#i started mdzs in 2022

[benevolenterrancy]

alright folks, I'll probably finish SVSSS v4 by this weekend (pray for me) and then I'll be done all of MXTX's books and I have no idea which series to try next... So!! I'm going to pose the question to people that might have more experience in the genre! These are ones I've either incidentally acquired or been recommended

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Redraw of my first post on this blog. Oh how far we've come B'*)

[Now with it's own redraw!]

[pbaintthetb]

was anybody going to tell me that the first section of my junior fic was already at 7k words, or was I supposed to find that out for myself?

[doufudanshi]

ON GHOSTS AND DEMONS: Wei Wuxian's "demonic" cultivation?

There are a few big misconceptions I have repeatedly seen in English-speaking fandom about things that are fundamental to the story of MDZS. One of them is this—

Wei Wuxian is not a demonic cultivator.

To prove this, let's take a deep dive into the original Chinese text of MDZS.

(Adapted from my original gdoc posted on Twitter on May 27, 2022. All translations my own unless otherwise stated.)

Demon vs. ghost

Let's start from the very basics. In addition to orthodox cultivation using spiritual energy and a golden core, there are two other forms of cultivation that are mentioned in the novel:

魔道 (mó dào), or “demon cultivation/path.”

鬼道 (guǐ dào), or “ghost cultivation/path.”

To be clear, 魔 mo "demons" and 鬼 gui "ghosts" (and thus their respective cultivation/paths) are not interchangeable because of the in-universe worldbuilding within MDZS. Using the characters in the term 妖魔鬼怪 "monsters," MXTX created four distinct categories of beings, each of which has a strict definition in the novel. From chapter 4 (jjwxc ch 13):

妖者非人之活物所化; 魔者生人所化; 鬼者死者所化; 怪者非人之死物所化。 Yāo (妖) are transformed from non-human living beings; mó (魔) are transformed from living people; guǐ (鬼) are transformed from the deceased; guài (怪) are transformed from non-human dead beings.

And of course, WWX hoards all the ghost-type pokemon monsters at the Phoenix Mountain tournament, and he only exerts control over corpses, spirits, and the like (aka people who have already died). (As opposed to Xue Yang, who appears to have been actively trying to make 魔 "demons" out of living people with those "living corpses" of his, perhaps.) (And, ironically, in order to avoid showing necromancy / zombies on screen, CQL technically does show WWX practicing demon cultivation because everyone is "supposedly alive" even when they're corpses? Which is, funnily enough, far worse morally in the MDZS universe, lol.)

So, intuitively at least, we know that WWX must be practicing ghost cultivation—now let's look at some concrete examples from the book.

Running the numbers

1) 魔道 (mó dào) means “demon cultivation.” As such, it must use living humans.

魔道 appears one (1) time in the novel.

Yes, once. The only time it appears is in the term 魔道祖师 modao zushi, or the namesake of the novel, in chapter 2. This is a title the general public has given him through rumors:

魏无羡好歹也被人叫了这么多年无上邪尊啦、魔道祖师啦之类的称号，这种一看就知道不是什么好东西的阵法，他自然了如指掌。 Wei Wuxian wasn’t called titles like “The Evil Overlord,” “The Founder of Demon Cultivation,” and so on over the years by others for nothing—he knew these sorts of obviously shady formations like the back of his hand.

2) 鬼道 (guǐ dào) means “ghost cultivation.” As such, it must use dead humans. 

鬼道 appears 12 times in the novel.

Here is the first instance that 鬼道 appears, which I believe is the first time Wei Wuxian's method of cultivation is properly introduced. From chapter 3 (jjwxc ch 8):

蓝忘机 […] 对魏无羡修鬼道一事极不认可。 Lan Wangji […] had never approved of the fact that Wei Wuxian practiced ghost cultivation.

Here's another quote from chapter 15 (jjwxc ch 71) for funsies:

蓝忘机看着他，似乎一眼就看出他只是随口敷衍，吸了一口气，道：“魏婴。” Lan Wangji looked at him as if he saw through his half-hearted bluff. He took in a breath, then said, “Wei Ying.” 他执拗地道：“鬼道损身，损心性。” He stubbornly continued, “Ghost cultivation harms one’s body, and harms one’s nature.”

3) 邪魔歪道 (xiemowaidao) means heretical path/immoral methods/evil practices/underhanded means/etc—e.g., lying, cheating, stealing, bribery, and so on.

It appears ~24 times in the novel.

I mention this last term because it is often used to refer to Wei Wuxian's cultivation, but as a pejorative. Every instance of 邪魔歪道 is said by or to quote someone looking down upon Wei Wuxian’s cultivation (Jin Zixun, Jin Ling, etc.) and referring to it derogatorily, whereas every instance of 鬼道 guidao/ghost dao is said by someone discussing it neutrally and/or factually (Lan Jingyi, Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian himself, random cultivators at discussion conferences, the narration, etc.). Here is a pertinent example with Jin Ling (derogatory) and Lan Jingyi (neutral) in chapter 9 (jjwxc ch 43):

金凌怒道：“是在谈论薛洋，我说的不对吗？薛洋干了什么？他是个禽兽不如的人渣，魏婴比他更让人恶心！什么叫‘不能一概而论’？这种邪魔歪道留在世上就是祸害，就是该统统都杀光，死光，灭绝！” “We are discussing Xue Yang,” Jin Ling said angrily. “Am I wrong? What did Xue Yang do? He’s scum that’s lower than a beast, and Wei Ying is even more disgusting than him! What do you mean ‘don’t make sweeping generalizations?’ As long as those practicing this kind of demoniac, heretical path are alive, they’ll continue to bring disaster. We should slaughter all of them, kill all of them, annihilate them once and for all!” 温宁动了动，魏无羡摆手示意他静止。只听蓝景仪也加入了，嚷道：“你发这么大火干什么？思追又没说魏无羡不该杀，他只是说修鬼道的也不一定全都是薛洋这种人，你有必要乱摔东西吗？那个我还没吃呢……” Wen Ning shuffled around. Wei Wuxian gestured at him to stay still, only to hear Lan Jingyi also cut in loudly, “Why are you getting so riled up? It’s not like Sizhui said Wei Wuxian shouldn’t have been killed. All he said was that people who practice ghost cultivation aren’t necessarily all like Xue Yang. Do you have to go around breaking things? I didn’t even get to eat any of that yet…”

Tl;dr—Wei Wuxian does not 修魔道 practice demon cultivation. When Wei Wuxian’s craft is discussed in a neutral and factual manner, it is referred to as 鬼道 ghost dao. 

In fact, Wei Wuxian’s imitators are also referred to explicitly as 鬼道修士 ghost cultivators.

魏无羡早就听说过，这些年来江澄到处抓疑似夺舍重生的鬼道修士，把这些人通通押回莲花坞严刑拷���。 Wei Wuxian had heard a while back that over the past few years, Jiang Cheng had gone around snatching any ghost cultivator suspected of being possessed or reborn, detaining them in Lotus Pier to interrogate them using torture.

So why the confusion?

Of course, there is the matter of the novel's title, which I will get into in a second. But the real issue is a matter of translation.

The idea that WWX uses "demonic cultivation" is a misconception in English-speaking fandom due to issues with the translation of terminology. Of note, EXR actually did translate 鬼道 guidao as "ghostly path" most of the time, though there were at least 3 instances of "demonic" and 1 instance of "dark," especially regarding the first few.

However, this misconception was perpetuated (and arguably worsened) by 7S's official translation, which not only mistranslated additional terms as "demonic cultivation/path" (at least in book 1), but also consistently mistranslated every instance of 鬼道 as "demonic cultivation/path."

So why is this book called 魔道祖师, commonly translated as "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation?"

One possibility is one posed in Chinese-language meta online, which often cites that WWX himself is a sort of 魔 demon. While this may be true—after all, he can hear the voices of the dead—it doesn't quite explain the fact that the title sets him up to be the 祖师 or "founder."

My take is that this novel is very much concerned with hearsay vs. truth. This is one of the many monikers WWX is given by the public, who collectively view him as evil. (Also of note is that the non-cultivator public is not aware of all the nuances that cultivators learn re: distinctions between the 妖魔鬼怪 monsters.) In the quote from earlier, note that the first title we're given is actually 无上邪尊 “The Evil Overlord,” then 魔道祖师 "The Founder of Demon Cultivation." Like, what can that be other than MXTX telling us, "please take both of these with a HUGE grain of salt, lol."

(And not only the title, but the very first line—"魏无羡死了。" / "Wei Wuxian is dead."—is a lie.)

I think the title is genius, honestly. It intentionally makes readers come into the novel with preconceived notions that Wei Wuxian practices 魔道 demon cultivation and evil techniques—just like the public in the novel. What better way to tell a story warning about the dangers of how easy it is to fall for misinformation and jump to incorrect conclusions?

(Though, in our case, perhaps it worked a little too well.)

[gargoyleandgremlinpress]

Sudden Nature by everbrighter

This MDZS fic/series is a modern AU that's mostly without magic... except there's a heavenly bureaucracy. And every once in a while, it makes a mistake, and sends someone who's died back to earth. This is rare, but frequent enough that hospitals have resurrection wards just in case.

If you're at all familiar with canon, I think we can all see where this is going.

Wei Ying is a a whistleblower on the Wen Corporation in this one, who's adopted baby A-Yuan. When he's killed in an accident, Lan Zhan raises Lan Yuan and lives with his grief... and then Wei Ying comes back. This is a story that's emotional and heartfelt, and very funny in bits, about grief and loss and family, and getting something back you never thought you would, much like canon.

The series is a bunch of interconnected short fic with two long segments. The first one is from one from Lan Sizhui's point of view: "Lan Yuan has lived most of his sixteen years not knowing the man who raised him as a toddler. So when Wei Ying suddenly comes back to life, both Lan Yuan and his dad, Lan Zhan, work to make room in their lives for him. Too bad he has a science project due this week..."

The second one is from Wei Ying's: "Wei Ying comes back from the dead, all of a sudden. Over the course of a week, he remembers what it is to be alive, and what it is to be in love." (Not gonna lie, I kind of love the parts where Wei Ying is adjusting to no longer having the body of a twenty year old, in terms of sleeping for a week on the couch now has CONSEQUENCES.)

But it was the very first part of the series that hooked me, where Lan Zhan falls in love. And it's not who you think.

"Aren’t there classes for this? Aren’t there books a person is supposed to read for this? Should he have done research? Shouldn’t he have prepared? But ah, it’s too late now, and there’s a baby in his arms, face to the shoulder of Lan Zhan’s cable-knit sweater."

I finished the typeset for this fic back in the fall of 2022, and it was in my pile of text blocks to finish binding for Binderary, an annual fanbinding challenge, in February, 2023. It was the last one left. I looked at the text block. I looked at my bookcloth and paper options for the cover. I pulled out two options... and couldn't decide. It turns out, I just didn't have the right combination of colours.

In the interim, I obtained some Duo book cloth, a particular line that has a two-tone colour shift to it, gorgeous in person, but really hard to photograph. The company that makes it, sadly, has gone out of business, and the final group orders for it obtained near epic status among @renegadeguild circles. (It has its own lore. And fic.)

Which is to say, the spine of this book is Duo Dragonfly, and the cover is chiyogami paper. The endbands were my first time trying a double core, in sewing thread, and are a little bit shaky as a result, though I'm pretty happy with the colour combo. Lettering stencilled in gold acrylic paint.

I was going for an ethereal, heavenly feel with the title page, and a shout out to the Toronto setting with the spread on the table of contents. (Hello, fellow Canadians!)

A few interior shots here, and a vaguely Lan cloud used for the section breaks. I did a bit of formatting to mimic a newspaper column for the article that starts off "Thirty-Seven," the long section from Wei Ying's point of view.

I am pretty happy with how it turned out, and glad I held off to get the match that felt right for the cover materials!

And behind the cut for spoilers... the last sentence in the short chapter right before Wei Ying's death gets me RIGHT IN THE FEELS every single time I read it.

Lan Zhan held onto A-Yuan! He held him for fifteen minutes, and then for the next sixteen years it took for Wei Ying to come back from getting milk at the 7-11! Oh my heart. Nnngh.

(Also, I slid in a fan art illustration for the fic from GreenTeaPikachu, so enjoy the drunk!LanZhan Does Parkour as an added bonus for clicking through!)

[tossawary]

Sign-ups are open for MXTX Remix 2024 (@mxtxremix) right now and they close on February 9th. It's a gift exchange for people who already have MDZS, SVSSS, and TGCF fanworks, either art or fic. You can find details such as the eligibility rules, the FAQ, and the sign-up form itself on the AO3 collection profile.

I participated in the MXTX Remix event back in 2021 and it was a lot of fun! I ended up turning someone else's Canon Divergence Liushen fic ("tangled in the hanging tree" by technorat) into a Star Wars / Space Opera AU version of itself, in which Shen Yuan was a symbiote attached to Shen Jiu and they bickered a lot.

I also received "demons don't write what they know" from atarah, which is a Demon Liu Mingyan / Human Sha Hualing fic, inspired by my own Moshang Human/Demon Role Reversal AU.

It's on a shorter time scale than a Big Bang event, so you don't have to make a commitment half-a-year or more in advance: assignments go out on February 13th and assignments are due March 29th. The minimum requirements are also much more manageable: a complete 1,000-word fic or a clean piece of lineart. I think it's potentially a fun entry point into fan events if you've already start creating art or fic for one of these fandoms and are personally interested into dipping your toes into gift exchanges.

There is the pressure of transforming someone else's work into a gift for them, but it can also be fun to play with another fan's stuff, using someone else's story as a structure rather than starting from scratch. Though definitely not for everyone, it can also be interesting to open up your own work to someone else's transformation, and see what about your art or writing speaks to someone else. Examples of previous MXTX Remix works (2021, 2022, 2023) can be found in their parent collection: MXTX Remix.

[southernwolf16]

After coming across SVSSS-related stuff on the blogs I follow/stalk, I finally gave in to my curiosity and checked the donghua.

I tried reading the novel a while back, but it didn't entice me that much so I didn't finish it. I think seeing the donghua helped spark my interest again.

Then I held back from watching Ep 10 for the past week and started reading the novel. I'm almost finished with it.

It's so different from MDZS. I find myself laughing most of the time. Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan edition) are such disasters. I'm sure the more senior fans have already written eloquent posts about how codependent they are, Shen Jiu and Yue Qingyuan's relationship, why Cucumber Bro and Airplane Bro transmigrated to the novel they read/wrote, why the System exists in the first place, writing what you're passionate about vs writing what'll bring in money, and who is Jiang Cheng's counterpart in SVSSS, among other things. I think I read a post suggesting it's Liu Qingge? Or is it Shen Jiu?

Anyway, back to the donghua. I hope I'm not alone in saying I like the character design. At first it was a little jarring---maybe because I'm not used to watching CGI---and the donghua isn't actually 100% polished a la FFVII remake (on a side note, someone joked that Yue Qingyuan seems to be from the PS2 era). Regardless, I appreciate the design since it gave me an idea how the characters look like.

Which is why I'm a bit surprised when I started trawling the SVSSS tags here at Tumblr and saw art depicting Luo Binghe as a curly-haired, big-muscled mountain of a man. Perhaps this is influenced by Western taste? I'm not an expert in Chinese literature or culture, but in some pics I've seen from Cdramas those of demon blood who play major roles don't have the physique of someone who can crack walnuts with their biceps. Think Wang Yue (Wang Zhuocheng) from Legend of Chongzi and that actor from Love Between Fairy and Devil. Furthermore, Luo Binghe is described as a pretty boy in the novel so at this point, I'm of the humble opinion that the donghua got his body type right. And I subscribe to the standards of beauty from the source culture.

Okay, going back to the donghua Ep 10. As we say here in my country, papunta na tayo sa exciting part---I'm going to see Luo Binghe get pushed down the Endless Abyss by his beloved Shizun. Oh, the angst, the drama.

Nope. Nothing of the sort happened.

Oh, so they saved it for Season 2 [Tries to find Season 2]

[Season 2 not yet released] 😨

What. The. Hell.

I held off finishing Season 1 because I thought Season 2's already available. The site where I watched the donghua said Season 2's release is 2022.

Dude, we're two months' shy of closing 2023. 😱

Season 2, where art thou? 😭

[ninjakk]

Very excited to be part of the 2023 edition of @mxtxfoodzine, which is packed full of fanfic, gorgeous art and yummy recipes for you all to try at home. Out the 31st of October!

I could not resist combining my love of cooking, writing and MDZS 🥰 So much so, I ended up with two fanfics instead of one haha.

I can't wait to see what you guys think! I have a canon universe, burial mounds settlement fic - which I absolutely adored trying my hand at writing WQ for the first time. There's also a modern au, established Wangxian, fluffy adoption fic - which is something I'm very proud of as well ❤️

Here's a little taster for you all!

In A Pickle - with tasty pickled radish recipe and cute chibi artwork by @daynight139

"What are those?" Wen Yuan's tiny voice whispered in wonder.

"Chillies. They are really hot, so don't touch them, otherwise they will burn you and make you cry," Wen Qing cautioned the child, shooting him a sharp look of warning as she spoke.

Perplexed, Wen Yuan glared at the chillies, quietly wondering why they would want to burn him and make him cry personally.

And my second fic...

Bun In The Oven - with a recipe offering two tasty baked bao fillings and adorable artwork by @daynight139 which is full of hidden things for you to spot!

Lifting the two trays of golden baked bao out of the oven, he turned to place them onto cooling racks.

"Congratulations Lan Zhan, we're now the proud parents of an abundance of little ones!" Back to his usual chirpy self, he sent his husband another cheeky wink as he held a bun up towards him. "Shall we have a whole brood too, er-gege?" he giggled as he placed the last bun down to cool.

"Hmm... Let us start with one, for now." Lan Zhan's low voice sounded by his ear as two strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him in close.

I really hope anyone who reads my two new fics enjoys them as much as I relished writing them 💞

In the meantime, you can download the 2022 edition of the zine to get a flavour of what's to come.

Yes, I'm aware I have a thing about puns... I can only apologise 🤣

[jaggededges123]

strawberry!

well, i wrote my first fanfic in a notebook when i was twelve, about me transmigrating into my fave book series at the time! but i mostly wrote original fiction for my teenage years, and then around 2018 or so i started writing a handful of fics after watching a few tv shows, but it didn’t really *stick* as a big hobby for me (separate from original fiction) until mdzs in 2022. and now here i am XD

[iantimony]

tuesday!

another two-weeker because i forgor last week but it's not actually that beefy

listening: metric albums formentera from 2022 and formentera ii from 2023 are full of good earworms. favorite songs: all comes crashing, enemies of the ocean, oh please; just the once, days of oblivion, who would you be for me ... idk all of formentera ii is really really good. easily could list all those songs as favorite. just love a good synth! just incredibly catchy albums.

i got back into the podcast sweetbitter; i listened to the first season on sappho not long after it started, but fell off when they started season 2 on pirates. i'm listening to that one now and i'm enjoying it! i'm a little leery of season 3's topic (christian bible) but i feel like they do a good and sensitive job of covering information in general. the podcast hasn't actually updated in ages which is interesting, i'm not sure if they're just on hiatus or if it's like...done? i can't seem to find any information on it, there are some tweets that were posted on reddit about it that are now deleted, maybe there was a falling out??? it's possible they say something in the most recent episode (may of last year) about a hiatus but it's not in the episode notes...in any case, god i hate the ads they have. they're so stuck in my head in the worst way possible. 0/10 on that front. get that coin but please choose less obnoxious/a wider variety of ads (i know that's not always in their control but yk).

reading: finished mdzs. restarted svsss but it's been sideburnered for a few days while i play catchup on work.

watching: finished kill la kill with the boyf...am caught up to dunmesh...been passively absorbing the black list because my roommate has been watching it...

playing: fallow but i really wanna do disco elysium soon for Real

making: pottery has been on a planned 2-week break between sessions so no reports here! i did go in briefly for open studio to attach a handle and re-trim some of my citrus juicer. otherwise, really haven't done much...i restrung a necklace for my mom as a birthday gift a few weeks ago, and i have been drawing a little again! some dunmeshi fanart, some concepts for a painting i want to do.

eating: fairly boring - two weeks ago was in florida with my grandma and that eating is always notably bland. last week my roommate and i fuck-it-we-balled a bit so it was a lot of tuna salad and adjacent things, this week we got some more recipes rolling in though. last night we did a off-the-cuff vaguely-thai rice noodle and tofu thing that was real yummy but not the most filling because there was like no fat in it. definitely could use a different protein or something to juice it up.

misc: doing okay! valiantly played homework catch-up this past week! excited to go back to pottery tmrw, thinking about upcoming wedding gifts to make!

[therapeutic-dose]

fic authors self rec! when you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. spread the self-love~<333333

Ohhh this is neat! Thanks Wren!

So starting from oldest to most recent:

2012 A Moment More | BBC Merlin | Merthur | G | 3,719 | Complete

It's late, Arthur is drunk, and Guinevere is gone. In the cover of night, Merlin and Arthur share what can never be.

2016 Stepping Forward | Daiya no A | MiSawa | G | 1,499| Complete

The story behind "Just recently, that four-eyes finally went to Sawamura's house and got on his knees. Of course he came back with a beauty of a shiner to show for it." Wherein Kazuya and Sawamura's coming out doesn't go especially smoothly for Kazuya's face. Based on the DnA doujinshi "Last Days" by Yuta, as scanlated by Team Karaage.

2022 Tempered  | MDZS | ZhanChengXian | Explicit | 42,099 | WIP

Jiang Cheng is dying. The insidious spread of hatred's venom has lead to the beginning stages of the dissolution of the greatest gift he never wanted: Wei Wuxian's golden core. In the face of this knowledge, he must finally learn to reconcile that hatred to what it truly is, what it only ever has been... Love. Undying, unrelenting love for the man he once called brother, and the man he once called ally and friend: Wei Wuxian and his husband, Lan Wangji.

2023 The Sun Rose on a Wednesday | KP the Series | Vegas Character Study | M | 4,512 | Complete

Vegas is familiar with the taste of ash in his mouth. There are times when the fire burns out in him, the fuel of the flames exhausted. The blood and bone and skin, cruelty and torture and death, all become ash. Only ash, only dust, only the echo of a beginning and an end, a taunt from a disgruntled audience to just let his story end. He tries not to think, as he eats this meal made with hope, with trembling hands and racing heart and tears gathered at his waterline, refusing to fall until the final curtain call. There will be no encore. --- Vegas, in the aftermath of Pete.

2024 Harmony's Overture | KP the Series | KimChayMacau | M | 44,149 | Complete

When Chay planted the stupid idea for Macau to go get hammered at a sketchy bar and see if it would somehow lure Kim out of his seven years of silence, Macau had rolled his eyes. Like, in what universe would that work? Kim doesn't give a shit about him. But when Macau made one last bid to get Kim's attention, that's exactly what he did - and boy, did he ever get it. And in the aftermath, there is Porchay, his best (only) friend. His only friend, whose feelings might not be exactly friendly... — Part two of this KimChayMacau verse, this time from Macau’s point of view.

Tbh this was tough even though I only have like 21 fics on AO3 lmao. I wanted to put some older fic up so that was fun to comb back through things!

[truly-morgan]

[AA cross-over, JC moves to the US, befriend Edgeworth]

Jiang Cheng + Miles Edgeworth | Mo Dao Zu Shi Cross-over Ace Attorney + Modern AU 30-05-2022

[#mdzs #AceAttorney cross-over, #jiangcheng #milesedgeworth, modern sett.]

Jiang Cheng hadn't been surprised when he was basically shipped to America.

"We are expanding our company, I need someone to look over it in America" his father had said.

He knew very well this was all so he wouldn't be close to him all while not angering him too much his wife as he wasn't kicking him out.

But it was alright, he could roll with it, he would show them.

and with that Jiang Cheng had started to work even harder than before, ready to prove what he could do. He was pretty satisfied that the result he had were better than what anyone else had expected at first.

all this was achieved by him never really taking a break, working hard nearly every day without much care for his health.

All this to his assistant exasperation. The man had known him even before he started working at his father's company, caring about the younger man. This lead him to force him to take a break once everything was more stable and no one could really argue about the incredible job he did.

this is how Jiang Cheng ended up forced on a vacation for a weekend, driving himself to some kind of somewhat isolated retreat spa or something like this, he didn't really follow what his assistant said as he was only thinking about the work he would be missing out on ("the tickets are already bought! You have no choice but to go" he was told).

"Maybe some calm will help me" he had sighed at some point on his way there.

He did raise a brow when he saw a car speeding in the opposite direction, wondering why anyone would drive so fast away from somewhere that was meant to make you relax.

"Gumshoe, I swear your pay will be revised in the next evaluation" he heard mumbled as he got out of his car, finding a man on the side typing on his phone.

"Everything's good sir?" Jiang Cheng asked, unsure if he should really intervene with the angry-looking man.

"I am trying to call the man who dare call himself my friend, but I have no signal" the man sighed in frustration, "May I ask if you might have any?" he politely asked while joining him.

Jiang Cheng did take a look at his own phone, offering a sorry smile to the man. "No signal either" he replied, "I see I am not the only one being forced here".

The man looked a bit surprised by his word, before letting another frustrated sigh leave him. "Dare I assume it is also because you are 'working too much'?" the stranger asked.

This made Jiang Cheng chuckle a little, still a bit frustrated about it too. "Yes".

There was a silence afterwards, making Jiang Cheng a bit awkward, unsure of what to do from here. He was relieved when the man decided to extend a hand towards him, presenting himself "I am Miles Edgeworth, prosecutor".

Jiang Cheng was a little surprised. He had heard about the man more than once before, although not always presented in a good light. He did suppose it changed a bit in recent times.

"Jiang Cheng, COO of the Jiang Corp. branch in America" he said next.

Some recognition seemed to also pass on to the other man's face. He was still not used to people vaguely knowing who he was.

"Why don't we head inside?" suggested Jiang Cheng, "If we are to be stuck here, might as well settle down and have some tea".

Edgeworth seemed to think about it, before another sigh left him, this time looking resigned to stay here. "I suppose it couldn't do too much damage to take the weekend off" he admitted.

Like this they went inside, taking care of their reservation ("It must be fate, our rooms are next to each other" Jiang Cheng had joked a little when they were given their keys).

It was already getting late on a Friday night and so they decided to have dinner together. "I am sure having some company will make this trip a little bit better" Edgeworth commented.

And it did make the weekend pass by more quickly and in a less boring (and lonely) way than he first thought it would be. He dared to assume it was the same for the lawyer.

He never expected to connect so easily with the man, both borderline workaholics.

sure the treatments at the spa helped him relax, but having someone to talk about (or sometimes bitch about) work was nice and surprisingly therapeutic. He felt like he couldn't really do this with his assistant since he was still trying to keep a vague impression of professionalism between them.

After their little forced vacation, they decided to keep in contact, meeting only now and then at first, usually to have tea or dinner.

but soon their little rendez-vous became more frequent. It was their own little way to have a day away from work (before being forced to have one again) where they could talk about work without it technically really being work.

Edgeworth would complain about his cases and how bad the investigation would have gone while drinking his tea, sometimes exasperated despite something in him not complaining that justice had been done right.

"You complain about him quite a lot, but you seem to like him just as much" Jiang Cheng teased him after yet another trial where he was up against Wright. This did earn him a scoff.

"You don't see me mentioning you also enjoying a certain young master's visit more than you would let shown" the man had argued back, which man Jiang Cheng roll his eyes, not without a small smile on his lips.

Sometimes they'd be joined by Jiang Cheng's nephew as he came to visit him with his parents. The boy had been shy at first towards the other serious-looking man, but had slowly warmed up to him despite not understanding what he would say, his jiujiu needing to play translator for them.

"I sadly never learned Chinese" Edgeworth admitted with a small smile, "maybe it could be something I should pick up one day"

"I could help you if you ever need someone's help" Jiang Cheng offered with a laugh, a little a-ling also giggling with him despite not understanding what was happening before going back to his drawing.

They enjoyed sharing a good cup of tea every Saturday, talking and sometimes just sitting in silence, enjoying the time spent together. Maybe the reason they met wasn't one they enjoyed, but they weren't so mad to have find a good friend at the same time.

====

(I ran out of ideas here but maybe one day I'll pick up this cross-over, I dunno why, I just feel like I wanna see more of these two workaholic sarcastic men together)

Original

[devilishjoy]

Hello everyone!

I am new to shiftblr; I’ve only ever been on shiftok and the shifting Reddit (haven’t ever posted on either one though).

My goal for posting on here is to hopefully motivate myself to shift and motivate others, even if it’s just by posting about my drs and stuff

About Me:

I go by Krystal

I am 24

I go by she/they pronouns

I am bisexual

Autistic/ADHD

I have not shifted yet; first started in 2022

I love kpop, anime, and several movies and shows

DNI:

Racists

Homophobes/transphobes

White supremacists

Fascists

Antisemetic

Zionists

Anti shifters

Minors

Race changers

People who believe having a face claim is bad, and/or that permashifting is bad

DRs:

Warning there’s a lot of them

Active:

MCU (I have several versions for different s/o’s; Loki, Thor and Bucky as well as a Asgardian Dr; and a MCU/witcher crossover Dr s/o is Geralt)

Vampire Diaries

Hogwarts University (no s/o; I have a plot version and a plain one with none of the plot and just vibes; Marauders version; Hogwarts Legacy; as always Fuck jk Rowling so changes were made regarding racist names of characters and other things)

My Hero Academia (university, no s/o)

Dreamcatcher Dr (kpop group where I’m the 8th and youngest member)

Waiting room

Not Active:

The Witcher (Geralt s/o, surprise surprise)

Jujutsu Kaisen (Gojo, another surprise)

Attack on Titan (mainly as a precaution script in case of accidental shift so that I have safeties in place since it’s a very dangerous reality)

Walking Dead (same reason as AOT; s/o is Maggie)

Stray Kids kpop dr (none of my kpop drs have a scripted s/o cause i wanted it to be random cause I couldn’t choose; did script people I’d want to date and end up with at some point as a guideline thing)

Le sserafim kpop dr

Girls Generation kpop dr

(G)I-dle Dr

ATEEZ dr

Nyx (made up kpop girl group)

NCT dr (co-ed group so will have co-ed subunits and full girl subunits)

Twice dr

Genshin Impact

Honkai Star Rail

Untamed/MDZS (heavy on the not active cause I haven’t finished the script completely)

Avatar Last Airbender

Demon Slayer (haven’t thought about this reality in a while)

Pokémon (og show version)

Naruto

Supernatural (no s/o, leaning towards Charlie; I am sister to Sam and Dean, middle child syndrome)

Twilight (heavily changed a lot to make it less mormon-y and less creepy; no s/o but leaning towards Alice)

So Not Worth it kdrama reality (no s/o scripted)

Buffy Vampire Slayer (not finished scripting)

Lord of the Rings (want to make it a Witcher crossover; s/o would be either Legolas or Geralt)

Royalty dr (ancient times with modern plumbing and stuff; and a full modern royalty version)

That’s about it! Can’t really think of much else to add

[plumadesatada]

wait shit you’re an MDZS fan too??? did i know that already?? hell yeah mutual

BRUH

I FELL INTO MDZS IN I THINK ??? APRIL 2019 AND COULDN'T GET UP UNTIL JULY 2022

it CONSUMED me.

read the book. watched the anime. watched cql. reread the book. listened to the audio drama. season 2 of anime came out and I got everyone I knew into it. reread book. listed to the audio drama in Japanese. watched cql again hating it the whole time bc of the yin iron shit but loving it bc it's so beautiful. watched the anime again.

I believe this is the standard psychological response to encountering The Fandom That Keeps On Giving

EDIT: I CAN'T BELEIVE I FORGOT TO MENTION. I LIKED MDZS SO MUCH I STARTED LEARNING CHINESE ABOUT IT

[eleanorfenyxwrites]

2023 AO3 Stats Breakdown

I did this last year and I thought it was interesting for me to see if nothing else, so I'm doing it again this year! I didn't get my main goal done (which was finishing all my outstanding WIPs....or any of my wips....) but let's see what I did do!

Total Wordcount (approximate*): 62,285 words across 7 fics in 1 fandom

Most popular (by hits): Soldier, Poet, King (5,435) [Although if we'd like to go based on fics that were actually finished in 2023, the winner would be Why Not Me?, which I finished posting on January 29th and currently has 3,885 hits)

Most popular (by kudos): Why Not Me? (486)

Least Popular (by hits): The Romance of Anonymity (615)

Least Popular (by kudos): The Romance of Anonymity (100)

Highest Wordcount: Soldier, Poet, King (101,359) (up 22,669 words from last year, which would still put it above anything else in the list)

Lowest Wordcount: Outta Time (4,737)

*This year my approximate wordcount is EXTREMELY off. Partially because I know how much of SPK I wrote this year but not how much of Why Not Me? technically fell in 2023 so that one's more than it should be. Also, though, because I have two fics that I've been working on that I have posted absolutely nothing of, one of which is collaborative. These two projects together are another 200k easily, and while I don't know exactly how much I've contributed numerically to the collaborative fic, I've probably done roughly half, probably a bit less. That's still another ~150k that y'all haven't seen yet, and that's partly why my numbers feel so much lower than what they've been in the past.

Fic Breakdown

I only wrote for the MDZS/CQL fandom this year, and with the exception of Why Not Me? everything that I've written for has been 3zun (and that actually includes my secret projects as well). I haven't had nearly as much time to write this year as I would've liked due to real life shit, so when I do have the opportunity to write I'm much more likely to write about 3zun than anyone else as they remain my favorite ship. If we don't include Soldier, Poet, King and Why Not Me? in this year's lists, as I started them both in 2022, then in 2023 I wrote a total of 5 fics.

These 5 fics account for 35,422 words out of my total (dubious) wordcount as calculated by AO3.

1/5 was a total standalone oneshot: Cut From The Same, which was inspired by art/posts from littlesmartart and guqinandflute here on tumblr, was written for Polyship Week 2023, days 4 & 8 "Soulmates/Free Day" (I wanted to do it for day 4 but ran out of time, so I posted it on day 8 instead).

2/5 are parts of a new series: Outta Time and Roses Are Falling are the first two installments in the Orville Peck Cinematic Universe series, sparked by conversations between myself and littlesmartart about my tentative ongoing Brokeback Mountain AU, Orville Peck's music, and the appeal of cowboy culture in general.

2/5 are additions to ongoing series from 2022: The Romance of Anonymity is an installment in my 90's Strip Mall AU series, Tales From Jianghu Shopping Center, and was written to fulfill Polyship Week 2023 prompts for days 1 and 3, "Roadtrip" and "Bed Sharing", respectively. You're Safe Here is an extra for my 1970's Wangxian AU, The Sculptor, and the series is now called Lavender and Free Love. I wrote it for Polyship Week 2023 day 2, "Missing Scene" (which I didn't realize at the time meant a missing scene from somewhere in canon not from one of my own fics, but oops oh well).

With all that said - what did I actually write?

I almost exclusively posted one-shots this year, with the exception being The Romance of Anonymity, which is two brief chapters written for two separate prompts. Like I said, it's been a busy year in a lot of very good ways, but they weren't very conducive to hammering out chaptered/massive fics very quickly. That being said, Secret Project 1 is currently at 12.5 chapters with 103,939 words written, and by the time I'm done it'll probably wind up somewhere around 15 chapters/~130k at my current trajectory. Secret Project 2, the collaborative one, is currently at (I believe) 14 chapters, with ~111k words written, pre-final editing and logistics. It'll also include at least 4 extras which are currently being written. I also currently have two more active WIPs for the OPCU: a prequel NieLan-centered fic centered on Mingjue acquiring the ranch, and a post-main-timeline SangCheng fic the summer after the original fic(s) (that will also become its own series/universe like the 3zun works).

So big things coming in 2024!! I've been writing a lot behind the scenes, even with things like my first public exhibition back in May, working 40+ hours a week while also visting family back home over the summer, and now (as of September) working through the final year of my undergrad degree while simultaneously continuing to make professional connections so I'll (hopefully) have jobs to fall back on once I graduate in June.

What did I enjoy writing the most this year?

The Orville Peck Cinematic Universe, hands down. I absolutely love this universe and the art that littlesmartart makes as the other half of it, I'm slightly feral for my 3zun modern-day cowboys in love. The same as with Tales From Jianghu Shopping Center last year, I love love love having a fun, relaxing, low-stakes universe to play around in and write fluffy things that make me happy to help me offset some of the stresses of life, and I really love flexing my AU muscles to make sure everyone still (hopefully 😅) feels very natural and right in a setting so far removed from canon.

I didn't accomplish my goal of finishing any of my longstanding WIPs this year, but I'm okay with that! I still don't consider any of them to be abandoned and I do genuinely want to see them all finished one day, but for now I've given myself permission to let them sit there languishing while I make things that give me that good brain juice while my life is going through a lot of transition stages that leave me very little energy to enjoy my hobbies.

Looking ahead, this year I'll be graduating from art college; attempting to find a 'real' job that will satisfy immigration laws so I can continue to stay where I am and begin working on becoming a naturalized citizen; making and selling my ceramics on the side to begin building a solid studio practice in my local community; exhibiting my more artistic work in exhibitions both local and foreign as well as submitting it for awards to begin building up a CV; and trying to start saving money in the hopes that I can buy my house in a few years' time. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm busy as all hell and that's not going to change anytime soon, but hopefully I'll have some good writing time in 2024 and continue to be active in this fandom/community that I love so much!

Y'all are really the best and thanks for another great year 🥰

[wipbigbang]

Story Title: A Thousand Ways to Say I Love You

Fandom: MDZS/CQL

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50178154/chapters/126725656

Summary: Nie Mingjue’s world comes crashing down when his younger brother leaves for university abroad. He feels empty without his only immediate family nearby, but their relationship is complicated when Nie Huaisang sends him a nude photograph on accident. Nie Mingjue deletes it and tries to forget the incident, but with his eyes open he finds it very difficult to control both his thoughts and his heart—especially once Nie Huaisang comes home for his winter break.

Warnings: Incest

Characters: Nie Huaisang, Nie Mingjue

Pairings: Nie Huaisang/Nie Mingjue, or Niecest

When I Started: March 2022

---

Art Title: Ways of Love

Link: https://x.com/iionshi/status/1710330329838366883?s=20

Warnings: Incest