to play for him personally, or at least paid the Lan sect for some vetted dedicated healers. I'm sorry if this sounds like NMJ hate but I'm tired of all the stories where the Nie sect is perfectly righteous and does nothing wrong and is against WWX for his demonic cultivation when they have been doing something very similar for centuries, including desecration of the dead to keep their sabers from going on murder sprees. As well as all the stories where the issues of the Nie sect are trivialized to "minor qi deviation issue" or "little saber tomb problem". Also, with this in mind I can see how it would have been easy for LXC to be turned against NMJ when he just saw the same thing happen with LWJ and WWX just a couple of years prior.

Okay, no. No, absolutely not. NMJ isn’t just lashing out! This is not the same as JC at all! He is literally being driven mad with uncontrollable rage. He couldn’t just leave the room or whatever and he wasn’t capable of thinking ahead to the consequences of attacking JGY, because again, driven mad by uncontrollable rage. The only thing poisoning JC was his mother’s worldview and his own entitlement; there is an actual cultivational spell being worked on NMJ to make him incapable of controlling himself. That is not his fault and not something he could just stop by walking away or taking some deep breaths. Don’t compare a man being literally driven insane by rage that he cannot control or prevent by someone who is supposed to be helping him and who he is trusting to a guy spending over a decade murdering people because he thinks his wealth and power give him the right to, because they are not the same at all. And as for “he should have realised something was wrong”... he did. That’s why he agreed to let LXC and JGY play for him, and there’s no real mention of him doing any serious cultivation after that point. He was trying to fix it! It’s hardly his fault that the person he thought was providing treatment was actually in the process of killing him. Also note the word “agreed” there; both LXC and JGY offered. They wanted to play for him. Saying he was putting them out is suggesting an unwillingness that is not there in canon. Also you know what? I’d say the collection of turmoil was 100% responsible for his death, because if JGY hadn’t been using it Clarity would’ve worked. This isn’t NMJ falling because of a flaw in his cultivation technique, this is JGY poisoning his medicine. Also uh... “If his cultivation method didn’t need medical intervention to be viable he’d be a lot harder to kill” is a) not necessarily true (plenty of Nie disciples manage to go their whole lives without being murdered and plenty of people who don’t use the Nie method are killed far more easily than NMJ is; also it took someone who NMJ trusted completely vouching for him to give JGY the opportunity to use the Nie cultivation method against him, I wouldn’t call that easy) and b) smacks just a bit of victim-blaming, if you don’t mind me saying. It’s no more his fault that JGY used a pre-existing weak spot to kill him than it is WWX’s that the sects used his demonic cultivation to target him. Also “according to JGY” NMJ only cares about his cultivation? According to the guy who has good reason to want people to think that NMJ’s rapidly approaching qi deviation is entirely due to his cultivation? I suspect that JGY may not be being entirely honest, there.

The Nie sect is not perfectly righteous. They’re not supposed to be, no one in MDZS is perfectly righteous! However, I would like to point out that “locking the bodies of people given to the sect by legal means in order to prevent bloodthirsty sabres that cannot be destroyed or otherwise sealed” is not the same as “digging up graves and raising the dead for use in combat” and it’s not all that strange that NMJ would be okay with one and not the other. Is he hypocritical? A little, sure. But it also makes sense. Also, y’know. tradition and all. The Nie method is fine because they’ve been doing it so long. Also the Nie method involves considerably fewer undead armies? There is a bit of a difference.

Basically, there are people who insist that NMJ is entirely faultless and righteous and has never done anything wrong in his life, and those people are incorrect. However, any suggestion that he didn’t try to fix his impending qi deviation or that he was forcing his friends to support him or anything of that sort is equally incorrect.

[veliseraptor]

Top 10 Xue Yang ships?

oh man. do I really have ten? when I say I’ll read anything I don’t know that that means I actually ship everything. I went through this and would say I ended up with seven and a half actual ships and four other “on the verge of” ships.

1. Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen. I mean, this was the original one that came out of left field and hit me like an eighteen wheeler and I’m still dying about it! Like, ships that were Designed Specifically With Me In Mind for 500, it’s this one, I’m still...I’d be mad about it if I weren’t so happy about it. It’s terrible, it’s beautiful, there’s so much...going on there, so much to dig into, this terrible balance of tenderness and care and terrible horrible no good very bad and it’s just all. Mmm. Delicious. 

The misery of it all! The enemies-to-lovers of it all! I suffer. I love it.

2. Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen. This one came along slightly later but I am truly in love with it also?? Like, it just makes me very happy. And I’m so deeply invested in Yi City fix its and mine tend to end up very Xiao Xingchen Has Two Hands and Can Have Two Boyfriends If He Wants and the fact that both his boyfriends would...kind of do anything for him, particularly at that point in canon, if things panned out right...I mean, I’m writing a whole fic off that premise that’s currently inching up on 70k. There’s just...such a good blend of dynamics here. Possibly my most OT3 I’ve ever OT3′d. 

3. Xue Yang/Song Lan. I love, as I said recently, hatesex and proxyfucking, and Xue Yang/Song Lan has prime possibilities for both. And also potential for them to develop feelings and be really mad about it, which is also a thing that I love. 

4. Wei Wuxian/Xue Yang. Xue Yang deserves to get dicked down by his necromancy idol and Wei Wuxian deserves to get to fuck someone up a little and I just think they could have a good time together, even if it was only for a one-night-stand that Wei Wuxian really regrets in the morning and Xue Yang is going to use for masturbation fodder for the rest of his goddamn life.

5. Jin Guangyao/Xue Yang. Power plays! Fucking around with dominance and control! A unique personal understanding of each other in a way pretty much no one else has! Xue Yang’s casual disregard for Jin Guangyao’s boundaries such that Jin Guangyao can set aside his need to always have control of every situation ever! Jin Guangyao’s ability and willingness to fuck Xue Yang up but not in an overtly violent way which is actually generally even better! Stepping all over each other’s “is this a kink of a trigger?” “yes” areas! There’s so much to love about it and it is so much fun to write. I just love their dynamic so much. Honestly after Xuexiao and Songxuexiao this is probably my top Xue Yang pairing.

6. Jiang Yanli/Xue Yang. I mean obviously this is primarily because of The Fic but also...as with the below I have I think kind of a weakness for Xue Yang gravitating toward Nice people and just kind of. Deciding they’re his actually, and also a weakness for Jiang Yanli going just a little bit feral, and those two things combined...idk I have only really read the one fic but I would read more of it, and I’d write one myself except I feel like that fic kind of did what I’d want to do, but better than I could. 

7. Qin Su/Xue Yang. This is mostly @ectoplasm-james‘s fault because of one specific post but I stand by it for some of the same reasons as above, and they were in Jinlintai at the same time while he was working for Jin Guangyao so it could happen! And it would be a lot of fun for them to have some kind of thing, but you know what could make it even more fun is

7a. Qin Su/Jin Guangyao/Xue Yang. I have no idea what it would look like but purely in concept I think I’d be into it. It’d be messy as hell. Xue Yang would be so hyped. I think the person here who is least sure about this is probably, honestly, Jin Guangyao.

Would it ever happen? Probably not! But you didn’t ask me about plausibility.

A thing I have considered but would ship under very specific circumstances I haven’t seen written yet: Xue Yang/Mo Xuanyu, Xue Yang/Su She.

A thing I have read and enjoyed but wouldn’t say I quite ship, though I’m probably close: Lan Wangji/Xue Yang.

A thing I am waffling around considering but will have to see how the fic I’m writing of it goes: Wen Qing/Xue Yang.

[swissmissficrecs]

My favorite fics of 2011

Continuing to sift through old bookmarks, here are my favorites from 2011 that are still up:

26 Pieces by Lanning (28K, E, Johnlock) Mycroft gives Sherlock the apparently simple task of solving a puzzle box containing a stolen microchip. It isn't simple.

A Life Well-Lived by Kate_Lear (20K, E, Johnlock) ‘John got scared off men by an abusive past relationship. Sherlock has to try and woo him while not scaring him off with protective possessive rage.’

A Love with No Name by aceofhearts (49K, M, Johnlock, Warstan, Mary/Irene) In which Asexual!Sherlock and Straight!John are platonically in love life partners.

A Thorough Examination / In Depth by emungere (15K, E, Johnlock) Sherlock watched John's mouth as that smile slid away too quickly. There had been something there, something he'd not had time to analyze. He was left with the unsettling impression of having witnessed an expression that didn't belong on John Watson's face at all. In its wake it left the equally unsettling thought that perhaps he didn't know John as entirely as he thought he did.

A Week in the Country by chainsaw_poet (20K, NR, Gen) Sherlock's lifestyle has taken its toll on his health and John is worried. With Mycroft's help, John coerces Sherlock into taking a holiday in the country to get some rest. Unfortunately, their trip doesn't quite turn out to be a relaxing as John had planned, when Sherlock's latest case decides to catch up with them.

Blind Man's Bluff by Rae666 (25K, T, Gen) "We are gods among mortals. But even gods must be tested." Sherlock loses his sight temporarily and must rely on his other senses and John in order to solve the case at hand. But as the killer draws closer, could the pair be in more danger than they first thought?

Contamination by LauraJV (16K, M, Gen) In which an artistic murder draws Irene Adler and her brother Nathan into the lives of Lestrade and Holmes, and Dr John Watson balances his morals against the happiness that is a warm gun.

Dehumanise Me by deuxexmycroft (26K, E, Johnlock) John is sent down for life after accidentally murdering someone, and gets snatched up to play prison wife for a strange man named Sherlock Holmes.

Disguise by kaalee (55K, E, Johnlock) Sherlock's disguises are little more than a nuisance to John until one day he walks into the kitchen dressed as someone from John's past, someone John had tried to forget.

Evidence of Human Life by thesardine (16K, E, Johnlock) Sherlock's sanity deteriorates while he and John are stranded on a deserted island.

Floriography by lbmisscharlie (21K, M, Johnlock, Warstan) Florist!AU - Sherlock is a florist and he's doing the flowers at the wedding of John Watson and Mary Morstan. John's about to marry his best friend in the world. He's happy, in love, and content with Mary. So why can't he get tall, enigmatic man who did the flowers at his wedding out of his mind?

Getting Better by noxcandida (75K, T, Gen) Tristram Holmes dreads attending his new primary school, fearing he'll be teased and bullied as usual. Only, nothing goes exactly as he thinks it will when he finds himself with a seemingly unlikely friend in Emily Watson.

In My Master's House 'Verse by BrighteyedJill (185K, E, Johnlock, Mystrade) As a new slave in the Holmes household, John is having trouble finding his place. (This series began posting in 2011 and continued until 2014)

In The Land Of The Blind by entanglednow (12K, M, Johnlock) Apocalypse.

Indecorous by Basingstoke (55K, E, Johnlockary but it’s a different Mary than in the show) In which John learns to balance a kinky girlfriend, an asexual boyfriend, a ten-inch cock, his sister, the neighbours, his friends, and his blog. Some are more balanced than others.

Lacuna by coloredink (15K, E, Johnlock) God, it must have been terrible, to think that he would never have this again.

Let's Make a Bed Out in the Rain by theimprobable1 (17K, M, Johnlock and Warstan) John is devastated after his long-term girlfriend leaves him. Sherlock helps him through it.

Level 65 Paladin Looking for Group by etothepii (10K, T, Gen) "I think I met someone," John says at his next therapist's appointment. "A friend." "Really?" Ella asks. She sounds pleased, and also surprised. "What's his name?" John nods. "Really. His name's Sherlock. He -- he plays the same game as me, the online one. We party together."

Major Pieces by Lindentreeisle (31K, T, Gen) Sherlock knew that he could thoroughly rely upon John Watson's moral sense. And that's why he knew that Lestrade was wrong, wrong, wrong.

My Phone’s on Vibrate For You by misslucyjane (21K, E, Johnlock) Sherlock texts John all the time. Today’s different.

Never-Ending Cycle (orphaned) (17K, T, Johnlock) Or, four times Sherlock Holmes attempted to propose to John Watson, and the Christmas Party at which he finally did. Sherlock thinks he's a miserable failure, John is confused, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade provide some unsatisfactory advice, and Mummy is, as always, the solution. All in a lovely, fluffy holiday theme.

On The Ice by berlynnwohl (35K, E, Johnlock) "Sherlock, I once saw you taste a vacuum cleaner attachment that had been used as a murder weapon, so can we please not pretend that Dungeons and Dragons is too weird for you?"

Parallel by brbsoulnomming (77K, M, Johnlock) There's a case at a secondary school/University, some series of threats or string of bizarre murders that has the entire campus shaken. In the course of the investigation, Sherlock and John meet two students. And, because they both want to help with the investigation, they get to watch them become friends and fall a little in love. And that makes them feel things about themselves that they've been working very hard to not feel, thank you.

Secondary Exposure by thesardine (18K, T, Gen) After twenty years, the killer who abducted John as a child has resurfaced.  Now John and Sherlock must track him down before he claims another victim, and at the same time navigate the shifting nature of their relationship.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc by etothepii (20K, M, Johnlock) "Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc. It's the family motto." "What does it mean?" "We gladly feast on those who would subdue us." (Addams Family crossover)

The Art Of Seduction by flawedamythyst (97K, E, Johnlock, Mystrade, Sheriarty, John/OMC, Sherlock/OMC) Sherlock ran a website called The Science Of Seduction, on which he gave advice on the best ways to get laid, wrote blog entries detailing the results of his various sexual 'experiments' and generally contributed to the stereotype of 'every gay man is a sex-mad playboy'. John avoided the thing like the plague. AU in which Sherlock treats sex like he does crime in canon.

The Baker Street Series by magicbunni (199K, T, Gen with background John/Sarah) Conspiracy and murder find Sherlock Holmes and John Watson surrounded by covert enemies in the heart of Scotland Yard. Together, they unearth clues that illuminate the scope, depth, and distorted psychology behind the crime. And, after a preemptive strike ordered by the mastermind they pursue, Holmes elects to continue the investigation under conditions that will force John Watson to fight for his friend's -- colleague's -- life.

The Penultimate Problem by Random_Nexus (18K, E, Johnlock) Angst, apocalypse-light, pseudo-hiatus, and other hijinx ensue.

The Love Song of Dr. John H. Watson by Kate_Lear (11K, E, Johnlock) John takes Sherlock out for the evening on Valentine's Day.

The Perfect Specimen by Cleo2010 (27K, E, Johnlock) After seeing John undressed for the first time and making certain observations, Sherlock quickly becomes obsessed with a certain body part belonging to his flatmate. This is the story of how that first sighting came to be and the following attempts to learn more. An unashamed masturbation-fest, first person and very detailed. It's rated explicit for a good reason!

The Poster Girl by stardust_made (67K, M, Gen) A seemingly straightforward case has Lestrade calling for Sherlock's help. Written from John's POV, this story takes place two months after the events in "The Great Game" and follows the investigation of the murder of Veronica Havisham: seventeen, popular—and murdered in Hainault Forrest on a Friday night in June.

The Progress of Sherlock Holmes by ivyblossom (62K, E, Johnlock, Warstan) “I had,” he said, “come to an entirely erroneous conclusion, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data.”

The Pull of One Magnet to Another by ellie_hell (46K, M, Johnlock) Mummy has arranged Mycroft’s marriage with an ex-army doctor. However, John meets Sherlock first, and sparks fly.

The Top-Secret Livejournal of Sherlock Holmes by malacophilous (23K, M, Johnlock, Sarah/John, Sherstrade) Sherlock has a Livejournal, which he updates constantly via his mobile phone and netbook. Everyone offline thinks that he's this stoic super-genius, when in reality he's a bonkers super-genius.

There's A First Time For Everything by Kate_Lear (21K, E, Johnlock) A series of 'firsts' in Sherlock's life.

Those Left Behind by nickelsandcoats (33K, E, Johnlock) After the events of The Great Game, Sherlock is on the hunt for revenge as John waits for Sherlock to join him. But deception abounds as both men struggle to come to terms with the paths their lives have taken.

What Makes Us Rich by flawedamythyst (31K, E, Johnlock) Agreeing on a compromise is one thing, living with it is quite another.

Whirlwind by rubyofkukundu (19K, E, Johnlock) You may be familiar with the following fanon ideas: 1. Sherlock was very sexually active at university. 2. It was while John was a student that he discovered he was bisexual. I decided to put the two together :D

[miyu-hyperfixates]

Horrifying AU-background about Baoshan Sanren and her disciples

Soooo this has been sitting on my drafts for nearly one month because I didn’t want my first post on the fandom to illustrate how weird and creepy my thoughts process could be sometimes.

Anyway so here are the little facts we know about Baoshan Sanren and her mountain:

Baoshan Sanren’s mountain is somewhere in Yiling [cql fact]

She is an immortal that has the reputation to be so strong that she could cure anything, even bring back dead people [cql + novel]

She lives on a mountain no ones knows of with her disciples...she accepted a lot of disciples but they were not allowed to leave the mountains

If they did, under no circumstances are they allowed to come back

So far only three of her disciples had ever left the mountain.

All three of them died. None of them of a peaceful death.      

Okay, so here’s the thing since cql added the detail of Baoshan Sanren’s mountain being in Yiling, my mind immediately went mountain in Yiling = Burial Mounds, because how many significant mountains could there be in Yiling?  

[Edit: Of course since then I’ve looked the actual Yiling District in China up, which I supposed MDZS!Yiling was based from, just by curiosity...  and the thing is like 3 424 km²...  so yeah I supposed they could be several mountains in there.... but for the sake of it let’s keep it that way.]

And then, from there my mind went to this very, very horrifying sorta-AU concept. My thought process went like this. If her mountain was really that hard to find and Baoshan Sanren didn’t leave the mountain, how could there be “a lot of disciples there”? How could so many find her mountains? But what if they were already there? What if her mountain was really the Burial Mounds, full of corpses and resentful energy?

Look, Baoshan Sanren’s is said to be so powerful that she could even bring back the dead, right? What if it was real? What if she she took pity on some of the souls that were trapped there [especially the children], carefully pieced back their broken souls together and brought them back to life? What if the only thing maintaining them all alive is Baoshan Sanren infusing them spiritual energy or life essence on the mountain and shielding them from the resentful energy of the Burial Mounds? 

What if this is the real reason they are not allowed to go down the mountain? Because Baoshan Sanren is what maintained their bodies alive. What if this life essence is a special type of spiritual energy something that can only be made in the Burial Mounds? What if the way to keep infusing this life essence was incompatible with the spiritual energy of the outside world? And so, the moment the disciple would go down and try to cultivate, they’ll lost irrevocably the ability to receive more life essence, because they have been tainted by the outside world.  

But we do know that three of them still decided to go down though... So maybe the problem isn’t insofar that she couldn’t keep them alive the moment they go down. I mean if she knew they planned on descending then she could infuse them with enough life essence to let them live for decades without her constant energy supply. But what if the problem is about going back?  

If they ever try to go back then the resentful energy of the Burial Mounds would immediately recognize them and eat at them and their life essence. And the more they’ll be there, the more would be eaten and if there’s nothing left, they’ll revert back to their “natural state” in the fastest way that could naturally happen.... Let’s say.... suicide? or during a night-hunt?

Let’s have a head count.

We don’t know how old Cangse Sanren was when she left the mountains nor how old she was when she died...but I’d gather she’d spent at least a decade in the outside world and her reserve were... not low per se, enough to leave ten/fifteen more years on her own...but then she went on a night-hunt in Yiling. And it wasn’t quite the Burial Mounds... but it was close enough that maybe she wanted to give her master a visit to introduce her son and husband... (or maybe ask her master for permission to give the location to her son and husband in case of emergency)... and well.... you know how it ends.

As for Xiao Xingchen,  he survived because when he came back dragging Song Lan, he’d only left the mountains for 2 years so he had plenty of life essence left and didn’t died immediately from the exposure... but note that he killed himself something like 3/4 years after that (also  that Song Lan, who had Xiao Xingchen’s eyes, died around the same time... as if having a part of Xiao Xingchen body inside him, caused the same fate)... 

And neither Xue Yang nor Wei Wuxian could bring him back, because his soul was in tatters and there was barely anything left. Now the canon explanation is that  Xiao Xingchen committed suicide and was absolutely unwilling to be “brought back”. What if the reason his soul was this way is because it reverted back to how it was on the Burial Mounds?

But why couldn’t Baoshan Sanren just warn them about the consequences instead of just giving them the order not to come back?  

What if the mean/spell to keep them alive relies heavily on them not knowing that they had been dead? Sort of like tricking the body and the soul to think that it’s still alive, while it actually should be dead.  What if the moment they realize what had happened to them, the trick is out and the soul remembers that it’s supposed to be dead so it would immediately get corrupted by resentful energy, causing them to go berserk and trying to destroy everything around them?  [Like in Noragami where the gods must never reveal their shinki’s past names and past human lives ]

(And maybe the other reason Baoshan Sanren didn’t want her disciples to go down the mountain is that, even if they stay away from Yiling like she told them, there was always a risk that they would find out the truth about themselves).  

And so if we take Yanling Daoren’s drastic change of behavior literally and at face value (and not yet as another example on how he probably just stood against the public opinion, got vilified for it and killed), then maybe somehow he discovered the big secret and simply went mad. 

.

.

And that’s it. Horrifying, isn’t it? I really don’t know how my brain got there, but it wouldn’t leave me until I wrote it down... so here you go. Think about it more like an AU-ish world than an actual theory that would fit canon.

(All pictures have been taking from their respective pages on the MDZS wiki page)

[linxuelian]

The various MDZS fans // Under The Magnifying Glass

Alright, fans! As a fellow fan, I know you’re out there - I’ve lurked, I’ve chatted with, and I’ve disturbed a great many of you. Now I’m going to treat you like a specimen, and you can’t escape!

I’ve compiled a short meta piece about the various fans in the MDZS fandom, one that should be taken, once again, with a grain of salt. You know I love all of you, but here’s a sprinkle of, “I see you, I’m calling you out”. 😉

This is by no way accurate, obviously, but I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Wei Ying fans are shameless

And they tend to be more open in the real world than most other fans in comparison. Cheerful and belligerent, these fans are the ones who’ll loudly push their agenda and rope you into the slippery, slippery rabbit hole of the MDZS fandom, shouting about how “LAN ZHAN IS THE MOST WONDERFUL BOYFRIEND.”

You’d look into what a Lan Zhan is, and fall into the trap of Xianxia hell, unable to claw your way out of it until you’ve completed at least forty different works, either in paint or in letter. This is when they’ll cackle and attempt to figure out what your AO3 username is.

When dealing with Wei Ying fans in the real world, consider employing a milder approach. Do not allow them influence you into making more explicit fanfiction than you probably should, if you can. Apply caution in public, for they can be extremely boisterous in their sharing of many overly-stimulating pictures with your friends who may not know or want to know what WangXian is about.

Lan Wangji fans

Are Wei Ying fans. No person who can directly relate to Lan Wangji would read a BL light novel like that.

Or they do, but you just don’t know it.

Lan Xichen fans

Secretly want to sleep with him.

Jin Guangyao fans are social animals

When they’re not sobbing over their coveted redemption arcs for their favorite character, or coming up with excuses reasons for his misconduct, that is.

Small gatherings are likely to be favored by fans who relate to Jin Guangyao, enjoying parties and the like that are quiet and easy to mingle in. It is either this, or they enjoy in-depth online discussions, mostly involving intrigue and character building or thesis, and spend much time on social media networks.

More than half the time, people in the real world don’t even know that Jin Guangyao fans read fanfiction, look at fanart, or create them. At least 80 to 90 percent of Jin Guangyao fans would have read the novel, since they are more or less discourse and/or research-driven.

Just like the two-faced Jin Guangyao, many fans of his hide their true nature very well, appearing in public as general mass-media consumers. However, upon further engagement, they may reveal themselves to the possible Er-ge’s in their lives.

Jiang Cheng fans are mama dragons

Whatever you do, don’t make them angry.

This doesn’t mean that they’re not sympathetic, however. It’s just that their quick tempers and fiery typing skills can break your e-legs. Whether it’s a disagreement about a pairing, or about an interpretation, they’ll want to come up on top and victorious.

On the flip side, if a Jiang Cheng fan favors you and you’ve gotten into a spot of trouble, they’ll be out there on a war path trying to find out who bullied you in an attempt break the perpetrator’s legs. Using their keyboard typing skills, of course.

Lan Sizhui fans are anxious helicopter parents

Generally wishing to keep their little baby A-Yuan safe and happy, Lan Sizhui fans are mostly mama bear types. If a piece features even a miniscule part about Lan Sizhui, say, falling down in the mud or getting told off in an argument, be sure to receive comments almost entirely about said scene, even though it may only be a minor part of an entire 10,000-word story.

Stories and art revolving around Lan Sizhui put out by his fans are most likely to include either carrots, rabbits, radishes, Uncle Ning, or the WangXian parents. Similar to Jin Ling, Lan Sizhui fans tend to be fans of Wei Ying or WangXian.

A smaller subset of Lan Sizhui fans are fans of Jin Ling, but mostly in context of Lan Sizhui being the only one courteous enough to be polite towards him.

Jin Ling fans are split between two types

Namely those who’ve always dreamed of being a little prince/princess, and those who relate to Jiang Cheng or Wei Wuxian.

More than half of Jin Ling’s fans are fans of his uncle Jiang and Wei, and may relate to them in terms of being a parental figure, looking over their emotionally injured baby prince. Wei Wuxian fans are louder when it comes to demanding for a happy ending for Jin Ling, while Jiang Cheng fans may explicitly include him in every piece of fanfiction or fanart they’ve ever created.

Whether Wei Wuxian has started a family with Lan Wangji, or Jiang Cheng has gotten married to Lan Xichen or Nie Huaisang, you can be sure that any intersecting Jin Ling fans would have included him in their grand scheme of adoption, or eventually have him married to their only-begotten son.

The ones who’ve always dreamed of being a little prince or princess? They have very few friends in real life, and may have just written an article about you since they had the free time, for having no one to socialize with.

Ouyang Zizhen fans don’t like to be left out

He’s part of the quartet, dammit! It’s not a trio! Be it to your face in real life or over the internet, Zizhen fans would be sure to remind you that he’s part and parcel of the junior unit.

Usually also helicopter parents of the Sizhui Fan variety, Ouyang Zizhen fans desire him to find romance and inherit the sect safely, and may prefer pieces that depict him as intelligent, resourceful and the leader or champion of the junior QUARTET.

Lan Jingyi fans

Are the worst. 😤����️

Wen Ning fans are elusive

Likely because they don’t want to be the reason to split the canon couple up. Most Wen Ning fans may or may not prefer stories where Wen Ning pines for the extremely unavailable Wei Wuxian, or ones where he is seen as an uncle figure to Lan Sizhui. In some stories and artworks, Lan Wangji simply does not exist.

Wen Ning fans may also be periphery Lan Sizhui fans.

Wen Qing fans suffer from Aerith Lives Syndrome

She doesn’t actually die in a fire, guys!

They may also enjoy Wen Qing-marries-Nie Mingjue/Jiang Cheng-and-gets-pregnant stories.

Nie Huaisang fans like his nefarious, scheming nature

Have a piece depicting Nie Huaisang as a head-shaking idiot? There’s a fat chance that his fans won’t enjoy it, even if they won’t explicitly grill you for it. Hiding behind their virtual fans, watching you persistently every day while coldly plotting the closure of your account, these fans in particular are more inclined towards the unfolding of his crafty, terrifying nature, revealed only in the end.

Nie Huaisang fans tend to favor articles revolving around Nie Mingjue as well, and greatly enjoy pieces depicting brotherly affection in general. Whenever they write Nie Mingjue in their fiction, he is either extremely doting, or gruff but sexy.

As one might find it hard to question the gruff but sexy bit with a straight face, another alternative victim of fiction writers centering works around Nie Huaisang would be Jiang Cheng, who is usually manipulated into a happily ever after.

Nie Mingjue fans like putting him in leather pants

In most works created by fans of the mighty Chifeng-Zun, he’s usually smiling dotingly at his younger brother, Nie Huaisang, or at Meng Yao, his trusted aide, or at least giving them the best things in life.

In Mingjue County, Nie Mingjue has never kicked anyone down the stairs nor called them a son of a prostitute. In Mingjue County, nobody has ever burnt fine art. In Mingjue County, nobody dies of Qi Deviation. Mingjue County is civil, beautiful, and full of abs.

Wen Ruohan fans think he’s cute and sexy

Well, he is in their fannish pre-canon depictions of him as a young man, anyway. If Lan Qiren has grown his beard out for anyone, it would have been for the adorable Wen Ruohan, fifty years ago in the Cloud Recesses.

Lan Qiren fans don’t think he’s a joke

Never mind that the novel jokes about him all the time - having his beard shaved by Cangse Sanren, ignored by the juniors, and above all, getting up just to spit out blood after getting mad at Wei Wuxian for playing his flute very, very badly - he’s no joke, everyone!

Many Lan Qiren fans may also express desire to see his character adapt and open up to new ideas and rulesets, including a relationship with Sisi, or to explore a possible past where he is young, handsome and sexy, most probably also romantically entwined with Wen Ruohan.

Sect Leader Yao fans are SJWs who don’t know they’re SJWs

The irony lies thick in the fact that they actively dislike Sect Leader Yao as a character. Nobody knows that they’re actually a Sect Leader Yao fan, even after contracting the disease themselves.

Aaaaaand, I’ve run out of gas. If I’ve missed describing the fans of your favorite character, consider yourself lucky~

For now. I’ll be back! 😒✊

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: a grain of millet drifting, ch. 2

Relationship: Niè Huáisāng & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Characters: Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Original Characters, Nie Huaisang

Additional Tags: Assassination Attempt(s), Introspection, Regret, Travel, Post-Canon, POV Third Person, POV Wei WuXian

Summary: On the road to the Unclean Realm.

Notes: 亨祥 is Hengxiang, meaning no trouble and good luck.

Chapters: 1

AO3 link

----------

It didn’t take long for Wei Wuxian to decide he quite liked Nie Hengxiang. The young man was intelligent and quick on his feet, and also truly interested in cultivation theory. Nie Huaisang had perhaps chosen him for more than just his skills. Had he expected Wei Wuxian to catch him? If so, he wondered if he’d disappointed his old friend in taking so long at it. 

Nie Hengxiang was perhaps a little older than Sizhui, but not by much, and his earnest gruffness reminded Wei Wuxian a little of Jin Ling. In some ways he was like the ducklings he’d become so fond of, even if he’d been sent to babysit him. 

As it turned out, none of the assassins had been quite stupid enough to have any identifying information on them, either about who they had been in life or who contracted them. Which meant a little more work, something he had the impression Nie Huaisang was handling on his end.

After their tea and chat, Wei Wuxian placed several arrays around their campsite, promising at the young man’s curious expression to explain them the next night. 

In the morning they broke their fast with dried fruit from Wei WuXian’s qiankun pouch and dried spiced meat from Nie Hengxiang’s. After breaking camp and disabling the arrays, they searched the body again, took turns digging the grave, and heaved the corpse in with little fanfare. 

After they filled in the grave, Wei Wuxian pulled out a stick of incense to light and a bit of joss paper to burn. 

“Wei-gongzi, why do that for a man who tried to kill you?” Nie Hengxiang asked. 

“It wasn’t personal, just his job, the poor fool. I’d rather he stay at rest, regardless. There’s enough resentment in the world already.”

About the fifth time Nie Hengxiang called him ‘Wei-gongzi’ as they made their way to a main road, he decided that had to stop.

“Aiya, I’m not a young master of anything. I’m not even part of a sect. If you have to call me something, maybe Wei-qianbei?”

The youth took to it readily, and as they walked and dealt with Little Apple having a tantrum over a rotten apple, he asked about the events at Yi City.

“I heard some of what happened, that you rescued the juniors of several sects and kept them safe through it all, but…”

But he was a curious young man, Wei Wuxian extrapolated when he trailed off. So he told the story of Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and poor little A-Qing, and how they’d eventually solved the mystery.

“Unfortunately, Xue Yang turned most of the townspeople into living and fierce corpses, so sects had to send cultivators to clean up that mess,” he said.

Then he explained the details about the old woman at the Zhizha shop who didn’t know she was dead, for whom he had threaded a needle so she could go about mending clothing she would never wear.

“I didn’t know how she would react to learning she was dead,” he said sadly. “I couldn’t risk her losing what was left of her spiritual consciousness and becoming a threat, and the juniors were already frightened enough. I hope she was laid to rest.”

Someday, perhaps, he would go back to Yi City to make sure it had been cleaned up properly, to lay offerings for the victims of Xue Yang’s indecency and help any lingering spirits pass on. 

“I’ve never been on a night hunt like that,” Nie Hengxiang murmured, looking thoughtful.

“It wasn’t a normal night hunt at all,” Wei Wuxian said. “It was a man-made disaster. You’re unlikely to ever see anything like that.”

Though he hadn’t been the culprit, he still felt partly responsible for that mess, too. Had he not laid the groundwork Xue Yang had built upon at the behest of Jing Guangshan and Jin Guangyao… But that way lay madness, Wei Wuxian knew, and he shook off such thoughts. 

He told some stories about the more normal night hunts he’d been on, back in the day, and some of the weird yao he’d encountered. In return, Nie Hengxiang shared some of his own encounters, discussing some of the yao found only in Qinghe.

It was different, having someone to talk to, someone who asked questions about the talismans he mentioned. Normally the road was long and quiet, missing a presence, but for the moment he could forget that absence.

Before long they came upon a larger town, one situated at the crossroads of smaller, more rural roads like the one they were on, and more-travelled ones like the one they would take to get to the Unclean Realm.

Lunch was at an inn, and when he checked his purse to be certain he had enough to cover it, Nie Hengxiang insisted the Nie sect would pick up the tab while they travelled to the Unclean Realm.

That was handy.

He ordered without regard for price, in that case, choosing a dish heavy in meat and spice, and some baozi. While they were waiting he jotted out a message for Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan,

Unexpected detour. Going to the Unclean Realm. Will write you later.

Wei Ying

Lan Zhan would know who it was from; Wei Wuxian had learned how to send the Jin butterfly and then had promptly altered it so it was a blue rabbit with wings, something that had made his zhiji smile.

After a moment of thought, he sent out a second one.

Jiang Cheng,

Nie Huaisang sent a babysitter. Caught him taking out an assassin. Guess people still want me dead. Going to the Unclean Realm. Not sure what’s going on, but will update if it involves you or Jin Ling.

Wei Wuxian

He didn’t think Jiang Cheng would particularly care, but the last several times things got sticky, it had impacted him and Jin Ling. At least this way he’d have warning.

Then, just to be an ass and because Nie Huaisang probably already knew he’d been caught, he sent out a third.

Nie-zongzhu,

Nie Hengxiang is great company. I look forward to imposing on your hospitality.

Yiling Patriarch

Nie Hengxiang didn’t comment as the messages went out, but patrons of the inn looked on in amazement at the little creatures that buzzed around over their heads briefly then floated through the inn window on their way to their destinations.

They were approached shortly into their meal, and Nie Hengxiang tensed as though the man was a threat  until he started speaking about a haunting nearby—fortunately in the direction they were traveling, just off the main road.

Wei Wuxian glanced at his babysitter, who nodded without hesitation.

“We’ll head that way after we finish here,” he told the man, who fell over himself bowing and kowtowing and insisted on accompanying them.

The spirit was simply a lonely child who had died of illness, and it didn’t take much to call up her spirit and communicate. The child wanted to play, and didn’t quite realize she was dead. Once Wei Wuxian helped her understand and let her know she’d get to play in her next life, she was gone.

The man, as it turned out, was her father. He was heartbroken, but happy she’d been put to rest. He let the man babble about the girl for a bit, knowing it was a kindness to listen. She had been the only remnant he had of the wife who had died in childbirth, and had been sickly her whole short life, never able to play as the other children did—which explained why she had lingered. 

As they left, he gave them a sack of fruit from his harvest. Peaches, as it turned out, juicy and sweet. He wouldn’t say no to free peaches. 

First, though, Wei Wuxian took three out of the bag and handed them back to the man.

“For your daughter’s altar,” he told him.

He didn’t remember being dead, didn’t know if anyone had burned joss or incense for him, if there had been an altar where offerings of food had been left. Maybe it was because he’d left no ghost, for reasons he didn’t feel like considering; he liked to think he’d just gone without resentment, but there were darker possibilities. He didn’t want to know. 

Wei Wuxian had no idea if the peaches would reach the child as her spirit found what came next, but it comforted him to think perhaps they would, and he was sure it would comfort her father.

Sometimes he wondered if that was the point of offerings for the dead.

Little Apple, as it turned out, should’ve been named Little Fruit, since she also turned out to be fond of the peaches. They were able to make good time on the road, the donkey assuaged. 

The trip to the Unclean Realm passed with few incidents, though they stopped several times when asked for help with spirits and, once, a fox yao. The common folk were happy they were willing to stop, and Nie Hengxiang didn’t comment when Wei Wuxian used the name Wei Yuandao.

The last night, though, Wei Wuxian woke to the sound of someone dying, a familiar gurgling gasp, and found his companion had run through an assassin who had been trying to sneak in through the second-story window of their room at the inn. He should have expected another attempt, some last-ditch effort to get rid of him before he would be surrounded by Nie disciples and thus essentially untouchable.

Six assassins, though? Whoever wanted him dead was spending an awful lot of money on it. 

“We probably could’ve questioned him,” he commented instead around a yawn.

“Not my job,” Nie Hengxiang grunted, already rifling through the poor idiot’s robes. 

That told Wei Wuxian that Nie Huaisang had other disciples with that skill handling some even more unfortunate morons, which was oddly kind of him, Wei Wuxian thought. If he truly had sent his obviously assassination-trained disciple to keep him safe in secret, and had others working to find those trying to kill him, maybe this was Nie-xiong simply wanting him to be safe, not the Headshaker with his plan for vengeance. 

The more he considered, the more he thought about how lonely his old friend must be—his dage dead, slain by someone he’d once regarded as a friend. Wei Wuxian knew vengeance was only just so satisfying, but it ultimately left you empty. 

Killing Wen Chao hadn’t brought back Uncle Jiang or Madam Yu or the rest of the clan slaughtered at his behest. Looking back at it now, it sickened him a little to know how far gone he’d been after the Burial Mounds, taking pleasure in the torture even of someone like Wen Chao. 

No wonder his behavior had worried Lan Zhan. 

Nie Huaisang, who seemed innocent and indolent back when they were fifteen and the war was just a speck on the horizon, who would have happily spent his life reading spring books and painting fans… 

How did he feel, now that his revenge had been achieved, after a decade of nothing but planning for it?

Wei Wuxian’s bet was on “empty,” but it was something to determine when they reached the Unclean Realm. 

“You seem remarkably calm,” the young man said after tossing the looted body out the window to handle in the morning.

Hopefully some poor mediocre wouldn’t stumble upon it before then, but they’d hear them screaming if it happened. 

“Honestly, it’s not the first time people have tried to kill me, or even the second,” Wei Wuxian said with a shrug. “It’s not really all that exciting after the first few times.”

Nie Hengxiang nodded as though that made sense to him, which was a little funny to Wei Wuxian—he lived it, and it still made no sense to him, true though it was. 

Case in point, he blinked and it was morning, the attempted assassination not impacting his ability to get back to sleep in the least. 

When he sat up, he found he was alone for the moment, so he popped his head out the window and found only dried bloodstains in the dirt. Nie Hengxiang was disposing of the body. 

When he came back, his robes weren’t mussed or dirty, and Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow curiously. 

“Paid for a pauper’s burial,” Nie Hengxiang said when he noticed. “Seemed easier.”

Meaning a proper burial with the offering of incense, and offerings left for the anonymous dead would also go to assuage the assassin’s resentment. It was a kindness, and Wei Wuxian nodded his agreement with the decision. 

Part of him wondered if this was what Nie Hengxiang did if he killed in or near a town, or if his own treatment of the first assassin’s grave, burning incense and joss over it, had influenced his decision. He was young yet, so perhaps it had. 

Maybe it was just Wei Wuxian hoping he made a positive difference in the world this time around somehow. 

Just thinking that made him feel old. 

Truth be told, they were little more than a few hours outside of the Unclean Realm. They could have made it there the night before, but he hadn’t seen a need to rush and hadn’t wanted to deal with a potential ambush in the dark. 

Plus Nie Huaisang wouldn’t get to pawn him off to a guest room and have eight hours to acclimate to his presence this way. He’d have to deal with Wei Wuxian for most of the day. Maybe mean, maybe petty, but they had things to talk about anyway. 

Travel was uneventful, especially after he mentioned his concern about an ambush and Nie Hengxiang laughed at the idea.

“This close to the Unclean Realm? Maybe if they’re suicidally stupid.”

The way he glanced at the landscape around them, as barren as it was, made Wei Wuxian wonder if they had gained an additional escort. 

And so instead Wei Wuxian rode Little Apple, kept moving forward by the enticement of a pear on a stick, bought from a stall on the way out of town, and played a few drinking songs he’d heard on his travels on Chenqing. 

Time passed quickly, and soon they were approaching the gates of the Unclean Realm. 

He felt a little like he’d been pulled back to the past when he saw Nie Huaisang waving from atop the battlement, just as he had when they’d set out with Chifeng-zun during the Sunshot Campaign. 

This time he was headed toward, not away, and he had the tiny flicker of a golden core where there had been a gaping emptiness seething with resentment, but he felt shaken by the similarity all the same.