#if Mr. Jiang counts?

[sherylhooper]

There's a reason that even tho my country and my people push very hard to have us included in Europe, and discard everything that make us similar to Asia, I don't count myself as just European but more Asian, because our country is moatly located in Asia and also because the Silk Road and other Asian coutries' culture is very similar to us. That's the conversation for another time tho but when someone reads this, I want them to know that foreigners may call us white because of our skin color (even tho my ethnicity is very diverse 😒) but they still always count us as Asians because we aren't white and European enough for them.

What I want to say with that is that as much as I like that damnei, and especially MXTX books became popular, western people with their idiotic ideas make my skin crawl.

Unpopular opinion here but Wen remnants weren't innocent just because they haven't done what Wen Ruohan did. If someone doesn't something horrible, doesn't make them innocent and good. This is why I can't stand western people. Someone made a tiktok about how horrible Jiang Cheng was for leading the siege against Wei Wuxian and how horrible he was and how heroic WWX is and I wanted to make something very very clear.

MXTX herself very clearly wrote during Sunshot campaign that "no Wen took Sunshot Campaign seriously". Here it doesn't say that every Wen, besides Wen Qing and Wen Ning and Wen Qing's branch, took Sunshot Campaign seriously. No, she very clearly wrote what she wrote. People assume way too much that Wen Qing couldn't leave Wen Ruohan's side. I'm sorry but yes, yes, she could, She could've taken Wen Ning with her, gone to Lan Xichen or Nie Mingjiu and given up as a prisoner, but she didn't.

The fact very much remains: neither she, nor Wen Ning or others gave up on Wen Rouhan. They clearly expected him to win (and he was very much winning before WWX turned up with undead army and turned the tides.).

Now I want to address another thing and it's called POW, i.e. what Wen Remnants were.

The phrase, Prisoner of War for the first time, has been used in 1610 but the idea of losing side of war being "either slaughtered of enslaved" has been there since ancient times: Romans, Greeks, Turk Sejuks, Turk Ottomans, Persians, Arabs, Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, etc. They all have taken people from losing side of war as prisoners.

Now I want to adress what these POW were used as - "Typically, victors made little distinction between enemy combatants and enemy civilians, although they were more likely to spare women and children. Sometimes the purpose of a battle, if not a war, was to capture women, a practixe known as raptio."

My people were part of raptio many times, as our enemies captured women from my country because they were beautiful and they wanted to "verbessern" (improve) their blood and bred them for that purpose as disgusting as it sounds, this is a very reason why many foreign leaders in history, especially in Asia, had my people as grandmas or mothers, most of the time unwillingly and my people also took their own life before that kind of fate would befall on them too.

That was what happened to women prisoners after war most of the time, as for men, they were used to work manually almost every time for their captors.

Now, as much as Jin Guangshan and Jin Zixun make me very very angry, (not because how they acted against Wens but because they were simply disgusting people) they weren't wrong to take Wen Remnants in and make them work manually till they died (what could be argued that Jin Zixun was wrong in following that bat and capturing and impriaoning WN and his group during nighthunt). If everything WWX acting the way he acted was abnormal. He literally stole and freed them and went to the enemy's side.

Here is where I want people reading this to forget their western opinions and Geneva Convention (which was created in 1949 AFTER two world wars.). I know that most of them and their countries have never been to war in near history (USA involvement in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in iran, in many other countries doesn't count and neither does WW1 and WW2), have never had their people expeciance genoc!de so I want them to shut their mouth and listen to us, who have had wars at the hands oppressors and colonizators for more than 2000 years, yes two thousand years, who have experienced genoc!de multiple times. Even nowdays 20% of my country is occupied by our oppressors and we had 2 wars in last 32 years also at the hands of them. In 1992-1993 and in 1998 my people experienced ethnic cleansing alongside with our allies at the hands of Russians. And last war we had was in 2008, which I remember very well and it was hardly a war and more likely bombing the civilians!

Keep that in mind that I actually was in Jiang Cheng's shoes and understand that I also have a sibling. If, God above forbid, my sibling after what happened to us, got up, defected and went to Russians side, I'd kill that traitor with my own two fucking hands!!

Does people even understand what kind of bullshit they are speaking when they say that WWX was actually not wrong to take "innocent" Wens' side? There was no such thing as innocent people there!! They were elders, sure, but you can't make me believe that if they were younger they wouldn't fight in that war or that WRH wouldn't force them to fight. Did anyone from Wen Remnants say "oh, Wen Ruohan was such a bad person, we weren't actually on his side even tho we never defected during the war but just because we have done nothing against others, we are innocent". That doesn't work like that. They couldn't have been innocent when they stayed by WRH's side in the war!! At best, they simply were indifferent in it! They alao profited from war. Funding, medicine, etc have to come from somewhere, right?

Now I want to adress Wen Ning and Wen Qing and why I don't particulary care about them. Wen Qing was a healer, we have to understand that today's medical ethics that was created by Thomas Percival, is different from what physicians thought was correct in antient times, especially in ancient China.

"The traditional Chinese medical ethics emphasized heavily on physician's morality and set high standarts for medical practice. To summarie the ideas in these historical works, the phyaicians nuat rescue every like without any preconditions."

At that time there was no such thing as patient's automony. For that reason we can't fault WQ when she performed the golden core transplatation. She just did what WWX asked her.

There'a one thing that I'm gonna argue tho. When WQ and WN saved Jiang Cheng from other Wens, WQ told WWX that their debt from now on was null and void.

So when people say that Jiang Cheng should've always be in debt with her, is actually not correct. I also want to argue that she trully only cared for her brother. When she fell on her knees in front of WWX, she only wanted him to save Wen Ning. Nowhere did she say "oh, Jin clan is treating my branch so horrible, we all want to save ourselves. Help me save them."

Now about Wen Ning. He is a guy who has no other personality than just being m nice. He helped JC and WWX after Jiang Sect annihilation and that was also because he was nice. He is just a nice guy, nothing more, nothing less. He just exists to be "just nice guy".

I can't seem to force myself to care about him.

Someone on above mentioned tiktok commented and I quote:

"there is nothing jc went through that was significantly worse than what others went through yet people baby him so much 🙄 sry i don’t like mr genocide everyone"

The tiktok author replied:

"NO FR like “he lost his family” hate to break it to u bud but so did like. Everyone else … it was kind of a war,,,"

Did I read it correctly or did they simply compared Jiang Sect Genocide to people losing one or two relatives in the war??

The author in their bio had "free Palestine". Unfortunatelly that comment here clearly speaks that they don't actually care about anyone's genocide and they probably only do it for the trend.

Apparently these people also think that Jiang Cheng hunted down that tortured "pure innocent Demonic Cultivators for fun".

Are they dumb or do they trully think that these Demonic Cultivators all were like WWX and not blood-hungry like Xue Yang?? The only remotelly normal Demonic Cultivator was WWX!! Nowhere did MXTX say, even in interviews that JC hunted Demonic Cultivators for fun! Some people have never read a book in their life and it shows!

Especially when they act as if WWX was second coming of Jesus and has never done anything wrong.

First of all, WWX did, in fact, have an army in Burial Mounds, the army of undead, fierce corpses and ghosts. That army may not have Wen Remnants, but it was still an army! Also wasn't WWX the one who wrote death threats with his own blood and sent them different sects? He, obviously, wasn't in right mind at that time but he really was the threat to the Jianghu. He was arrogant and, what we know is that Jiang Cheng led the siege (please, remember that we also hear that from other people - who love rumors and speculation and etc. We don't know for sure if JC led the siege or not.).

WWX did betray him. He left him alone when he took Wen Remnants. They were brothers!! What kind of older brother abandons their little sibling? Wei Ying also indirectly caused Jiang YanLi's death. Mind you, Wei Ying didn't die on the same day as JYL, but three months later.

That alone left Jiang Cheng trully alone with a newborn nephew!!

It's a wonder he didn't go out of his mind.

Just because WWX suffered doesn't mean other people, especially Jiang Cheng didn't lose everything in the world. He had to revive a dead sect with his two very hands in his early twenties.

Some people also don't understand what kind of power vacuum Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan's deaths created! Take cultivation out of the novel and you are left with 5 big sect with Sect Leaders who are like the kings in their own land! People pay taxes here canonically. Do some people trully believe that Yumeng Jiang would remain untouched when there was no Jiang Sect left to rule it? Jin Guangshan and other sects, big or small, would start fighting over the land. Jiang Cheng had more problems at his hands than caring about leftover Wens and the problems that Wei Wuxian created because at that time, when he stole Wens from Jin Sect, he was still a part of AND the Head Disciple of Jiang Sect 🤌🏻

Wen Ruohan wiped out one of the 5 big sects and he may have done the same if Wei Wuxian didn't insult Wen Chao, but he indirectly gave Wen Chao the reason to hate Jiang Sect even more than his father's brainwashing and people think it's not that important.

People also genuinely hate Lan Xichen because he never cared about Wen Remnants enough to take them in or save them 🤦‍♀️

Wei Wuxian should also have cared enough for his sect to at least help JC revive it or something as his Head Disciple. Him giving JC his golden core meant nothing at that time, I said what I said! Especially because he didn't know! 🤷‍♀️ I blame Jiang Fengmian for raising him all highty and mighty and lone wolf or smt, but that's the discussion of another time.

I trully believe that some people read the novel with their eyes closed! This here is exactly why I hate westerns so much when they seriously think that JC is the worst character and hate him more than Wen Ruohan, Jin Guangyao/Meng Yao and Jin Guangshan 🤌🏻

MDZS fandom is clearly very toxic and I'm very glad I'm not a part of it. I'll stay in my SVSSS bubble for eternity.

P.S. just so I can make something very clear. The Siege didn't happen because of Wen Remnants as Jin Zixun allowed WWX to take them away, but because WWX killed Jin Zixuan, who was a sect heir and also husband of his Shijie. Wen Ning killed him indirectly, WWX had no control over his abilities, he was powerfull but with no control and his mind was deteriorating at that time. He was a danger to the cultivation world. Siege happened because of him, against him, and Wen Remnants died as a colletal demage. Morally right or wrong, what he created was a political disaster and it ended with every Wen, excluding WN and Wen Yuan, and with himself dead!

UPDATE. someone from China reblogged this post and called me quite horrible things, but that's okay. They also questioned if my people have even gove thro genocide at all. Okay, denial of my people's genocide is not new either. What they said next was that Siege of Burrial Mounds was a genocide of Wen Remnants. No, actually it wasn't. They died as an collateral demage because Wei Wuxian was there, that's the tragedy. I'm gonna repeat once again, Siege happened because of WWX, not because of Wens.

Another thing what they said is that people have empathy that I lack and I'm a horrible person for that, and I should be ashamed for even thinking that or that I'm Chinese literature to spread my hate, etc, etc.

My empathy died when things such these happened to my people.

Mind you, this is only one, one single city and it's not even the whole list of crimes they have done. I'm gonna find and update this post once again, cuz it's clear that I need to spread awereness, I won't let their names be forgotten...

Today the remains of 12 people, who were considered as "lost during war", were found and transferred to my country for burial and it was very emotional as many remains still haven't been found after 30+ years yet and people still hope that there could be even a single bone found and returned so they can bury it.

So, yeah, I bury whatever empathy I have left with the remains of people everytime something like this happens. Every time people deny the genocide of my people, every time these people call US colonizers and many degrading things, saying that we oppressed them when in reality it was other way around, when we couldn't speak our language, when they called it the "dog's language" and and laughed at it, couldn't get any service if we spoke it and they mockingly told us to speak "human language", which to them was Russian, WE were oppressed in our own country and land and they took everything from us and made the world believe that we were oppressors and colonizers, they even stole the name of our region for themselves....

And no one in the world did anything about this because they didn't care. So no, everytime I'll always imagine myself in JC's shoes that I'm asked to care about ethnic Russians and Apsuas, I simply can't care, don't care and won't even care unless justice is served, unless all the land they have stolen is returned, unless they all apologize for what they have done and stop spreading lies about us....

So, good for you, if you have empathy and are a better person, unfortunately, I am not...

[tls123]

tag 9 people to get to know them better! tagged by the lovelies @cardinalvalentino and @petesdragon

they had different questions on their posts so i'm mashing them together: bold-only is questions in common, blue is from ten's post, and pink from gilly's post

last song/album: camille by chlothegod

currently watching: nothing ):

last tv show: mr. & mrs. smith

last film: i've yet to watch a single film this year so it's either sleeping beauty if rewatches count and it's mockingjay part two if they don't

sweet spicy or savory: probably savory <3

three ships: just random ones?? uhhh yoohan, hankim, and kimyoo from orv and no it's not cheating to do it like this, i'm pretty sure

favourite colour: yellow <3

first ship: no clue, i don't know when my brain made the shift between the casual "oh i would like it if they were together" to actively shipping something but it's probably something boring and mainstream for the time, i thankfully did not keep a list

last thing i looked up online: an italian word to make sure i wasn't misremembering how to use it lmao

current location: on the floor in my room

relationship status: what's that post that goes "i think i've protected my peace a little too well"

current obsession: none, though i'm always in a constant state of rotating jiang cheng in my mind so maybe that counts

tagging: anyone who'd like to do this <3

[mqfx]

id love to hear your thoughts on jyl! freudian or otherwise, with however many mentions of soup that you prefer 🥺🤲

just saw this :0 well i wouldn't say that i have many intelligent thoughts about jyl anymore especially since i don't really get the chance to talk about mdzs / cql much so i'm afraid i'll have to disappoint you on this count (which makes me a hypocrite i know)

but i did go insane below this line so watch out!

but i will say again what i said a few weeks back about us (fandom, society--you choose) missing out on a broader richer storytelling experience (?) when we continue to look over women's stories to get to the "more interesting" men because "well the author made more content about them so there's more to work with". not gonna belabor this point bc many have already pointed out that people will come up with all sorts of elaborate headcanons to talk about mr. blorbo who showed up in the back for ten seconds but nary a word to spare for the women who did quite a lot of narrative heavy lifting. did you know that i literally found a fic where wen chao becomes a ghost and gets together with qi rong in the underworld? do you see the same effort given to women with a similar level of narrative importance or prominence?

in this case part of it IS the fault of mxtx; more named men have died in mdzs than there are named women characters in it altogether (and even then, most of those women died too!). let's count:

women: wen qing, granny wen, jiang yanli, yu ziyuan, luo qingyang (mianmian), baoshan sanren, cangse sanren, a-qing, madam jin, jinzhu and yinzhu, meng shi (jgy's mom), qin su (jgy's wife). i bolded the ones who are dead by the end of the series (total: 13 women, 11 of whom are dead)

"important" men who died: wei changze, jiang fengmian, jin guangshan, jin zixuan, jin zixun, jin guangyao, jin rusong (child), su she, wen chao, wen zhuliu, wen ruohan, wen xu, wen ning (came back), song lan, xiao xingchen, xue yang, nie mingjue, wei wuxian (came back), mo xuanyu (total dead: 19, or 17 if you don't count the resurrected, 16 if you don't count the child)

13 total women characters vs let's say 16 dead men. and i'm sure i missed a few (<- nearly forgot xue yang) but who cares right now. what does this say about mxtx's priorities as a writer, or at the very least how women figure in her imagination?

''but charlie! they had a great impact on the narrative!" this is true. without meng shi's suffering there would be no raison d'etre for jin guangyao. without baoshan sanren's teachings there would be no xiao xingchen and song lan's tragedy, and no a-qing means we wouldn't even have known. no cangse sanren means no wei wuxian means no story at all. no wen qing = no core transfer. no jiang yanli = no jin ling, no yunmeng brothers, no heart to tether them from falling off the edge of morality (both have committed heinous acts in war regardless but jiang yanli represents for them why they had to do it. she's their home and their family that they fought to protect--and for what!) i could go on with each one, but my point is that if you take even one of these women out of the story, it all falls apart, right?

so why don't i hear anything about them?

and because you asked and i love you, let's focus on jiang yanli here: WHY is she more often than not excluded or otherwise glossed over in all the myriad discussions about how tragic the yunmeng brothers are? was she not also their sibling, their family? did she not also suffer the war and the near-total wipeout of her sect? the death of her husband? she DID but no one seems to give a shit about her unless it's to fucking call her SOUP as if that's the only thing she did!

no paragaph-long popular elegiac posts on her experiences and the incredible fortitude it might have taken not only to withstand all that but to do so with nothing but forgiveness? (speaking of forgiveness: that she forgive jin zixuan at all? out of unwavering love????) because it's not easy to stay kind in regular real-life conditions let alone what she had to face, on top of which was the daily terror that she might lose the last three people in her family she depended on as a non-powerful woman in a misogynistic society. how much of this was because mxtx couldn't be assed to develop her character, and how much of it is actually because despite what mxtx might have written, most people would not even notice because she's a woman?

the thing with interpreting fictional works or talking about characters is that you can't accurately pinpoint how much of the character was authorial intent, how much is your projection, and how much was a happy accident. what makes the curtains blue? i could just as easily say that "jiang yanli was the strongest character in mdzs because unlike the men who used their pain to justify their descents into crimes, heinous acts, and corruption, she (who had suffered equally or worse) managed to remain steadfast to her principles" as i could "jiang yanli remained static as a character because mxtx couldn't think of a way to develop her, or otherwise didn't give a shit about her role aside from sacrificial lamb for wei wuxian's and jiang cheng's pain".

but we can't even get to those goddamn discussions when people refuse to take her as seriously as they take their fucking war criminal beeboos so i'd be wasting everyone's FUCKING TIME

[fiercewiings]

♡ Introduction and Rules ♡

Hi there! My name is Topaz, I’m 22 years old, and I go by she/they pronouns! I’m an illustration student who also enjoys writing, hence why this writing blog was born haha (▰˘◡˘▰)

I enjoy writing just about anything, but especially hurt/comfort, fluff, and angst ! I also love to write headcanons, ships, platonic stuffs, and even some nsfw on occasion ;) all of my work is going to be gender neutral unless stated otherwise !

♡ Requests are officially open! ♡

To start off, here are some of the main fandoms I am in and who I will write for in said fandoms, everyone listed can be written for NSFW requests unless otherwise stated:

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Untamed/TGMoDC) *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Seniors:

Lan Zhan

Wei Wuxian

Lan Xichen

Jiang Cheng

Jiang Yanli

Jin Guangyao

Nie Huaisang

Wen Ning

Wen Qing

Juniors (ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW):

Jin Ling

Lan Sizhui

Lan Jingyi

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official’s Blessing) *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Hua Cheng

Xie Lian

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Faraway Wanderers (TYK/Word of Honor) *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Seniors:

Zhou Zishu

Wen Kexing

Ye Baiyi

Juniors (ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW):

Gu Xiang

Cao Weining

Zhang Chengling

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Chainsaw Man *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Devil Hunters:

Aki Hayakawa

Kobeni Higashiyama

Kishibe

Quanxi

Angel

Devils/Fiends (ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW):

Beam

Denji

Power

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Spy x Family *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Loid Forger (Twilight)

Yor Forger (Thorn Princess)

Franky Franklin

Sylvia Sherwood

Fiona Frost (Nightfall)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* My Hero Academia *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Students (ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW):

Izuku Midoriya (Deku)

Katsuki Bakugou

Ochako Uraraka

Shouto Todoroki

Tenya Iida

Eijirou Kirishima

Hanta Sero

Mashirao Ojirou

Denki Kaminari

Mina Ashido

Momo Yaoyorozu

Fumikage Tokoyami

Tsuyu Asui

Kyouka Jiro

Hitoshi Shinsou

Villains:

Kai Chisaki (Overhaul)

Himiko Toga (NO NSFW)

Tomura Shigaraki

Mr. Compress

Twice

Dabi

Pro Heroes:

Keigo Takami (Hawks)

Rumi Usagiyama (Mirko)

Shinji Nishiya (Kamui Woods)

Shouta Aizawa (Eraserhead)

Hizashi Yamada (Present Mic)

Taishiro Toyomitsu (Fatgum)

Toshinori Yagi (All Might)

Nemuri Kayama (Midnight)

Emi Fukukado (Ms. Joke)

Mirio Togata

Tamaki Amajiki

Nejire Hado

Nana Shimura

Sir Nighteye

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Jujutsu Kaisen *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Students (ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW):

Yuuji Itadori

Megumi Fushiguro

Nobara Kugisaki

Maki Zenin

Toge Inumaki

Kasumi Miwa

Professional Sorcerers:

Gojou Satoru

Nanami Kento

Ieri Shoko

Special Grades/Vengeful Spirits:

Sukuna

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Demon Slayer *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Demon Slayers (ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW):

Tanjiro Kamado

Inosuke Hashibira

Zenitsu Agatsuma

Nezuko Kamado

Kanao Tsuyuri

Hashira (NSFW OK):

Giyuu Tomioka (Water)

Kyojuro Rengoku (Fire)

Mitsuri Kanroji (Love)

Obanai Iguro (Serpent)

Shinobu Kocho (Insect)

Demons:

Tamayo

Yushiro

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

General Characters (ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW):

Josuke Higashikata

Okuyasu Nijimura

Koichi Hirose

Reimi Sugimoto

Mikitaka Hazekura

Yukako Yamagishi

Giorno Giovanna (Haruno Shiobana)

Narancia Ghirga

Pannacotta Fugo

Trish Una

General Characters (NSFW OK):

Jonathan Joestar

Erina Pendleton

Joseph Joestar

Caesar A. Zeppeli

Lisa Lisa

Suzi Q

Jotaro Kujo (after Part 3 ONLY)

Muhammad Avdol

Noriaki Kakyoin (after Part 3 ONLY/AUs)

Jean Pierre Polnareff

Holy Kujo

Rohan Kishibe

Tomoko Higashikata

Shinobu Kawajiri

Bruno Bucciarati

Leone Abbachio

Guido Mista

Jolyne Cujoh

Ermes Costello

Foo Fighters

Narciso Anasui

Antagonists:

DIO (all parts)

Hol Horse

Yoshikage Kira

Diavolo

Risotto Nero

Melone

Ghiaccio

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

General Characters (ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW):

Hanako-kun

Nene Yashiro

Minamoto Kou

Mitsuba Sousuke

Akane Aoi

Nanamine Sakura

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* The Arcana: Visual Novel *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The Main Six:

Asra Alnazar

Julian (Ilya) Devorak

Nadia Satrinava

Portia (Pasha) Devorak

Count Lucio

Muriel

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* THE RULES ! *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

What I will write:

Headcanons

Scenarios

Imagines

Reactions

Alphabets

Song fics

Plus size readers/characters

Body insecurities

Mental health (anxiety/panic disorders mostly but I will put warnings!!)

LGBTQ+ readers/characters (including poly and ace!! I am queer myself ^-^)

TW// What I will NOT write:

Any kind of p*dophilia (aka romantic relationships between adults/minors/teachers/students)

Illegal drug use (weed/marijuana is ok)

R*pe or inc*st

Don’t be shy to pop in my inbox and request something or just to talk ! :> Anyways, I hope you will enjoy your stay and remember, you’re loved!!

♡ Requests are officially open! ♡

[vyvesvi]

just started asia super young 😅 funny how a show can seem super popular when you're out of the loop but when you finally start watching it's crickets

this is my first time watching a youku show, i like the pacing BUT I HATE the fact that they cut so much from the free eps (free is 1 hr vip is 2.5+ 🫠). so like the irresponsible working adult i am i committed to monthly subscription (that i WILL remember to cancel the day the finale airs 😁). the other thing that i find really disappointing is that free voting on the youku app doesn't count towards their rank, it's just for extra promo 🫠 apparently you need to pay separately through their site or have a weibo associated with a mainland # (acc to fans based in hk w weibo accounts they can't even vote. when the show is filming in hk. and conducted half in canto.)

but i WILL be tuning in even though im desperately confused about everything. i watched eps 1 - 3 using the free version so im gonna do a quick recap and hopefully start catching up with the extra content tomorrow 🙏

ASY PICKS (based on ep 1 - 3)

ults: gemini (hoàng huệhùng/huang huixiong) & albert (aihe)

these two...how could you not say cunt. gemini is a 99 liner from vietnam, a short king, his nose is pierced, his dancing is clean, and his vocals are great. does he speak chinese? no. but does he serve face? like his life depends on it (because it does). he's already on my list of survival show contestants who will live on in my brain in perpetuity. aihe is the other main slayer from the same audition group (medusa). just look at him. he walked out and i went bitch???? he's like if hu yetao and xue bayi had a baby that was mad as hell. he's an 03 liner from xinjiang, pretty good vocals, and great dance skills. had to use that shitty laptop pic bc it just radiates his whole vibe.

i like you!: vic (zhang shengxi), orenda (shuhao), walker (wang kun), kong sonhei (jiang xinxi), & karl (ting tzelong)

vic is a 2000 liner & and member of enone. his rank is so oddly low bc he gets pretty good screentime and is very talented?

shuhao is a 2000 liner. he wasnt a pick until he did his solo rap but he's the best rapper, undisputed, on this show. plus he composed & produced & wrote & arranged their group's whole audition song? kingie.

walker is an 05 liner with a musical theatre background. to me he has a very broadcaster type face - kind and open. i noticed him mostly for how he was taking care of his younger audition partner, it was very very cute 🙄(🥹).

xinxi is an 02 liner & a member of the yuehua brigade. member of the bg boyhood (all of whom are competing) and i believe the theme song center. but more importantly, he's my birthday buddy!😁🥳 i'll admit to noticing him first bc of the bday thing - i was actually pretty unimpressed by boyhood's audition. still, he's a very good/solid boy group member to have.

karl (ting tzelong) is a 97 liner with roots in canada & hong kong. he's a Fantastic singer and was the runner up in the mr. hong kong contest? don't think he can dance but that voice, singing or speaking...

i know you & ur fun: ollie

ollie (06, under yuehua) was on boys planet so im very familiar with him (side note but this show has so many former iqiyi show contestants but none from tencent 😭). honestly he's not a pick for me but i like his energy, he's a great variety member. also i don't want to see him lose so 😭 that said i've always thought he raps like he's reading a children's book but he's graduated to slam poetry🎉

hmmm: sky (zhao tianyi)

so. sky's audition was iconic. this 14 y/o kid sang, rapped, played the piano, synths, talkbox, did streetdance, and jumped into a split. he clearly loves music & is very intense about follow this passion. but 1) he's 14. 2) he clearly wants to be a soloist, thus far i can't see a single team player bone in his body. these things combined have put him lower on my list (i especially didn't really care for how he interacted with gemini during the team selection but we'll see if that continues in ep 4). but he's here currently for his talent.

keeping an eye out: archie (sin ching fung), hugo (wong singcheuk) & service (sun xiaowei)

archie (98) is a singer, he sings! but honestly so many ppl on this show are good & he can't really dance so...we'll see

hugo (03, apex member) ...in his audition he looked like a member of my token bg POW lol. he has a lot of potential i just need to see more

service (03) i saw some star potential in his audition, we'll see

[ichverdurstehier]

wen qing anon here🌼

No,no. If we're talking body modification/desecration,MDZS definitely goes in the opposite direction,as we see various characters whose bodies are very far from how their parents made them(Wei Wuxian&Jiang Cheng core transfer,Songxiao eye transfer,Wen Ning&Song Lan as fierce corpses)

Also many confucian ideals when it comes to how women should behave are misogynistic af,so fuck that guy,sorry.

It might be set in fantasy China but it's very much written by a 21st century woman,so it's not wrong to think of how these characters might be like,in a modern setting

Wei Ying might have even started as a pronoun respecter. He would probably not give a fuck about what people do to their bodies,might even encourage transition. But he also stands up for innocent people,even if it destroys his reputation.

I actually didn't care that much about what trans people do,but I can't stand sexism disguised as progressive thinking. I won't accept the harrassment of women going on right now,and call it justified. If I see an incel gaslighting women,I'm not going to pretend he's a "lesbian" just cause he threatens me and wears a skirt.

Actually that's why I liked MDZS so much. It's very hard to hold on to truth when everyone is peddling lies,but it has characters who do that,and it gives me hope.

🌸🌸🌸😊

Fair point on the body modification. The whole fierce corpses deal is also desecration of a corpse, the eye transfer counts as Xiao Xingchen desecrating his body. MDZS does not really seem to follow that rule now that you mention it lol.

This is going to be a REALLY unpopular opinion on radblr, but I honestly agree with a lot of confucian ideals, except for the sexism. The whole harmony with nature, man is not above nature but part of nature, respect the elders, etc, that vibes with me. And the "no desecrating the body your parents gave you" I think should be implemented over here bco some of the people here look like my sixth grade desk! Anyway back to Confucius. I remember we learned about him briefly in junior year in history class, I was quite irritated to find the quote about one hundred women is not worth one testicle. Is your mother aware you said that Mr confucius? I hope she whipped your ass. Apparently he also said educated women were useless?! What he said about men needing to be better and improve themselves and cultivate compassion and such like.

It's cool that MDZS gives you hope to tell the truth! Tbh I think lan wangji would be 'transphobic' from the start, citing the "no desecration of your body" as to why gender transition is wrong, failing to mention all the confucian rules he breaks daily (I don't have them memorized) Wei Wuxian would try to divert a fight by flirting with lan wangji and then getting a detention, which was ofc his goal all along. Then when a genderist called lan wangji a homophobic slur for being homosexual, Wei Wuxian would really get pissed, say the truth, and get cancelled off to yiling where he starts a vegetable farm while everyone is convinced he's plotting a trans genocide.

Now that I think about it, the paralleles are definitely there.

Anyway anon feel free to dm me! Or keep anonning (is that a word? It is now!)

[allhailqueenb-blog1]

Rebirth of the Treacherous Official's Madam

Chapter 86-87

At this time, there was a huge crunching sound, and the entire tea cup flew directly to the wall. Instantly, the porcelain pieces shattered and flew. People who were close to the place were affected and quickly ran away. "Shut up!" Ming Huayue shouted angrily, her voice shaking the sky, "What are you making all this noise about? If you have anything to say, please explain it to me one sentence at a time! If you keep making trouble like this, don't blame me for being rude!"

At this time, the hall became quiet. Everyone in the second room of the Xun family was livid. Mrs. Xun's second wife had tears on her face. The remaining relatives, friends and guests were still astonished. Everyone listened to the daughter-in-law in charge who spoke with trepidation. one time. To put it simply, it means that Xun Che went to the Jiang family in Liuzhou to pick up Xun Yan, but when Xun Che arrived, Xun Yan had already set off. Xun Che ignored the Jiang family's dissuasion and insisted on chasing Xun Yan's carriage. Xunyan's horse was frightened, and Xunyan overturned and fell into the water on the edge of the Yunjiang River at the junction of Liuzhou and Jizhou. This was simply appalling. After hearing this, Mrs. Xun immediately began to curse Xun Che for being a wolf. Mrs. Xun Er wanted to go over and pull Ming Huayue away again, but she was too intimidated by Ming Huayue's force and momentum and did not dare to act. She could only go to the old lady and cry loudly. All the relatives and friends in the house didn't know what to say, and Ming Huayue was speechless for a moment. After all, Xun Che still hadn't returned to Beijing at this moment. Although she didn't believe that Xun Che would do this, she didn't have any strong words to respond. Fortunately, Ming Jincheng had already re-entered the flower hall at this time. He quickly said a few words to Yu Lingxin and Xun Cong before striding forward: "Everyone, please sit down first. People inside and outside the Hou Mansion have been ordered to seal off the investigation. It should be very soon." There will be results soon.”

"Seal down and interrogate?" Mr. Xun Er, who was full of anger, was stunned for the first time. He glanced at Ming Jincheng and then at Ming Huayue, who also didn't fully understand. "Isn't it not enough that the prince has harmed Yan'er? My sister-in-law can also kill Mantang." Are all the guests silenced at home?” "Mr. Xun, be careful what you say." Ming Jincheng has always looked down upon the second wife of the Xun family. As the eldest son and grandson of the Duke of Jin, he has also been appointed to the Ministry of War for two years. Even though he is young, he is not a junior like Xun Cong or Xun Ying. . Especially as Ming Huayue's nephew, he felt Master Xun Er's unkindness to Ming Huayue, and his anger arose in his heart, and he unconsciously revealed a bit of murderous intent, "It's not yet known whether your love will live or die. Only Based on a few words from this servant, he said that Prince Wen'an was planning to murder. If there is no real evidence, this is a false accusation! " Mr. Xun Er's expression changed, but looking at the tall, heroic and tough Ming Jincheng, he really didn't have the confidence to press hard. What's more, Ming Jincheng had no interest in entangled with him, but after a pause, he continued: "Even if something really happened to the eldest lady, when the prince returns to Beijing, there will naturally be a clear explanation. Now. Before the prince came back, someone was spreading some sensational words in front of the public. It really had to be investigated. " As he said that, he waved his hand, and then some soldiers came in to catch the wife. "What are you doing!" Master Xun said angrily, "You want to kill people and silence them? Mr. Ming, this is our Xun family!" "How can a slave who conveyed a message and was not a witness at the time count as a silencer?" At this time, Xun Cong understood more and more what Yu Lingxin had just said to him. He also took a step forward and said loudly, "If my second uncle really cares about the life and death of my eldest cousin, Shouldn't we first ask who sent this message and how true it is? What's wrong with the Feng Mansion search? I also want to see who is so capable and sent such incredible news!" The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became subtle. The shocked and crying look on the steward's wife's face was completely frozen. She didn't know how to change the situation, or even who to cry to, but she was kicked off by Ming Jincheng's soldiers without even touching the ground. Lifted it out directly.

Ming Huayue also reacted at this time and shouted even more mercilessly: "Let's just say, even if there is something really wrong with the big girl, she should have reported it privately, and she is making such a noise in front of such people. It is really shameless. ! Let’s find out later who sent this news. Second brother and sister, second master, let’s talk about it! " "My Yan'er!" The old lady suddenly cried a few more times, "Who is it that has evil intentions and wants to harm you? It just doesn't want to see you well! Yan'er…" Suddenly she rolled her eyes and seemed to have fainted. . "Mother!" "Grandma!" Mr. Xun Er and Mrs. Xun Er hurriedly cried and called for the imperial doctor. Although their expressions were a bit too stiff, it was better than staying there to face Ming Huayue. The panicked family surrounded the old man like a farce. The wife then helped her to the back. The remaining relatives, friends and guests were more and more stunned. What is going on? Those with a flexible mind will inevitably start to make calculations—— As mentioned earlier, the accident that happened to the eldest girl Xun Yan was caused by the crown prince Xun Che. Although it was very shocking, it was just an internal strife that had been seen among high-ranking ministers. And then Ming Jincheng's response was simply thunderous. He sealed the house first and interrogated later. The second wife of the Xun family had no room to retreat at all. After all, it was the wife in charge of the family who came in to report, so the words she said must have been reported by someone, right? Then who reported it? How did this person know? With the ability of Xun Che, the prince of Wen'an Hou, if he really killed Xun Yan, could he still survive and come back to report the news? On the other hand, if Xun Che did not harm Xun Yan, the person who spread these words would be worthy of trial. The most important thing in this method of immediately sealing the house is "immediately", because logically speaking, the wife in charge must have come in immediately to report the news, so the person who reported the news must still be in the house, and she has found the inevitable answer. It is a rigorous trial, and who knows what will happen next. But it would be more interesting if you can't find anyone. That means someone taught this daughter-in-law what she said early on and just waited for this time to come and preach it. If the move to seal the mansion was a moment later, the wife said that the person who sent the message had already escaped… In short, no matter what, this little plum blossom appreciation banquet was really exciting! Less than half an hour later, a more exciting follow-up came. The so-called messenger boy had been found. Ming Jincheng personally took the boy and the steward's wife to the Jingzhao Yamen, and never sent them to Xun again. No matter how much the parents' room and the second room struggle with each other.

When the relatives, friends and guests were finally able to say goodbye, everyone was filled with wonder and doubt - it seemed that the Xun family was about to collapse. But, what happened to Xun Che and Xun Yan? Chapter 86 A huge uproar This question has been lingering in Yu Lingxin's mind for a whole day. Xun Che left the capital on October 23rd, and the interrogation inside and outside the capital was lifted on October 24th. Even if Xunyan rushed to Liuzhou that day, there was no way he could return to the Jiang family earlier than Xun Che. Unless Xun Yan abandoned his carriage and replaced his horse, and rushed on regardless of life and death, there might still be a glimmer of hope. But the weather at the end of October was already very cold, and Xun Yan had never practiced martial arts, so his body should not be able to bear such a run.

However, according to the wife in charge of Wen'an Hou Mansion, Xun Yan not only arrived, but also arrived before Xun Che, so he turned back to Beijing earlier than Xun Che, and then something happened on the way. How true or false is this sentence? In other words, where is the lie in this matter? When the Xun family was in trouble, the focus of everyone in the second room was obviously "Xun Che harmed Xun Yian". If they really wanted to follow their words and argue, the most likely thing they could say was "Xun Che didn't, or didn't." Will harm Xunyan." But what if this whole thing is fake? The Jiang family said that Xun Yan had already set off before Xun Che arrived. In other words, Xun Che probably had no chance to see Xun Yan. So how could they be sure that the person in the carriage was Xun Yan? If Xunyan really overturns her car and falls into the water, will she live or die at this moment? If Xun Yan was not in the car, where was the real Xun Yan? The most important thing is, what does the real instigator behind the wife in charge want to do? And he still shouted it out directly at such a small banquet. Didn't he just want to spread the news to the outside world? This was what puzzled Yu Ling the most. If this was the second room's plan, then their focus should be to find a way for Xun Yan to go home, rather than die outside. It couldn't be that Xun Yan risked his life to frame Xun Che for murder?

Of course, there is another possibility, that is, this matter is a strategy of outsiders, such as Princess Ruiyang or people from the Zhu family, who directly designed to kill Xun Yan and then blame Xun Che, thereby promoting infighting within the Xun family and destroying Xun. Clear reputation. But this doesn't seem like it. When Yu Lingxin recalled what she saw at the Wen'an Marquis Mansion, she always felt that everyone in the second room of the Xun family accepted the news too quickly and their reaction was not natural enough. There must be some connection. So, I don’t know what the truth is, but we will have to wait until Xun Che returns to Beijing to find out. While Yu Lingxin was also puzzled, news about the infighting in the Xun family and Xun Yan's accident had spread quietly. Even Yu Boxheng, who had just returned home on the fifth day of November, had also heard about it, so when he heard Mrs. Yu mention Ming Huayue's love for each other, he immediately shook his head: "Marriage with the Xun family? This It’s not appropriate, no, no, no.” As soon as this statement came out, the whole family was stunned. Including Yu Lingxin, no one expected that Yu Boxheng would oppose this marriage. "There have been a lot of turmoil in the court recently." Yu Boxheng was originally a little worried about Yu Lingxin sitting next to the old lady at the moment, but after thinking about it, he felt that it would be better to explain the stakes clearly to his young daughter, so he continued, "In the palace The situation is also tense. Prince Wen'an is only eighteen years old and has already been appointed as Zhongshu Changshi. He used to be the attendant of His Highness the King of Qin. He is always on the verge of trouble. Damn it, Ling'er better not get too close to their family." Yu Ling couldn't help but feel choked. At the beginning, she had hoped to stop her father in every possible way and keep him away from the struggle for the right to inherit the throne in the court, so as to protect the family. Now Yu Boxheng was really at ease repairing the imperial mausoleum and staying away from the court. However, he also hoped that she would not involve the Xun family, which was always at the core of power, but she was speechless.

Old Mrs. Xun was still a little hesitant: "This… although there is some truth to it, Mrs. Marquis Wen'an really likes Ling'er, so much so that she even gave Jin Guogong and his wife a meeting gift." Yu Boxheng was completely unmoved, and even said more bluntly: "I'm afraid there is something hidden if you show your courtesy for nothing. Even Princess Wen'an can marry Princess Wen'an in terms of talent and appearance. Our Yu family now has What's so special about it? Why does it have to be Ling'er? Besides, the family status of Wen'an Hou's house is too high, and there's no peace inside. I heard about the murder of his cousin by Prince Wen'an in the north of Beijing. Rumors, but they are groundless, may not be silent. Prince Wen'an still has some tricks. If Ling'er gets married, it will be very difficult to argue with them. " Although Yu Boxheng's firm disagreement made Yu Ling surprised and headache-y, the meaning of her father's words still moved her very much. Because during this marriage, my father had never thought about how to get acquainted with the Marquis of Wen'an through marriage and further his career. He didn't even care about the benefits this marriage could bring to the family. He just thought about whether this was a good idea. A good match, will she live a good life in the future? Old Mrs. Yu thought about it further, and she somewhat agreed. But the old lady had seen Ming Huayue's sincere love for Yu Lingxin the day before yesterday, so she was still a little hesitant. So in the end, the conclusion of this matter was temporarily boiled down to wait and see. After all, the Xun family has not formally proposed marriage yet, and now that the incident between Xun Che and Xun Yian has spread in Beijing, the Xun family will probably have a lot of trouble, so it is reasonable to wait and see for a while. Yu Ling was not too nervous. She always felt that no matter what problems she had, as long as Xun Che came back, everything would be solved. So the only question was: When will Xun Che come back! A few days passed quickly, and while the weather in the capital became colder and colder, all kinds of rumors became more and more popular. During the Plum Appreciation Banquet at Marquis Wen'an's Mansion, a murder case involving a cousin's murder was presented. It even caused a stir in the Jingzhao Yamen that day, which is quite exciting to say the least. However, what made this matter even more bizarre was that on the night after Ming Jincheng took the messenger to Jingzhao Yamen, the steward's wife and the boy who carried the message both died in prison.

[skellebonez]

Cotton Tails and Borrowed Time: Chapter 7

Edited (and planned) with the help of my friend Bucky! Couldn’t do this without you!

A couple notes: So.. It's been a heck of a week for me. There maaaay be a bit of a longer delay between this and chapter 8 because…

My car kinda broke and there was a whole thing about getting it to a shop (and me home). And then I hurt my hand while cooking… it's been a time. Typing on a computer is a bit hard at the moment, probably will be for a couple days, so I am now doing all actual fic writing on my phone because while it's slow it's not nearly as slow as hunt and pecking. Hopefully this author's note is completely unnecessary!

And we have art shout outs again! First, to silverorchideon for this wonderful rendition of Bunny Tang! And next to the amazing SwagginMun! While this art was not drawn for this fic they did give me permission to share it here because… well, I just love it that much.

Please enjoy chapter 7! Check out the AO3 link.

It was odd, being in the noodle shop without MK around and knowing that he wasn’t going to be returning for a couple days.

He’d always left for short stints at a time outside of just his deliveries: training with Sun Wukong on Mount Huaguo for a day or so being the most recent examples. But knowing he wasn’t going to be coming through the front door to say hi or grab more deliveries for the day? It felt odd somehow. They’d gotten back into their old routine so much that to have it interrupted again at this point felt both disconcerting and familiar in a way that Tang had trouble putting into words.

Without MK being available for deliveries it had fallen on Pigsy to deliver everything himself. Given the difficulty of doing that AND cooking, Pigsy opted to make it so the shop was only open to dine in and take out for the next few days. While there were far more people coming by the shop to pick up their orders than usual, it seemed as if only the usual customers were coming by to dine in.

Such as...

“So I wasn’t seeing things the other day...” a familiar voice sounded from behind Tang, startling him from the book he had been taking notes on.

“Mr. Jiang!” Tang exclaimed. For a split second, he almost pulled his scarf up to hide his face.

Then he realized that it was far too late for that. There was no hiding the fur or his bunny ears, even from the farthest distance. “Good afternoon, it’s uh... It’s good to see you again. I’m sorry for the other day, I—”

“Were clearly stressed about something.” Mr. Jiang said understandingly with a wave of his hand. “And I can clearly see what it was now. I thought my old eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw you running by. Or that maybe you had been wearing some kind of costume. Clearly I had been wrong on both counts.”

The dock worker took a seat next to Tang, groaning as he stretched out his back.

“It’s... a lot to take in,” Tang said with a nod as he slid a bookmark into his book and set it down. He’d been having trouble staying in his work for the most part, no matter where he seemed to be. For... relatively clear reasons when he really thought about it. “It’s been rough... Uh...”

“Three days,” Pigsy filled in as he came his way over to the counter between his two regulars. “Four, if you count today.”

“It feels like more and less than that at the same time,” Tang said with a sigh as he felt his glasses slipping slowly down his new nose. He reached under his ear, re-clipping the hair clip that had come loose over the day. Tang set his glasses back to where they had been before he muttered to himself. “I need to find a better solution for these.”

Pigsy gave him a small, understanding smile, before turning to Mr. Jiang.

“The usual?”

“You know it!” the dock worker said with a hearty laugh. “And I’ll eat here before heading back to my boat.”

With a nod of acknowledgement, Pigsy headed back into the kitchen to get his order ready.

“So,” he said after a moment before turning more to Tang. “Not going to assume what’s going on, but you look quite a bit more... rabbity than even the last time I saw you. Did something happen or...?”

“I would say... or is an appropriate way to put it,” Tang answered with a bit of a chuckle. “It’s... It’s complicated, but long story short, I have a curse on me and even if we find a way to break it I might be stuck as a rabbit demon permanently.”

“And how are you feeling about that?”

“Honestly?” Tang said with a shrug. “Scared. Of all the changes, mostly. It’s a lot to get used to. But...”

“But?” Mr. Jiang gently pushed.

“I can get used to it,” Tang said with a nod. “It’ll just take time. Mostly it’s all the fur and the noise. I can’t shower the way I used to with these ears!”

For a moment, Mr. Jiang stared at him in stunned silence before he chuckled. He shook his head with a smile of his own.

“If that’s the biggest problem you have, then I think you’ll be just fine,” he said brightly. “If there’s one thing I am sure of, it’s knowing when people have things handled.”

The way he said that made Tang pause for a long moment before he picked up a cup of tea that Pigsy had been refilling for him periodically.

“That’s... That’s the thing,” Tang said quietly. Out of the corner of his eye, he peeked at the kitchen to check that Pigsy was still inside. “I don’t.”

“What do you mean?” Mr. Jiang asked in concern, smile immediately gone. “Wait. You didn’t tell me everything, did you?”

Tang shook his head lightly, just enough to avoid swinging his ears. He was getting very good at that now. “There’s... If it was just what I told you, I would just accept it and move on,” he said firmly. “I know I would, now that I am starting to get the hang of all this. It’s just new and different. But I don’t know if...” the scholar lowered his voice as much as he could. “Mr. Jiang, I’ve told you things before, I know you can keep a secret. I... I don’t want anyone else to know that it might not stop at me being a demon just yet...”

The older man looked at Tang with confusion for a moment, eyes widening when he finally processed what he meant.

“I see...” Mr. Jiang nodded solemnly. “And I am the only one you’ve told?”

“MK is going to find out soon,” Tang admitted. “He went with the Monkey King to figure out what all this is. Just in case. If it turns out that is happening, then... I-I don’t know.”

There was a heavy silence between them.

“Well, if it does come to that,” Mr. Jiang said softly, after pondering for a moment. “MK’s a smart kid. He saved us all from the Lady Bone Demon. I think you can trust him to figure something out. And you have the Monkey King! I know enough about the legends to know Sun Wukong is as stubborn as they come when he has his mind set on something. Even if you... If it’s THAT, he’d tear about the Celestial Realm itself to find something to help you.”

“How does everyone around me know exactly what to say to make me feel better?” Tang said with a laugh as he sipped from his cup.

“I’m just an old man with a lot of life experience!” Mr. Jiang said. “But I’ve been coming to this shop for so long that I like to think I know you at least a little bit. I know you enough to tease you about your Totally Not Boyfriend.”

Tang shouldn’t have.

He really shouldn’t have.

He’d been doing so well, he’d even not even denied it when Bai He asked.

Maybe it was because he was just so used to the knee jerk reaction that was half serious and half joking for years at this point.

He didn’t even get to voice his usual protest before his hands felt like they’d been jabbed with needles and his cup slipped from his grasp, loudly smashing on the floor. His whole body twitched, his stomach aching for a moment.

“What happened!?” Bai He shouted, rushing out of the storage room. She got a quick answer when she noticed the mess on the floor. Running behind the counter, the girl snatched up a towel to cover the broken shards and absorb the spilled tea. “Is anyone hurt?”

“I, uh...” Tang stammered as he looked at his hands. “I-I think I might have a problem.”

He held them up, flexing them slightly as he took in their new appearance.

They’d... Not exactly shrunk, but they’d changed shape slightly. Less like human hands with long fingers. They were still recognizably hands, yes, but his fingers were rounder, shorter, and more closely resembled paws than before. His claws were much more pronounced now, clearly seen through his fur.

“Well,” Mr. Jiang said with astonishment. “That, uh... that’s going to take some getting used to.”

Tang flexed his hands again, looking down at them in surprise as a shock of concern rushed through him. That cold feeling flopped in his stomach again.

How many changes were left now?

“Tang?” PIgsy’s voice rang out before he could get too lost in his thoughts.

“I...” He said softly after a moment. “I’m okay. I’m sorry about your cup.”

Pigsy scowled, grabbing Tang’s hands gently and pulling them forward before checking his new paw hands and nodding.

“I ain’t worried about the cup,” he said gruffly. “Just glad you’re not hurt.”

The ache in Tang’s stomach lifted faster than he thought possible as he felt grateful that his new fur hid the blush on his face.

Just as his phone dinged.

~

“And sent!” MK announced as he pocketed his phone. “One arrival text was sent successfully.”

“Good!” Sun Wukong said with a determined chuckle. “Now... Hmn...” He stood there for a moment at the entrance to Scorpion Demoness’s castle, head tilted in thought for a moment.

“Do you think she would be able to hear if we knocked? This place is huge.”

“She wouldn’t if she happened to be inside at the time,” a voice sounded from behind them. MK yelled in surprise, spinning around and pulling his staff out of his ear to defend himself at a moment’s notice. Before him was...

A woman. A very pretty woman, he would admit. Tall, long green hair put up in a hairstyle that reminded him slightly of horns. It was so voluminous that she’d tied it up multiple times in a long ponytail, almost resembling a scorpion’s stinger. And she wore purple.

A loooooot of purple.

“Lucky for you,” she continued after a moment, clearly unbothered by MK’s reaction. “She was gardening. I never expected to see you again so soon, Sun Wukong.”

The way she said his mentor’s name made MK think that something had gone down between them. There was familiarity there: not angry familiarity but maybe some exasperated fondness?

Like he’d done something she’d been upset about at the time but she was okay with now.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect to be stopping by so soon,” Sun Wukong answered with a shrug. “I did want to visit you though, I uh... I don’t exactly remember our encounter completely and I kind of wanted to apologize for... wrecking your castle? I think I did. I remember going through a wall.”

“You did,” the woman said with a small scowl before it tapered away into a smile. “Not that it was hard for me to fix, mind you. No harm done.”

“Great! I think!”

“And who is this?” The tall woman asked with a tilt of her head, leaning down slightly to get a better look at MK. “Something about him seems... familiar.”

“This is Tang’s kid!” Sun Wukong said enthusiastically as he pushed MK forward. “MK, Scorpion Demoness. SD, MK.”

“Hi?” MK said awkwardly, raising a hand to wave at her before she snatched it up and started shaking it vigorously.

“NOW I REMEMBER!” the scorpion said with a laugh. “When I had him as a ‘prisoner’ he showed me your photo! You’re quieter than I expected.”

“You held Mr. Tang prisoner?” MK asked with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s normally a lot louder than this,” Sun Wukong explained as he ruffled his student’s hair. “It’s just been a long day and a lot of flying to get here.”

“It was more of a ‘kidnapped to be my friend forever’ kind of thing, I can explain later,” Scorpion Demoness waved off before looking them both up and down. “You didn’t fly ALL the way from the city to here, did you?”

“We did!” MK answered as he stood up straighter, fixing his mussed up hair. “We’re in a hurry, we need to help Mr. Tang, actually, Jin and Yin—”

“What did they do this time?” Scorpion Demoness asked with a sigh.

“This time?” MK blinked.

“Look, I really like Jin and Yin!” Scorpion Demoness said with a wave of her hands. “Really! They’re great friends, always keep me company and have the best ideas for games and things to pass time! But they’re not... They don’t exactly...”

“Think things through?” Sun Wukong offered.

“YES!” Scorpion Demoness said with relieved laughter. “They can’t seem to plan past—”

“Step two,” Mk said with a nod.

“Damn, you both really are familiar with them.”

“They may have tried to defeat me by running my dad’s noodle shop out of business.”

“Why would they think th—okay, just. Tell me what the chuckle heads did.”

“Okay so Mr. Tang and Pigsy and I were in the city doing stuff and they suddenly jumped me all like ‘oh, we’re gonna prove we can beat the Monkie Kid’ and then we fought and I was winning but then they pulled out some kind of curse thing and hit Mr. Tang with it so it wouldn’t hit Pigsy and over the last three days or four days I don’t know how you measure time he’s been slowly turning into a rabbit demon and Monkey King wants to make sure he knows how the curse was made so he can maybe fix it but most make sure that Tang isn’t going to be hurt by it!”

There was a beat as the two demons stared at MK. The panting boy drew in a breath.

“Sooooo... are they here?” he asked, adding a hopeful smile.

Scorpion Demoness blinked before answering. “They were. But you just missed them. They headed into Lantern City to buy some things and won’t be back until morning.”

“Then we gotta—” Sun Wukong started.

“No, no!” Scorpion Demoness said quickly, waving her arm before Sun Wukong could gather up his cloud again. “Like I said, they’ll be back in the morning! And I know a lot about curses, they come with the territory of illusionary magic sometimes. Maybe I can help? If it’s for Tang, I would be more than happy to. Besides...” She scowled again, glaring in the direction of the Lantern City. “Those brothers need to learn when to leave people alone. I told them messing with someone as strong as the Monkie Kid was a bad idea.”

“But we still need to sleep somewhere,” Sun Wukong said with a frown. “Do we just camp, or...”

“Stay here for the night,” Scorpion Demoness offered with a smile. “You can catch them when they’re off-guard!”

“That would make everything a lot easier,” MK agreed.

Monkey King narrowed his eyes slightly at his student. “You just want to explore her castle.”

“OF COURSE I DO, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PLACE!?”

Scorpion Demoness chuckled a bit at the exclamation from MK, shaking her head as she waved her hand at them.

“Well, come inside then,” she said. “Daylight won’t last more than another hour or so and you must be starving. You can explain what my two chuckleheads have done over some dinner.”

It took no time at all for MK to rush inside behind her, Sun Wukong following shortly after, sending another text on his phone as quickly as he could manage.

~

“You good?” Mr. Jiang asked as he watched Tang flex his hands around his phone awkwardly for the fifth time since he picked it up. The dock worker was hesitating, caught between needing to leave for work and his concern for his friend.

“I... Yeah,” Tang said with a soft sigh and chuckle. “I used to joke around that my phone was too small but, uh... I doubt I’m going to have that complaint again.”

The humor was a little to dry for anyone in the shop to really appreciate. Even him, outside of a soft chuckle from Mr. Jiang. But even that chuckle sounded forced.

Tang was able to pick up his phone, though with a little difficulty. The screen lit up to reveal a “we’re here, not dead” from MK. Which was, surprisingly, not an unusual message from MK. A few minutes passed before another text showed up. “SD here, she’s treating us to dinner, bros not home”, it read.

So there was... some kind of update. Which was better than nothing. If he was being honest, Tang was more concerned about his hands than what MK and Monkey King were up to. While he was able to use his phone like normal, it has been much easier to get it to register inputs from the built-in pen than his hands. With his fingers shortened, it felt like he was holding the pen with his knuckles. Too short, too close to his palm, and just awkward.

But not impossible.

“You’re a pretty stubborn guy, you know that?” Mr. Jiang said with a smile. “Or maybe tenacious is a better word.”

“No, I think stubborn is right,” Tang admitted with a smile.

“That means you’re gonna be just fine,” the elder man said with a nod before announcing his departure. He waved to each of them, heading back to the docks.

Tang decided then and there that Mr. Jiang would probably appreciate some more visits to his boat in the future.

~

“So, it’s going to take at least an hour or so to make something up,” Scorpion Demoness said as she laid out the myriad of vegetables from her garden. “In the meantime, why don’t you tell me what’s happening in more detail. I could point you in the right direction of where to look.”

“Well,” MK said with a shrug. “I kinda said everything I know already. Mr. Tang was hit by a curse and he’s turning into a rabbit demon.”

“But what kind of curse?” Scorpion Demoness asked slowly. Her gaze narrowed, clearly honing in on something as she thought about what he had said again. She turned to Sun Wukong, raising a brow to wordlessly ask him for a more clear explanation.

“You know those old truth curses that turned humans into demons?” Sun Wukong started. “Well—”

“Oh,” Scorpion Demoness let out slowly before scowling. “OH. Oh, I know those curses alright.”

“You do?” MK asked excitedly.

“Yes,” she assured with a nod. “Because they got those from MY library.”

The silence between the three of them was thick enough that you could cut it with a knife.

“IT WAS YOURS!?” MK yelled out in surprise once the information was finally processed.

“No! Yes! Kinda?” Scorpion Demoness clarified quickly, voice squeaking in the surprise before she hastily cleared her throat. “The curses aren’t mine, but my specialty is illusion magic. While not the same, curses and illusions can be intertwined in ways that most people don’t connect sometimes. Some curses rely on illusions to work, and some illusions can be held up by curses. My library has just about as much research on all the old curses over the centuries as you can find.”

“And Jin and Yin were given unfiltered access to all of those curses?” Sun Wukong asked with a shudder.

“I didn’t think they would actually use them!” Scorpion Demoness defended. “There’s more stuff in my library than just curse documents, like how to upkeep the castle and a bunch of old books I have found after travelers lost them over the years. They’re my friends and I... trusted them to not, you know... be dumb when I told them not to try anything dangerous.”

The look of hurt on Scorpion Demoness’ face was as clear as day. It didn’t take an expert to tell she was genuinely upset the twins had done something like that without her knowledge.

“Look,” Sun Wukong said with an awkward smile as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Sometimes friends mess up. That comes with the territory.”

“I’m not used to being in that territory, you know that,” Scorpion Demoness said with a humorless chuckle. “I don’t know how... bad this is. Is it bad? It feels bad.”

“Oh yeah, it’s bad!” MK agreed with a nod. “The twins messed up big time. But Red Son broke into my apartment once and set it on fire a little back when we were enemies and we’re friends now! Kinda took him joining our team to be LBD and a loooooot of apologizing for taking advantage of his hospitality to steal one of the rings for the True Fire of Samadhi to get there, but we got there!”

“I... I feel your example is a little extreme—wait, are you friends with the bull prince?” Scorpion Demoness stumbled on her words, clearly at a loss for where the conversation was heading.

“I think what my successor is trying to say,” Sun Wukong said with a chuckle as he reached over and ruffled MK’s hair. “Is that he has experience in making the best out of a bad situation when it comes to friendships. He’s definitely better at that than I am!”

“...Well, I could definitely use the help in that department,” Scorpion Demoness admitted with a nod. “But that’s not important right now. What is important is that I might have everything you need before Jin and Yin even come back.”

She pushed her vegetables to the side, gesturing for the two of them to follow her.

“There’s a wing of the castle you can stay in for the night,” she explained as she led the way. “It’s connected to the library wing, while I make us something to eat you can start looking in there for anything that could help you with Tang’s curse.”

“Why don’t you let me cook?” MK offered. “My Dadsy owns a restaurant, I know my way around a kitchen! And it is your library after all.”

“Because I need some time to process all this and cooking helps me calm down and think,” Scorpion Demoness answered quickly. “I’ll make something fast, bring it in here for us to eat while we continue looking together. Sounds like a plan?”

They stopped in front of a large set of double doors for only a moment, the doors opening wide to reveal... well. A library.

A massive library.

“Holy shit,” MK breathed out in amazement even as Sun Wukong called him out on his profanity. “It’s huge.”

It was organized chaos. Though there were signs to label what each shelf was, the effect was kind of nullified by the piles of books, scrolls, loose pages, and pamphlets surrounding the shelf.

“Looks like my treasure room,” Sun Wukong said with a half chuckle.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Scorpion Demoness said as she turned away, coming back for a split second to scowl at them. “And keep everything to their assigned section when you put them back!”

They shouted their agreement down the hall as she rushed off, the two left in a slightly awkward silence.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” MK said bluntly once they were alone in their assigned wing. “You promised that you would keep less secrets, Monkey King...”

“I know!” Sun Wukong said quickly, defensiveness getting the better of him for a split second. “I know. I want to tell you, wanted to tell you, but Tang... he asked me not to say anything until we knew for sure.”

“Mr. Tang?” MK asked unbelievingly. He cocked a brow as he stared at his mentor. “The guy who can’t even keep his crush on Pigsy a secret?”

“You’d be surprised what people can hide when they really want to, MK...”

~

“I’m staaaaarving, Pigsy,” Tang mockingly whined as he laid dramatically over the counter. Next to him, Bai He giggled. “I’ve been looking forward to your noodles for the last two hours while I worked on my lesson plans, take pity on me.”

“It’s done when it’s done, freeloader,” Pigsy snapped back at him with no real venom in his voice. The scholar could clearly see the smile that was just barely starting to form on his face. “You know perfection takes time.”

It was at that moment Tang’s stomach chose to growl.

“My stomach disagrees, feed me Seymour.”

The snort from Pigsy told him that, as cheesy as it was, he appreciated the little reference.

“Okay, okay, it’s finished,” Pigsy announced. “Two fresh bowls of Lanzhou beef noodle soup.”

He laid out the two bowls between his best volunteer and his number one freeloader, smiling at his handiwork. Two absolutely beautiful looking bowls of noodles and meat, that smelled just as good as they looked. Tang didn’t realize his sense of smell had increased so much, it was almost overwhelming.

“I’m so hungry I could eat this entire bowl in less than five minutes,” Tang said as he sipped the broth first. It tasted DIVINE. As expected from someone as amazing at cooking as Pigsy. There was something... different about it, though. Not bad, just different. Tang couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Please don’t, you’ll burn your mouth,” Pigsy said as he went to get his own bowl.

“Wanna bet I can eat this before he comes back?” He whispered to Bai He conspiratorially, chuckling as she made a face of disappointment in his direction.

“You’ll make yourself sick,” she protested before he took a bite of noodles in tandem with her own bite.

The noodles tasted even better than usual, somehow.

“Maybe,” he acknowledged for a moment before looking down at the bowl. His mouth salivated at the idea of scarfing it down as quickly as he could.

He attempted to pace himself, but the bowl was gone in five minutes. That must have been a new record.

Tang leaned back in his seat as Pigsy chastised him for eating too quickly. The scholar and chef fell into their usual banter as Bai He had pulled out her homework to work on once all the late dinner stragglers left.

It was nice. Normal. For a moment, everything was right with the world.

But after a while, something felt... off. His stomach, to be more precise.

The scholar groaned as he finally lost concentration over his lesson plans that he had been attempting to finish up. The ache in his stomach was making it hard to focus on anything else.

“Mr. Tang?” Bai He asked with concern deep in her voice. “You don’t look so good...”

“I don't...” Tang trailed off, laying his head down on the counter in front of him. The coolness of it felt good as it seeped into his fur. “I don’t feel good, either.”

“What’s wrong?” She asked softly, and from the corner of his vision he could see her waving Pigsy over hurriedly. “Is it the curse? Are you dying?”

“If I was dying I would be much louder.”

“Tang?” Pigsy asked softly from over the counter. “You okay?”

“I think I ate too fast,” Tang said. It was the only explanation he could come up with. The only one that made any sense to him. The pain in his stomach became stronger and he couldn’t hold back a soft whimper. It felt like someone had reached into his stomach and yanked something they shouldn’t have. “I... I-I think I need to lie down.”

He barely paid attention to Bai He and Pigsy as they muttered something beside him, his ears registering it but his mind not.

“Come on,” he heard Pigsy say before the chef helped him stand up. They were... climbing up steps? “Kid wouldn’t mind you using his room for a bit.”

They were going to MK’s apartment. That was... MK would be okay with that, right? He wouldn’t mind, not when he was feeling so bad, right?

Something was making thinking difficult. It made paying attention to his surroundings harder, which didn’t feel... right?

They were at MK’s door before he realized it. Two of the hands propping him up moved away and Tang leaned heavily to one side. When the door opened, Tang started to slip off Pigsy’s shoulder.

That was a bad thing.

It made Tang’s stomach lurch painfully, as if it was being pulled and squeezed at the same time. He hadn’t felt this kind of pain in ages, not since he had eaten something he didn’t realize he shouldn’t have as a child.

The room rushed around him and he barely registered that he had made it to the bathroom until he felt Pigsy holding his ears back for him in one hand and his forehead up with the other. Bai He was frantically saying “pick up, pick up, pick up” in the background. Who was she calling?

“Tang,” Pigsy said firmly. “You okay?”

“...No.” He answered honestly. “But I... feel better?”

“Bai He is calling Monkey King and MK,” Pigsy said as he helped Tang stand back up. He grabbed a towel and gestured for Tang to wipe his face with it. “This... this ain’t normal for you, Tang. Even if you ate too fast.”

“...You’re right,” Tang agreed, turning on the sink and swishing his mouth out with water before following the other demon out like a guilty child. He allowed Pigsy to guide him to MK’s bed, awkwardly flopping down on it before immediately feeling guilty. “I feel like death.”

“No death talk,” Pigsy chastised instantly. “You’re not dying.”

“I’m not dying,” Tang repeated. “I just feel like I am.”

Pigsy sighed, rushing off for a moment before returning with a wet cloth in his hand. He laid it over Tang’s face, the warmth of the cloth seeping through his fur. It was nice. Very nice. Tang felt like he needed to do... something? Something like grinding his teeth but not in a bad way. Odd.

“MR. MONKEY KING, MR. TANG IS DYING!” Bai He suddenly yelled over the phone, startling the two men back into the present.

“No, no!” Pigsy said firmly, taking the phone from the young teen. “Tang is not dying, Bai He, I promise. But something is wrong.”

He directed the second part of his sentence to the phone, quickly ensuring Sun Wukong that Bai He was just worried.

~

“Hold on, explain to me exactly what happened,” Sun Wukong said as he waved at MK that he had the call handled. He listened intently as Pigsy explained everything, how Tang had quickly deteriorated after dinner and his odd behavior. “...Give the phone to Tang, I want to know how it felt from his end. To be safe.”

The explanation he got from the scholar was much the same. But the symptoms he described...

“Think, is there anything you did differently?” Sun Wukong asked. The fact that anything had happened was odd, there was... wait... “Tang, tell me what you did today. Everything. Walk me through it.”

The symptoms.

They almost reminded him of the few times he has accidentally eaten something like chocolate. He was a powerful demonic being, yes, but he was also still a monkey. And there were things he should never eat. He COULD eat them, yes, and it was much easier for him being as tough as he was and being five times immortal. But he really shouldn’t.

~

“I... got up,” Tang said. He sounded miserable. “Ate some fruit for breakfast. Water. Did my lesson plans. Went to Pigsy’s and—”

“Did you eat your usual order?”

“Yeah?”

“...Fuck.”

Well. That didn’t bode well. Sun Wukong actually cursing did not bode well at all.

“Uh... Monkey King?” Tang chanced after a moment. “How bad is it?”

“Well, to put it bluntly?” Sun Wukong started as he sighed. He went silent for a moment, saying something softly off to the side before turning back to the receiver. “Tang, I need to tell MK. Either your transformation is finishing up faster than I thought it would be and you just happened to have the luck of getting some very specific dietary restrictions some rabbit demons have... or we were right to be worried."

...Fuck.

[guqin-and-flute]

nieyao or 3zun + prompt 64 with cat!baxia

64. “I think your cat wants to kill me.” [This got way away from me WHOOPS]

“So. This date is going fantastically. Do I make top 10?”

Meng Yao huffed a short, polite laugh through his nose at Mingjue’s rueful question. “Being nursed back to health by a handsome man is certainly adding back points lost in the cat attack,” he replied, and some of the frustrated dread bled from the ball in Mingjue’s chest. “I really could do this myself, you know,” he added.  

Mingjue sighed. “Yeah, well, since it was my cat attack, I feel like I need to make reparations. I’ve also taken First Aid more times than I can count and cat scratches can get really nasty.” 

If this were a one of the sappy romcoms Huaisang loved so much, standing at the sink together as he tended to the 2 gashes scoring down Meng Yao’s forearm with several antiseptic soaked cotton balls had the potential to be romantic. Except Mingjue had never liked those movies and he just felt like a fucking asshole who owned an unruly animal.

He had met Meng Yao at the grocery store. Mingjue had looked up from his phone at the sound of a sharp voice--a middle aged business man was snapping at a young man in front of him in line; "Fucking Christ, you're going to hold up everyone."

"You can go ahead of me if you'd like--"

"There's a whole line of people here! We all have places to go!"

The man being yelled at--(the very attractive man with round, dark eyes, he noted)--had grimaced placatingly, as the cashier was saying, "We can hold his groceries while he goes out, sir, you won't have to wait."

A the business man threw his hands into the air in disgust, Mingjue had slid his phone into his back pocket and interrupted in his 'is this guy bothering you' voice; "What's the problem?"

3 pairs of eyes had darted to him immediately and gone wide. The very good looking man had tensed completely, eyes darting to the door in a way that looked involuntary--and well, Mingjue had been struck by the completely overwhelming urge to tuck him back behind him and make this asshole between them shit his pants in fear. And anyone else that made him look that scared, for that matter. "I'm sorry," the scared, attractive, adorable, fragile-looking, harassed young man had said a tight smile, "I forgot my wallet in my car, we can just--"

"Here," Mingjue slid out his credit card handed it--pointedly--over Mr. Business-Asshole's head to the cashier. "I'll cover it. You know what," he had added, fixing the quickly wilting dickhead with his best 'I-can-bench-press-you-and-then-feed-you-your-own-esophagus-no-problem' stare, "Why don't you get the nice lady behind me, too. Once this guy is done running for the biggest jackass award. I'll wait."

And, you know, weirdly enough, Mr. Asshole had actually left the line, red faced and without his shitty little protein shakes. As the cashier bit back a grin and rung up the card, the harassed young man--who was even prettier up close, holy hell, it made his lower back sweat--had tried to insist that it wasn't necessary, that really, he had the money, he could just go get it, he appreciated it but didn't need Mingjue to put himself out. Mingjue had just shrugged and held out his hand. "It's the principle of the thing. Nie Mingjue."

The man had opened his mouth, looked down at his hand; then, he had smiled and holy goddamn fucking shitballs he had dimples. Shaking it firmly in a hand that was soft and cool and slim, he had said, "Then...thank you. Meng Yao. I'll have to pay you back. Do you have a cash app?"

"Don't bother."

"I insist."

"You can buy me dinner sometime, then," Mingjue's mouth had decided to say without permission, but luckily he agreed with the idea and so had been quite pleased to see Meng Yao's ears go pink.

"...That sounds fair," he replied, finally, those lovely dimples returning.

The cashier had cleared their throat, brightly. "Do you by chance have our loyalty card?"

They agreed on a first date in a public restaurant where they could verify that the other wasn’t some sort of serial killer. It had even been a nice one that Meng Yao had insisted on where they had also shared a bottle of wine and interesting conversation. Meng Yao was exceedingly smart and easy to talk to--the perfect conversational partner with a knack for solving many of the problems that Mingjue hadn't even realized he complained about. In return, he had made his attraction quite clear and Meng Yao had ducked his head.

"I'll have you know that I don't go home with anyone on the first date," he had said carefully, eyes on his fingertip as he ran it around the rim of his wineglass. "It's a personal rule of mine. I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression."

"That's fine with me," Mingjue shrugged. "If you're up for it, I'll wait for as many dates outlasts your rule, 'cause I grill a mean steak."

Those dimples came back and he had sat back in his chair, voice light as he asked, "Oh? Won't you get bored?"

Mingjue had snorted and finished off his glass. "Just because I'd like to sleep with you doesn't mean I don't also want to get to know you, you know."

Mingjue was just getting to know the guy, so he couldn't be sure, but that answer seemed to please him.

The night of the cat disaster was the 4th on their run of dates--Mingjue had shooed Huaisang over to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s house for the night and invited Meng Yao over via text for dinner and a movie and also the option of sex, if he wanted. 

Apparently, the bluntness had made Meng Yao laugh. Mingjue had texted back that he preferred honesty in all things and could handle a ‘no, thanks’ with plenty maturity. Meng Yao had replied, ‘I’m sure you can,’ which, he had very keenly noticed, was not a ‘no, thanks.’

Dinner had gone great--homemade meals always seemed to impress--and they had been preparing to split a chocolate lava cake in front of a shitty action movie they had both agreed on with the understanding that neither of them minded missing anything if they decided fooling around was more interesting.

But now, there was blood everywhere--on the dishes in the sink, on the towel they had hastily staunched it with, on the countertop and the mood was ruined because his giant, grumpy ass cat had decided to savage his date as they were cleaning up the table. Baxia had sniffed his leg suspiciously when he first came in, flinching away as he knelt down to offer his fingers. Then, she had fixed him with a glare, hissed, and turned around and stalked away, fluffy gray tail held high--which, for her, was practically a warm welcome. She had her boys--Huaisang and Mingjue--and hated pretty much everyone else (except for Wei Wuxian's older sister Jiang Yanli when she had dropped him off to hang out with Huaisang when his license got suspended. Which had happened a few times, now).

Everything had been fine with her while they ate--she had even spent it under the table, rubbing up against Mingjue's legs, staring up at Meng Yao without making so much as a peep. It was when they had risen that disaster struck. She had hopped up onto Meng Yao's chair and decided to take personal offense to his existence with absolutely no warning at all when he passed by with his hands full of silverware.

Now, Meng Yao’s long fingers curled into a fist as the cotton passed over a particularly deep part of the slice, though his face remained calm, so Mingjue winced for him. "Sorry. I swear, she's never done this before, I don't know what the hell her problem is."

Meng Yao shook his head, smile pressed and polite as he said, "Really, it's fine." He shifted on his feet to lean his hip against the cupboards and, immediately, Mingjue seized his elbows. 

“Are you dizzy?”

The other man had stiffened at the sudden movement, staring up at him. Then, he blinked and smiled, shaking his head. “No, I'm alright.”

Mingjue eyed him suspiciously. “You’re sure?”

He laughed. “I’m not going into shock, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ve had much worse, trust me. I’m not going to pass out.”

Mingjue remained unconvinced. Instead of arguing further, he simply lifted him by the waist to sit on the island across from the sink for lack of a chair. Meng Yao let out the beginning of a squeak, hands automatically flashing up to bunch in the front of his shirt for balance. He blinked down at Mingjue, then the ground, then back at him, eyes wide and nostrils flared. Mingjue couldn't tell if it was annoyance, horniness, or a combination of both--and that was all well and good except that he was still bleeding and he knew from experience what a bitch blood was to get out of clothing. So he just pulled Meng Yao's arm out again and went back to work, asking, "So what was the 'much worse'?"

"Pardon?"

"You said you knew you're not going to pass out because you've had 'much worse'. What's the story there?"

"Ah. No story. I broke my arm. Compound fracture. I stayed awake the whole time, so a cat scratch is fairly minor, in comparison."

Mingjue hissed in through his teeth reflexively in sympathy and scanned him. Either he healed fantastically or the scar was higher up on his arms, under the soft cream sweater sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows--luckily, they had been rolled up before the attack and had escaped blood thus far. "Fuck. How'd that happen?"

"Fell down some stairs."

Mingjue raised an eyebrow at the stark explanation. "Well, maybe you shouldn't fall down stairs. Ever thought of that?"

Meng Yao smiled thinly down at him, dark eyes glinting in the fluorescent lights. "Mm. I'll have to keep that in mind." The dimples he searched for avidly were there, faintly, and Mingjue found himself wanting to nibble on them.

They hadn't done much else besides a kiss goodnight in the shadows near the entrance to the parking garages of their dates, because Mingjue was being good and keeping his hands above the belt. And he should probably figure out whether or not this date was going to have the eject button pressed, first. There was blood everywhere, still.

"Why all the First Aid classes?" Meng Yao asked suddenly, keeping his arm extended out even as Mingjue released him to rummage for the antibacterial spray. "Was it because your demon cat kept attacking people?"

Mingjue barked out a laugh and sprayed down his arm--Meng Yao didn't flinch. "At first, it was for lifeguarding, every summer since I was 16 until I graduated college. Now, I take refresher courses because I run a martial arts studio and shit can get real real fast, especially with newbies who try to fuck around." Tearing open the packet of sterilized gauze with his teeth so he could still hold his arm, he situated it and held it with a gentle thumb. "Tape or gauze wrap?"

Meng Yao shrugged. "I have no preference. Surprise me."

Gauze wrap it was. It would hurt less than pulling tape off his arm later. Meng Yao watched him finish up quietly, ankles linked, posture straight and proper even sitting on a kitchen counter. On impulse, Mingjue lifted his now bandaged arm and kissed the skin of his wrist, just below where the gauze stopped and got a slight shiver for his trouble. He looked up at him, then, an angle he was not used to but was definitely enjoying. "This has been a piss poor date. I really am sorry."

"The dinner was lovely before it ended in bloodshed, I promise," Meng Yao assured him, smiling. Then, it grew a little sly and he leaned in, slowly, stretching his arms out over Mingjue's shoulders to link behind his neck. "Although, you could always kiss it better."

Well, there was no possible way to misinterpret that particular invitation and he heartily took it, snugging Meng Yao up against him with hands on his hips and devouring him just as indulgently as he would the forgotten lava cake cooling on the stove top. He hummed in appreciation as Meng Yao's arms wrapped tighter, his thighs squeezing around his hips as he kissed back with just as much enthusiasm. He tasted like the dry wine they had finished the meal with.

All at once, though, Meng Yao froze, hands stilling in his hair. Before Mingjue had time to be confused, he whispered against his mouth, "I think your cat wants to kill me," eyes fixed on something over Mingjue's shoulder.

Mingjue craned his neck around to find Baxia perched on the counter next to the sink, tail swishing, gaze locked with Meng Yao, ears flicked out to the sides. She let out a low, quiet growl.

"Oh, for fucks sake," Mingjue growled back. "That's it. You're going in Huaisang's room for the night."

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 20, part three(!)

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Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

This episode has so much crucially important stuff in it I had to write 3 posts about it! Part one is here, part two is here. 

Don't Start None, Won't Be None

Lan Wangji has never had a real fight with Wei Wuxian before--remember, in their rooftop fight Wei Wuxian never even drew his sword. And since this is going to be a verbal fight, Lan Wangji is going to lose, badly. He's an elegant and articulate speaker, but he's not quick with words, and he speaks directly and sincerely. Weaponized speech is not his area at all, so he's pretty much bringing a knife to a gunfight. A guqin to a flute fight. Whatever. He tries to turn it into a physical confrontation, twice, but Jiang Cheng holds him back.

This throwdown is 100% about religion and orthodoxy; something that is fundamental to both of these young men's lives. Lan Wangji has made it his mission to be as orthodox as possible, doing shit like volunteering to be beaten for drinking when he didn't choose to drink. He's constantly overwhelmed by emotion, and the Lan rules are a source of regulation and safety for him. His emotions around Wei Wuxian are among the most overwhelming he's got, possibly only second to his feelings about his mom.

Right now his feelings are extra overwhelming. 

It's complicated because his relationship with Wei Wuxian literally started off with him punishing Wei Wuxian for heterodoxy. All that time they spent together in the library? Was because Wei Wuxian talked--JUST talked--about using resentful energy for cultivation. Which is precisely the ability he's just shown them, along with a style of killing enemies that's borderline evil and definitely, DEFINITELY unsportsmanlike.

So this is not, Lan Wangji is lovingly worried about Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian is pushing him away to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. This is Lan Wangji freaking out because his entire system of belief is being challenged and he's in love with the person who's challenging it.  

Wei Wuxian has shown up to the party wearing an International Mr. Leather tee shirt with a enamel pin stuck to it that says "I get my kicks on route 666" and Lan Wangji just. cannot. deal.  

Never Start a Fight But Always Finish One

Wei Wuxian has a couple of options here. One is to accept, kindly, that he and his friend can't be friends any more because of religion. In this option, in order to preserve his friend's comfortable sense of being right, he would have to tacitly accept that he himself is bad in some way, and allow his friend to keep having his value system, while walking away from him.  

The other choice is to hit so hard that he makes his friend feel really, really bad, and potentially rocks him off of his comfortable foundation. In the short term, the friendship breaks, but if it forces him to actually question his value system, it might lay the groundwork for a new, more accepting friendship.  Anyone who is queer with an anti-queer-religious best friend is probably familiar with this dilemma.

Wei Wuxian chooses the second option, and goes all in from the first moment, calling Lan Wangji "Lan Er Gongzi" and then upgrading to "Hanguang Jun" and even bowing. If it's possible to bow sarcastically, that's what Wei Wuxian is doing. Then he meets his eyes and sticks his chin out, essentially saying "how do you like them apples?"

(more after the cut!)

Lan Wangji's feelings are probably hurt, but he's too busy being mad to show it, and he goes straight to grilling Wei Wuxian, asking him about the killing, the talismans, and giving up the sword, all while Jiang Cheng stands by and wonders what the fuck is happening. 

Lan Wangji is making a fundamental error here, which is he's speaking as if he's an authority instead of as a peer. Wei Wuxian has only ever accepted one authority in his entire life, and that was Jiang Fengmian. Jiang Cheng is the one who, for a change, is approaching as a worried friend, while Lan Wangji approaches as if he has the right to call Wei Wuxian to account.  

Wei Wuxian won't answer his questions and is getting in his face, provoking him in a very quiet and controlled way, and Lan Wangji responds by just being really aggressive. It's interesting to see Wei Wuxian completely mastering his emotions while Lan Wangji is completely....not.  Wei Wuxian pushes harder, saying he's being rude, saying he's being a bad friend.  Which doesn't make any difference to Lan Wanji, who keeps pressing for an answer while Jiang Cheng wonders what the fuck is happening.

Come to Gusu

Wei Wuxian says he already explained, that it's complicated, it will take time to explain, so then Lan Wangji makes the utterly dumbassed demand that Wei Wuxian return to Gusu with him to explain it. What, exactly, is his plan? Bring Wei Wuxian to Gusu and have Lan Xichen (at the very least) and probably also Lan Qiren help him to convince Wei Wuxian that resentful cultivation is bad? How is that likely to work out? Let's have our own flashback, to that classroom interaction that led to the punishment in the library.

Lan Qiren: How will you make sure the resentful energy will only listen to you and not harm others? [Note: he's not wrong, Wei Wuxian] Wei Wuxian: I haven't figured that out yet ["details," as OP's dad used to say] Lan Qiren: If you did, the cultivation world would not allow your existence [i.e. we, the Lan Clan of Gusu, will kill your ass]

Lan Wangji probably doesn't think he's threatening Wei Wuxian with death by inviting him to Gusu, but he kinda is, if Lan Qiren was serious back then.  Lan Wangji is so upset and fearful that he's not really thinking clearly at this point. He loves Wei Wuxian and he's certain that cultivating with resentful energy will destroy him. [Note: he's not wrong, Wei Wuxian]  But Wei Wuxian is beyond fear. He's already been destroyed once.

Wei Wuxian rips on Gusu and then says, in a super-provocative way, that he prefers Yunmeng, which prompts Lan Wangji to say "don't joke around" as angrily as possible. 

This part of the interaction always confuses me because...shouldn't he prefer Yunmeng? He's actually from there and lives there and belongs there and stuff? He's just saying "I think I'll go with my brother" yet WWX and LWJ both act like he said he'd rather go to Demon City.

Lan Wangji takes a big step forward and Jiang Cheng blocks him while Wei Wuxian continues to act unperturbed and puzzled while holding his demon flute out in between them. 

Finally, FINALLY, Wei Wuxian calls him Lan Zhan, and asks him a serious question: What do you really want. Lan Wangji calms down for a second--although he keeps leaning into Jiang Cheng's sword block--and gets to the point, which is that the unorthodox path is dangerous, and harmful to his temperament.  

Kill one turtle together and you think you're the boss of me

So, these dudes are talking about 2 different levels of unacceptable cultivation, in this episode and the next few. Netflix translates these as "wicked tricks" and "crafty tricks," which both sound absolutely ludicrous in English, so I'm going to use my own preferred terms, going forward.  

I think what they are calling "Wicked Tricks," which includes spirit snatching and feeding people to the murder turtle on purpose in order to harvest their resentment could be translated as Heresy--adhering to a forbidden belief or practice; standing in opposition to Orthodoxy.  

Edit: After rewatching Episode 35, in which Nie Huaisang explains why their whole blade thing doesn’t count as “wicked tricks,” I’ve changed my mind about what to call this. NHS says that “wicked tricks” specifically involve the use of humans & human spirits (killing, sacrificing, etc.). Which means Necromancy is probably the better term for this particular type of cultivation, although it is still (also) Heresy. 

"Crafty Tricks," which is using resentful energy to raise and control already-dead people (ghosts and zombies) as well as just generally using resentment for basic stuff like beating Jin Zixuan's ass, could be translated as Heterodoxy--deviating from the accepted belief or practice, but not to the point of complete opposition.

Wei Wuxian laughs while Lan Wangji tries to be convincing, but since Lan Wangji is just repeating what he's been taught, he's not making much headway. Instead of saying "there's no exception throughout history" he could have, instead, gone with his own actual observations, such as "you are acting like a sadistic prick" or "you seem amazingly miserable" or "you aren't hugging your brother, what the fuck is that about?" But no.

Wei Wuxian responds to the charge of heresy by saying nuh-uh, and explains his methods, sort of, while going back to calling him Lan Er Gongzi. Lan Er Gongzi responds by actually literally yelling at him, and saying he's not allowed to decide for himself about what he's doing, as if the words "allowed to" have ever meant a goddamn thing to Wei Wuxian.

Temperament

At this point Wei Wuxian is done. He goes and gets right up in Lan Wangji's face and sticks a metaphorical knife right in his heart, smiling as he does it. "How do others know my temperament?" he asks; "and why should it be their concern?" i.e. you are not in my heart. 

This makes Lan Wangji so mad he calls Wei Wuxian "Wei Wuxian" for possibly the only time in the show, and he also flashes a whole bunch of angry teeth. (Gifset here). In a callback to the JFM-YZY fight back in Lotus Pier before the war, Wei Wuxian just calmly says "Lan Wangji" back at him, and then tells him to go fuck himself.

Jiang Cheng still doesn't understand what the fuck is happening, but this is a sentiment he understands, so he also tells Lan Wangji to go fuck himself, reminding him that Wei Wuxian is Jiang clan property and it's not the Lans' place to discipline him. Adding "and I'm not going to discipline him any way, look how good he is at killing people!"

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji continue to stare into each others' eyes from a distance so close that it really should lead to making out, but they are both much too angry for that. 

Wei Wuxian is as cold as we ever see him, smiling as he silently confirms: I do not belong to you. Lan Wangji glares back, his anger maybe finally giving way, a little bit, to being hurt.

Finish Him!

Wen Chao picks this moment to wake up and crawl over to the trio, begging Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng to save his life, since he presumably knows it's pointless to beg Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian turns around and gives him the EXACT SAME dead-eyed smile he just gave Lan Wangji, and kicks him.

Then he tells Lan Wangji to please leave so he and his brother can finish torturing this dude to death, and caps it with an official Jiang Clan eye roll.  

Lan Wangji, poor bb, just throws in the towel, and turns and leaves, the anger finally starting to leave his face and be replaced with something else...chagrin, maybe? Or maybe just softer anger, for the moment. 

After he's out of sight Wei Wuxian turns and looks after him sadly, all of the cruelty and hardness gone from his expression, while Wen Chao says "forgive me,"  possibly voicing what Wei Wuxian is thinking.

Lan Wangji walks out the front gate, troubled, and hears Wen Chao scream. He stops and replays the most pointed part of the fight in his head - the part where Wei Wuxian asked him, "who do you think you are?" Lan Wangji went into the fight believing he was completely right and was entitled to judge Wei Wuxian, but he's come out of it with his certainty shaken. 

Family Time

The Yunmeng brothers go to the ancestral shrine in Lotus Pier even though the whole "reclaiming Lotus Pier" scene doesn't happen until Episode 24. So apparently they just kind of sneak into the the shrine, and then sneak back out. Or, you know, continuity error.  Anyway Wei Wuxian is nothing if not adept at sneaking around death-related places.

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng bow and offer incense. It's nice that the Wens didn't fuck up everybody's name plaques when they were in control of the place...or the tassels, candles, etc. 

Wei Wuxian quietly tells Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian that he did what they asked--taking care of Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli--and they can rest now. Nosy parker Jiang Cheng wants to know what he's saying, but Wei Wuxian just changes the subject. 

They talk about going to Qinghe for the final combat of the Sunshot Campaign. Wei Wuxian says that's why he returned, which...dude, you can't even pretend you came back to be with your loved ones? Ouch. Jiang Cheng doesn't really react to that, but he's happy when Wei Wuxian says he wants to see Jiang Yanli. Wei Wuxian wants to know if she's ok and if she's mad at him, and Jiang Cheng says wait and see, because direct answers are not the Jiang Clan way.

Jiang Yanli is helping tend to the wounded, and we see her telling a particularly fussy wounded dude to suck it up and stop complaining. 

When Wei Wuxian shows up she totally stops paying attention to the wounded dude so that she can smile at Wei Wuxian. 

He looks back at her tearfully, briefly managing to smile but then just trying to hold it together. He has been to hell and back, and doing his very best to hide it, but when he sees the person who loves him most--the person who will NOT spend 20 minutes yelling at him as soon as they see him--he starts to crack open.

[drwcn]

maybe after today’s acls training i can finally write that chengqing ER oneshot. 

— “Patient male, mid-twenties, motor vehicle collision, eta 3 mins” 

— “What no vitals? No GCS? ETA 3 mins? Who’s on the paramedic team?!” 

— “No one….Dr. Lu hit someone with her car on her way out of the hospital.” 

【A Midnight Conversation in Your Local ER】- Complete

[1] 

The night hunt had gone to shits.

That much was undeniable.

Jiang Cheng heard the panicked shout of his disciples just as he saw the array that he had stepped on.

Fuck.

The ghost of an once mediocre demonic cultivator wanna-be was going to bring Jiang Cheng, Jiang Wanyin - the Sandu Shengshou - to meet his maker. The irony of the situation would be laughable, if he wasn’t so irrevocably screwed.

That was his last thought before his entire body was engulfed by a blinding light and the world he knew disappeared.

The ground beneath his feet gave away, weightlessness paralyzing his body though he did not fall. He felt…launched, his body warping and squeezing and stretching, the air sucked from his lungs into the endless black vacuum.

But just like that it was over. Jiang Cheng barely had time to make peace with his death before his feet touch solid earth again.

Or at least….he thought it was earth, this black, tarry hard thing striped with yellow and white. He stared at it dumbly, breathless and disoriented, barely able to react when a loud blare assaulted his senses and his world went blindly bright yet again.

This time there was pain.

Jiang Cheng clutched Sandu, ready to fight, but then his head hit the ground and everything went dark. When he woke up again, an indeterminate amount of time later, he was in a small tube and had a distinct feeling he was not wearing pants, socks or shoes.

How the fuck do you ‘scan’ a cat???  

[2]

Method actor. The nurse, from the other side of the curtain, mouthed silently.

“Sir, can you tell me your name.”

“Jiang Cheng, Jiang Wangyin.”

The resident paused, awkwardly contemplating how to continue. “Uh…..which is it? Jiang Cheng or Jiang Wanyin?”

“Jiang Cheng, zi Wanyin.”

“Traditional parents?” The resident tried to crack a joke, but it fell flat. The strange man stared up at him with a blank look in his eyes and a frown that was rapidly deteriorating into a scowl. The resident cleared his throat and cast his eyes back onto his clipboard. “Uh, ahem, just the name on your ID please.”

“My what?" 

"Your personal ID….like a driver’s license?”

“Cultivators of the gentry fly on swords or ride horses. We do not rely on carriage valets.”

“Eh… right. Uhm, can you tell me how old you are and what year it is.”

“I’m 39, and the year is jiachen.”

Lu Qi frowned from where she stood by the door, arms crossed, watching her resident and medical student work. 39? He looks like a college student. But he also thinks he can fly, so I guess age is the least of our worries. 

“Jiachen.…?”

The M3 fished his phone out from his scrub pocket pocket and typed it in. “Sounds like the ganji system, like an old timey way to record year used in the past.” He whispers clandestinely to the resident.

“….Right. And uh, do you where you are?”

The man scowled at him. “Am I supposed to?” 

The resident scribbled something on the chart, and then looked up with a plastered awkward smile. “Well, thank you Mr. Jiang for your patience. Wang Fei here is the medical student on our team. He’s going to stay and ask you a couple more questions if you don’t mind. Afterwards we’ll confer with our attending and the team will be back to see you shortly.”

As he turned away, the R3 grimaced and shared a look with Lu Qi, who was the youngest attending physician in their ER, but was not technically working at the moment and so was not on the case. And technically, as the perpetrator who hit Jiang Cheng with her car, she had a severe conflict of interest.

At least this Jiang Cheng dude didn’t seem keen on pressing personal charges against her for MVA or suing the hospital in general… but that being said…

Yeah, they’re going to need a psych consult. 

Unless he’s on acid. 

Well… okay, psych consult either way. 

[3]

"It’s okay, you can relax.” Jiang Cheng said, waving dismissively at the woman standing by his bedside. “I’m not going to take you to the magistrate for hitting me with your carriage - car. You didn’t mean to, and I just came out of nowhere.” 

“....Thank you.” 

“You’re not Wen Qing. I know that now. Your name is Lu Qi. You can call off those psychia - psych - psychics - head healers - or whatever, I’m not crazy. It’s not my fault, you just… look so much like someone I used to know."

"Wen Qing.” Lu Qi echoed. 

“Yeah. Wen Qing. She was a healer - a doctor - like you, but different.” 

“I see. What happened to her?"

"She died. Almost twenty years ago."

"I'm sorry... that's awful.” Lu Qi’s response rolled off her tongue so well, because she had said those word a thousand times during her residency. So much so that it no longer had much meaning to her. Tonight however, she meant what she said. “Were you two close?"

"No, well…yes, maybe. No we weren’t exactly friends if that’s what you’re asking. She...operated on me. Without my consent or knowledge. Took my brother’s golden core and put it in me and then lied with my brother to my face about it. So no we weren’t “close”, but Wen Qing saved my life - well the purpose of it anyway. Saved me from a life of ordinariness.” 

Lu Qi did allow herself to dwell too much on what the fuck a “golden core” was, because her gut response was almost instantaneous. “That’s shitty of her.”

She clamped down on her tongue. 

God, why did I have to say that? To his face?! He was obviously in love with this Wen Qing person and they were encroaching on some dangerous emotional territories, but Lu Qi swallowed down her caution and plowed on nevertheless. There were things she felt she had to say, and since she’d already hit him with her car, how much worse could this shit get? “What I mean is she shouldn’t have. Not without telling you. Besides...there’s nothing wrong with ordinary.” 

Jiang Cheng chuckled bitterly. “Maybe you’re right. Still...she didn’t deserve to die. What her clan did was not her fault.” 

Now that threw Lu Qi off. Did this guy...kill her? 

Lu Qi half wondered if she stumbled upon a Yakuza-esque member whose psyche finally snapped after years of murder and violence. And yet, he seemed perfectly coherent, no flight of ideas, no tangential thought, no hallucations. Even his delusions seemed...logical. 

I must be the one losing, damnit.  

Jiang Cheng scratched a little at his chest, as if palpating for the “golden core” that he spoke of. "She saved my life, but when she needed help, I couldn't save her. But, if I were to go back… I can't say I'll choose differently. My clan needed me, my clan who was almost cleansed by hers. No, no I wouldn’t choose differently. I don’t regret my choices, but I am sorry. Sorry to her, sorry to my brother. I'll always be sorry that she died, and that I failed her when she needed me." 

Jiang Cheng had no idea why he was telling this stranger any of this, but maybe after twenty years, he was finally ready to address this guilt that he lived with. I mean who else was he supposed to tell? Jin Ling? It was nice, to have that face as an audience, receiving his words of confession. 

"She would forgive you." 

Lu Qi had no idea why she was offering absolution as if she had authority in this matter, but when she said it, the conviction she felt was so real, it was almost as though some external force was acting through her.

Which was ridiculous of course, but... 

"How do you know? You're not her." Jiang Cheng shook his head. “I wouldn’t forgive me.” 

"No, but you said she was a physician. So she should know, more than most, that sometimes there is no choosing who gets to live or die."

Jiang Cheng fell quiet at that, and his gaze grew distant. Lu Qi thought perhaps he was no longer seeing her as she was in front of him - white coat, scrubs, stethoscope -  but someone entirely different. The tension he held in his shoulders slowly eased, and he sighed. In the silence that stretched between them, Lu Qi hoped that this strange man with his strange past could find a sliver of peace. 

[4]

— Did you love her? 

— I thought so, foolishly, but maybe I didn’t. Even if I did, it was not well enough. 

— Do you love her still? 

— No... I don’t know. It’s been too long...but sometimes, late at night when Lotus Pier is quiet, I think I do. 

...

— Are you ashamed of it? 

...

— No. No I’m not. 

[5]

The patient known as Jiang Cheng left AMA, that is, against medical advice. It was the term they used sometimes for people who just up and leave without informing the team. 

Lu Qi had gone out to check on his labs, which came back with bonker numbers (I mean really, a hemoglobin of 455, sodium of 200, and a HCO3 of like...3?), but Jiang Cheng was gone from Bay 6 when she returned. The nurse made the overhead page, a code yellow was called, but four hours later, Lu Qi was ready to admit that she was never going to see this Jiang Cheng ever again. 

Somehow, she was okay with that. She had said what needed to be said.  

Her chief had given her a call on her cell and told her to go home and sleep. The guy didn’t look like he was gonna press charges, let’s count our blessings and move on. But the night had just been too damn strange that Lu Qi was all wired up from it and couldn’t possibly fall asleep. She had handover at 10 anyway. There was a change of clothes and toiletries in her bag. She could always take a shower in the anesthesia staff’s on call room and sleep until then. 

Dr. Sun was the anesthesia staff on-call tonight and was currently stuck in trauma OR. They were buddies since medschool; she’d understand.

Sighing, Lu Qi took a seat on the bench across from the bougie cafe in the lobby of the hospital. At this hour, it was the only one still open in the entire facility. The drinks they sold cost an arm and a leg, but Lu Qi needed the pick-me-up after the night she had. 

As she nursed the last bit of her matcha latte, two bickering voices pulled her attention to the front entrance. 

“Aiyo, A-Liang I already said I’m fine! I don’t need to be here!” 

“Fuck out of here with that bullshit, Chen Zhaoxi. You fell off the fucking roof! If Wu Kun hadn’t called me, you’d have gone on -”

It was him! Lu Qi shot up. It was Jiang Cheng! 

But no...no it wasn’t him. The well-dressed man dragging the second man (dressed in red pajamas) into the hospital was not Jiang Cheng. He had the same face - chiselled, handsome, scowling - but it wasn’t him. For one, his hair was trimmed short and neat, unlike Jiang Cheng who looked like he walked straight out of a BL xianxia tv drama. Secondly, his face was softer, eyes younger, and he couldn’t have been older than Lu Qi herself in her early thirties. 

“I was just trying to get to the litter of kittens trapped -”

“Yes, yes, and it was very heroic and I’m sure it would’ve made Wu Kun very horny, and you morons probably would’ve fucked once he got home had you not made a valiant attempt at breaking your neck -” 

“Excuse me,” the security guard manning the information desk chastised sharply. “It’s 4am. This is a hospital! Lower your voices, sirs.” 

“Sorry.” The men apologized sheepishly. 

Then, A-Liang, Jiang Cheng’s doubleganger asked, “Could you please direct us to the ER? This is my brother, he fell off a roof.” 

Lu Bin had no idea what possessed her to interject. “I can take you there.” 

All eyes fell on her. She walked towards them, heart pounding. 

This can’t be happening, this kind of thing just can’t happen... 

A-Liang’s face broke into a grateful smile. “Thank you, Miss -” Then his gaze trailed to her badge, and he corrected himself, “Dr. Lu. I’m Shen Liang. This is my brother Chen Zhaoxi. I think he fractured...well multiple things, please help him.” 

“Of course, come with me. Let’s get him a wheelchair. If he fractured is leg, he probably shouldn’t be walking.” 

“I didn’t fracture -” 

“You, you shut up.” Shen Liang rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to him. He can lose three out of four limbs and say ‘ t’s but a flesh wound’.” 

Lu Qi couldn’t help but chuckle as she put an arm under the complaining Chen Zhaoxi and helped him towards the wheelchair. 

Shen Liang’s smile widened. 

[Extra]

“Holy shit, took you long enough!” 

When Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui finally dragged Jiang Cheng to their portal site, Jiang Cheng realized that the transportation talisman had created a channel through realities between what looked like two metal garbage dumpsters in a back alley behind a food establishment marked by giant yellow bunny ears.

Standing guard there, Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen were each munching on a strange layered bread and holding tall drinks contained in...what was it called again? Right. Styrofoam. 

“What is that?” Jin Ling wrinkled is nose at it. Brat. 

“It’s a Big Mac.” Replied Lan Jingyi as if Jin Ling was stupid. “And this is a milk shake.” 

Jin Ling scowled. “I said the bag of gold I gave you was for emergencies.” 

“Yeah but we were hungry.” Ouyang Zizhen defended. He neglected to tell them that the cashier had refused to accept the gold and instead asked for “cash” or “card”, neither of which they had, so Zizhen used a liiiiil confounding talisman he learned from Wei Wuxian. They did leave more than enough gold though...and that ought to cover the restaurant’s cost for their “burger”lary . Reaching into the brown paper bag he held under one arm, Zizhen pulled out a little box that opened to show pieces of... something. “These are chicken nuggets. They’re delicious! Try one! They’re really good with this sauce....hold on...” 

Lan Sizhui sighed. “We don’t have time for this. The portal will close soon. Let’s get Jiang-zongzhu home and we can sample these exotic food later.” 

The boys agreed. 

Jiang Cheng shook his head and huffed. 

[rueluxprince]

A Diss Track on Jin Zixuan

Dude, whomst the fuck raised you?! Yeah you’re righteous and honest and a nice panda bear in a pit of vipers, but you can’t afford to be the clueless panda bear?! You’re literally the least politically active heir to a sect/house in the entire book! You’re the ONLY heir! How the fuck are you this politically naive! In a world teeming with inter-sect politics! Literally everyone is better at this than you are!

Like.

Jiang Cheng: sat through a year of boring-ass miserable boarding school just so he could network with other similarly aged heirs and start building his reputation. Worked his ass off to wrangle a sizable Yunmeng Jiang war force even after his entire sect was wiped out. Knew to negotiate a marriage alliance with the Jins after the Sunshot Campaign was over to continue to build influence. Had at least the outline of a plan to deal with the the political aftermath of WWX going apeshit and rescuing Wen “political poison” remnants.

Lan Xichen: kept up a long-standing friendship with another Sect’s leader in his teenage years. Knew to rescue the books, the foundation to the Lan family, as his home was burning around him. Wrangled into existence a sworn brotherhood and thus a three way Jin-Nie-Lan triple alliance after the war. Got the Jins to willingly pay for ANOTHER sect’s rebuilding efforts.

Nie Mingjue: took over his sect super young after the UNEXPECTED death/murder of his father. Never let the Nie family name drop out of the Great Five sects. (Now it’s the Great Four. You know who dropped out? It sure ain’t the Nies!) Was so good at his job his younger brother (and presumed heir) could just faff around and gossip and paint fans and be sexily useless.

Jin Guangyao: went from third class peasant to chief cultivator in like five years tops. Worked to be so trusted by Wen Ruohan he got to stand close enough enough to stab the guy. Second to last time we saw Jin “absolute trash n.2” Zixun the dude was spitting in Jin Guangyao’s face. Last time we saw JinZX he referred to Jiggy as “A-Yao”.

Jiang Yanli: part of logistics and support in the Sunshot war camps, responsible for the feeding/nutrition of an entire army. Humored her ex-fiancé (their last interaction was him insulting her for the second time) during the Phoenix Mountain hunt because first daughter marriage alliance Jiang sect needs all the help to rebuild etc etc.

Qin Su: cemented a marriage alliance with the Jins to prove her family’s continued loyalty as a vassal sect. Second Young Master is fine he’s cute and respects her and rescued her that one time. Why the hell not. (We must now interrupt our diss track for our daily obligatory fuck you to Jin Guangshan. Mr Jin, I hope you’re hearing this. Fuck you.)

Wen Qing: maintained Wen Ruohan’s favor for many years. Wears flames on her robes designating her high status and no one in the Wen sect felt threatened enough to hurt her and her family. Was enough of a figure other cultivators legitimately hoped/thought she could take over the Wen sect. Head of the Yiling Supervisory Office, helped a lot of people and the Wens didn’t suspect a thing?

They did all of this! Before the thirteen/sixteen year story break!

And when we pan to Jin Zixuan it’s like: helped out in the Sunshot Campaign. Blew off a marriage alliance because of personal preferences. Let the newly recognized suddenly appeared half brother gather a fair amount of influence in his own house. Did not know a single fuckwit what his father is doing behind the scenes. Didn’t even think to bring I don��t know his own guards to Qiongqi Path!

Like, I get it. Your whole schitck is that you didn’t respect women at first but then you learned to respect women and now love your wife wholeheartedly and with utmost emotional support and everlasting trust. And I love that. Especially in a man. Can I have an “and then” though?

And then???? You just ignored everything else???? You know how much shit could’ve been avoided had you been even a little bit politically aware????!!!! As you should???!!!???

(Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang doesn’t count because they don’t have to worry about these things. They should, but they grew up in an environment where they don’t have to. Lan Wangji can fuck over thirty-three Lan elders and his reputation is still beautifully pristine because Lan Xichen is there to wipe his ass. Wei Wuxian can get tossed out of Cloud Recesses because he doesn’t need to build relations when Jiang Cheng is going to be sect leader. Nie Huaisang can be as frivolous and dandy as he wants under the wrathful but rain-proof wings of Nie Mingjue.)

((After that paragraph I’ve got to wonder if Jin Guangyao would’ve turned out different if he had an actual blood related elder brother that went “you can do what makes you happy, you don’t have to work to keep your family name, you’re a part of this family no matter what, it’s unconditional, even when I become sect leader. So you can stop doing all those shitty things to win father’s approval. He won’t approve of you but I will. I always will”. Wouldn’t that been something. Right, Zixuan?))

- more MDZS analysis under the “my thing” tag -

[ellienchanted]

Hii blorbo meme for cql!

Thanks for the ask, Madhu!! Going straight for the media I'm the most normal about, I see 😌

You know, I thought this would be easy??? But I had to put some thought into this! Okay here we go

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most) - okay so this one changes about bimonthly, but it's a pretty steady rotation of Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen. These are all slightly different flavors of blorbo: Wei Wuxian has done nothing wrong in his life, ever; Jiang Cheng is a human disaster of epic scale who has done everything wrong, ever, and I love him through it all; Lan Wangji is a perfect man and I can't look at him for too long or else I start to get weird feelings about gender; and Lan Xichen is just... fave. beautiful good man whose life (within the narrative scope of CQL/MDZS) is a slow-burn of a tragedy, a cautionary tale against trust, and yet I have to believe he'll come out the other side okay eventually, or else what hope do the rest of us have, you know?

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped) - hmm. Lan Sizhui Best Boy. And Jin Ling gets a special mention for taking me from strong distaste in ep 2 to pinching his cheeks by ep 50

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave) - see, some of these are tough because there's a corner of the Untamed fandom writing sonnets and character analyses for every tiny character to make an appearance onscreen. So who counts as underrated?

I'm gonna go with Song Lan. I see him and I lose my absolute shit. I feel like out of the Yi City tragic trio, he gets the least fandom love, which is a travesty!! He's so tall, and handsome as hell, he's so bad but... wait this is just a taylor swift lyric. Anyway. Song Lan tragic figure of my heart. I loved you and your gay husband from the moment you stepped onscreen 🖤

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week) - uhhh Qin Su? Mianmian? Ouyang Zizhen? Wen Zhuliu?

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave) - since just about every significant Untamed character is a war criminal, I feel like this fandom's standards for poor little meow meow are slightly skewed. By any other standard, Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Jin Guangyao are peak meow meow, but within the fandom they're just some dudes, you know? Since it's hard to find an actually controversial character, I'm gonna go with my good lady wife Wen Qing, because first of all she too, not to be outdone, is a war criminal; and also because by dint of being a woman in a male-centric story and fandom, she's by nature less popular than most characters. Wen Qing bby give me a call, I'm free thursday, friday, whenever you want 😘

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason) - this feels very mean to say since the narrative torments him so much already, but I think Jin Zixuan?? Listen, the amount of character growth he manages to fit in is frankly impressive considering his limited on-screen time, but he spends much of that time being a baby garbage man and being just so mean to my perfect angel Jiang Yanli!! I think one of my hottest Untamed takes of all time is that Jin Zixuan/Jiang Yanli is basically Pride and Prejudice if Mr. Darcy ended up with Jane, and lord knows I would have a hell of a good time tormenting Mr. Darcy, so. Yeah

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell) -

Jin Guangshan and Xue Yang can fuck off and die 😌

[unpeumacabre]

soaring dragon dancing phoenix - 龙飞凤舞: prologue

Yunmeng is no longer home for Wei Wuxian, for he is no longer welcome. And so when he visits he can always count on Jiang Cheng descending upon his head with the full strength of heaven's fury, to chase him out. But one day when he sneaks into Yunmeng again, days go by without Jiang Cheng making an appearance. Something has happened to Wei Wuxian's prickly shi-di, something that - once they reunite - they will find is far greater than they could ever have anticipated. Accompanied also by Wei Wuxian's dear friend (?) Lan Zhan and a Lan Xichen who has only just reluctantly left isolation, the four of them set out on a journey that will bring them across the greater part of China to the mystical Kunlun mountains of mythology - and more importantly, may bring them love, healing, and reconciliation.

If only Wei Wuxian could take his head out of his oblivious arse and start putting himself in other people's shoes for once...

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Wangxian, Xicheng, Wei Wuxian & Jiang Cheng

Read on AO3 (bc tumblr might mess up the formatting + more extensive author’s notes on the story)

Count: 1.5k

next ->

One year after the events of the Guanyin Temple, and the death of former Chief Cultivator Lianfang-zun.

Lan Zhan!

I agree with what you said about Sect Leader Yao, that old fart. He wouldn’t know a good idea if it bit him on the arse. If I were you I’d have snuck into his room at night and shaved off his eyebrows – but then again, you’re Chief Cultivator, and you have to follow boring things like rules and protocol. Don’t worry, the next time I’m in Pingyang I’ll … It’s a secret! Look forward to the next time you have a discussion conference with that pig-headed old fool.

I’ve finally reached Yunmeng. Little Apple took such a long time to get started from the inn in Jiangling. I think he had a crush on one of the serving girls, to be honest. Even apples didn’t work to drag him away from her. I had to conjure a mirage of her all the way from Jiangling to Yunmeng to get him going – can you imagine that? One of these days I’ll have to find a nice little female ass to keep his little Little Apple happy … Hahaha! I can practically see you rolling your eyes at me now, Lan Zhan. You still can’t take a dirty joke after all.

Anyway, I digress. It’s nice to be back in Yunmeng and be able to pick all the lotus pods I want and to flirt with all the pretty Yunmeng girls, although none of them are as pretty as you are, of course. You’d make a big stir if you came to Yunmeng – you should visit with me one of these days when you’re free! Although I know of course you have responsibilities as Chief Cultivator etc etc but I promise you it’ll be fun! One of these days I’ll come kidnap you. Then Lan Qiren, that old man, would really have an aneurysm, ha! I’d kidnap you just to see his reaction.

Don’t worry about me, I’m talking nonsense as usual. I wouldn’t really kidnap you, unless I was really bored. And Jiang Cheng would probably beat my ass for trying. Honestly, it surprises me that I haven’t had the honour of Jiang Cheng’s company yet. Somehow, he always knows the moment I step into Yunmeng – it’s like he has a spell set up to go off whenever I’m in the vicinity??? And he never fails to turns up for an hour or two just to shout at me, thrash Zidian around a bit and tell me to go back to Gusu. Then he storms off somewhere to drink tea or something. I swear he’s going to die of high blood pressure one of these days.

Well, I expect I’ll see him around. He’s bound to turn up sometime or other. Looking forward to your reply, and counting every one of your twenty words,

Wei Wuxian

***

Lan Zhan!

Thank you for expressing your concern for Little Apple’s wellbeing. He’s eating well (as usual) and living happily in the city stables where I left him. He has a new crush on the stable boy though, but I’m not worried about that – it seems like his affections are as transient as floating smoke and passing clouds. He seems to be like his former master in the sense of being indiscriminate with regards to his choice of partner, which makes me wonder why he’s taken such an intense aversion to me. I guess it’s just the same old story with me and animals all over again.

It’s my third day in Yunmeng, and still no sign of Jiang Cheng anywhere. Perhaps he’s simply busy with some night hunt or other and can’t be bothered to whip my ass into shape. I’ve been visiting his favourite haunts the past few days but no luck – it seems like he’s really busy this time. I’m starting to worry, and although I never thought I’d ever say this, I miss his grumpy ass. It’s been the longest I’ve gone without hearing him call me a fucking idiot, haha!

Anyway I have a funny story to tell! Yesterday I went to investigate rumours of walking corpses at the base of Yunmeng Mountain. Apparently some farmers came across them and ran away but one of them was caught and eaten.

But guess what, Lan Zhan? Actually, it was nothing more than a group of hermits who’d come down from Yunmeng Mountain five days ago after meditating in seclusion for three years, and they were doing their Bagua ritual circle walk around one of the dove trees at the base of the mountain. They hadn’t bathed once in those three years, and so when the farmers came upon them and saw them chanting and moaning and pacing around the tree they were mistaken for walking corpses! Hahahaha how ridiculous is that??? Anyway I cleared up the misunderstanding. The farmer who was apparently eaten fell down a cliff when he was trying to escape from the “corpses” and broke his leg, so the hermits rescued him and patched him up. He was perfectly fine. I talked to them and they seemed like a pretty normal bunch to me – they were quite a big group when they came down the mountain at first apparently but then most of them decided to go down south and back home instead of lingering in Yunmeng. That’s about all the excitement I’ve had so far, I think.

Well, anyway, thank you for the twenty-one words you used in your reply. You have gotten quite adept at teasing me, haven’t you? Looking forward to how else you may surprise me next,

Wei Wuxian

***

Lan Zhan,

No, I don’t think Jiang Cheng fell off a cliff too. As much as you might wish for it to happen, he’s still my brother an important sect leader, you know! Anyway I already checked all the cliffs around the mountain before I received your letter so it couldn’t possibly be so.

Besides, I went to Lotus Pier earlier today – just to check on how things are going, you know, in case they need my help or something, nothing to do with Jiang Cheng. I just stayed outside the gates because I thought Jiang Cheng would probably descend from the heavens on a cloud and break my legs the moment I stepped foot into Lotus Pier, but some of the disciples spotted me and asked me what I was doing there. They said there have been people disappearing just outside Yunmeng, to the southwest and twenty li outside the main city, and when some of the Yunmeng Jiang cultivators went to investigate a few days ago some of them disappeared. So Jiang Cheng decided to take a few more of the Yunmeng Jiang disciples and investigate himself.

Since I have some free time, I’ve decided to help them out. They’ve been gone for four days already – the beast must truly be a handful indeed. It might be fun to go and help, although I think Jiang Cheng might spontaneously explode when he sees my face. Well, maybe the explosion will end up killing the monster, who knows.

It’s quite odd, though; some of the disciples who escaped even said they saw the spectre of Jin Guangyao, that wily old fox, hanging around the cave where they were attacked. Although of course that is impossible, for he is probably still trapped in Nie Mingjue’s coffin, fighting a battle till the end of time. Well, I guess I’ll see for myself if what they saw was true or not.

I had not known that you were capable of silk embroidery. Your skill is indeed fine – as expected of the esteemed Second Master Lan! I shall treasure your gift until the end of time. The cherry blossoms flowered today, and they made me think of you. I wonder if you still remember visiting Tanzhou with me when we were looking for the remaining pieces of the Yin metal? Was it your first time attending such a festival? You looked so surprised by the petals raining down on you then! I miss those times. 

I will write to you again tomorrow when I have rescued Jiang Cheng from the human-eating monster. I will make sure to give you a good account of his face when he sees me there to interfere with his night hunt, ha!

***

Dear Lan Wangji Hanguang-jun Mr Chief Cultivator Sir,

I am writing this letter to you because I know you to be a good friend of Wei Wuxian. Just today, I visited Lotus Pier and found that my uncle has been missing for a week, and Wei Wuxian with him for two of those days. They have apparently gone in pursuit of a human-eating monster twenty li southwest of the main city limits of Yunmeng. It must have been a fierce creature indeed to have ensnared both my uncle and Wei Wuxian

Unfortunately, as I am currently extremely and regrettably tied up in Lanling Jin sect matters, this humble person would like to humbly request for your help in locating and possibly rescuing them. Thank you.

Best regards, yours sincerely and most humbly,

Sect Leader Jin Ling, Lanling Jin sect

[tauremornalome]

the untamed for the ask meme!

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): JIANG CHENG which at this point must be quite obvious

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): jin ling is my baby boy ahhhh. i want to protect him from everything and yet cant blame him for running head first into danger every single time. precious cinnamon roll <3 he deserves the world, and also some therapy

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): wen! ning! honestly it's sad how many people forget about him or see him only as a third wheel to wangxian. also jin zixuan - such a good character arc, i wish we got to see more of him as yanli's husband/jin ling's dad

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): i suppose qin su counts as a glup shitto since her screen time is like, 2 minutes and most of it she's lying dead on the ground. my golden standard for fix-it aus is having her be alive and more or less happy. my wife <3 another and more obscure glup shitto for me is mr mianmian, who is living my dream with my other wife. honestly, goals

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): i mean, first of all this is also jiang cheng because *gestures vaguely at his whole deal* but also, ya know, jin guangyao. they are both so messed up and pathetic

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): i actually answered this one once already! wen zhuliu is my special little boy whom i would love to torment to the point of him spilling the beans about his relationship to yu ziyuan. im obsessed with whatever those two had going on, i need the details. very sexy of him to kill her and torture her kid <3 king shit i cant blame him since it makes a great story

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): jin guangshan :)

thank you for sending the ask!

[captain-apostrophe]

Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @piyo-13 - hey, thanks Piyo! :D

How many works do you have on AO3?

46

What’s your total AO3 word count?

754,057

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Just the one (unless we count the dark depths of my early teenage LoTR investment) - MDZS/CQL. Sorry, people who get mad at those who conflate the drama with the book, my memory isn’t good enough for me to remember what specific points I get from which!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

we both know better (maybe we don’t)

The Hand is a Voice (that can sing what the voice will not)

hard to say (it’s all for you)

Not Mad About It

alone at christmas?

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do! I absolutely don’t judge authors who don’t, but for me it’s a way of staying present with my readers. It also gives me chances to tease, to hint at things, to reassure or answer the occasional question etc.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Considering some of the grimmer prompt fics I’ve put up, that’s hard to say - maybe one of the Xue Yang ones, Play or Haunt perhaps? I prefer nice endings most of the time but the short fics have been a fun opportunity to let things get a little nasty.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope - I don’t personally see the appeal.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I was at one point harassed by someone delusional enough to think that their “love” of Jiang Cheng was a good reason to go through every single fic I’ve posted and leave nasty comments on them because I mostly write SangCheng. They called Nie Huaisang ugly and also implied a few times that I only wrote him as a self-insert so I could vicariously “be with” Jiang Cheng (weird how people project their own issues onto others, isn’t it?) - and while I won’t deny I’ve given Huaisang a few of my own hobbies and such, if I was going to write self-insert fic it wouldn’t be with Jiang Cheng. No offense to him but he’s not even my type!

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yes, to the point that to look at my ao3 works posted you probably wouldn’t believe me if I said I’d never thought I would! What kind as in involved parties/genders? Mostly M/M (or I guess M/M/M) but M/F at times and one of these days I *will* get around to writing an F/F couple.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If so, I don’t know about it!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Somebody did begin translating Not Mad About It into Russian, but I’m not sure if they plan to continue. If podfic counts there’s also one that has been recorded of one of my prompt fics, Stick The Landing.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I’ve collaborated a bit with my friend @megalodont - most notably perhaps with the Jianghulloween Trick or Treat chapters for WBKB, though we have some other stuff we haven’t finished/posted yet. I tend to feel very particular and possessive about what I write, though, so I can’t imagine doing that with a lot of people - we would need to be completely on the same page about what we’re writing, and to have complementary writing style/ability, too.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

How convenient for me that I’ve never really gotten into shipping/fandom stuff for any other property! I guess as I said above I’m a SangCheng main, but QingJue is a strong contender too!

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Well, I’m fiercely determined to finish everything I’ve begun posting, but there are a few oneshot WIPs I have in my files that sink lower and lower in priority every day. Probably the SongXueXiao response to Fighting Mr 2nd including a scene that I felt was extremely, uncomfortably noncon but that didn’t treat it as such (obviously the mature response to that frustration was to write a fic where that happened but it WAS noncon, right? That’s - that’s what you do about that, right?).

What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I can set a scene - describing settings is something I really enjoy doing, and I think I’m pretty alright at it. Judging by my inbox I’m also good at making characters (and readers) cry.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Remembering what the eff I wrote? My memory for sure, though, is a problem - if I didn’t write myself notes, I don’t remember it. Also, brevity. I can’t be succinct to save my life.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think that it has a place, for example if the POV character is being deliberately left out or their lack of understanding what is said is meaningful (though I’d be more likely to just say that people are speaking and the character doesn’t understand, rather than give the reader actual text that they would then just go put through google translate anyway). What wass my point? Right, it probably has a place, but that place isn’t in my fics - especially since I don’t actually speak other languages. (I’m not including occasional non-English words here, since that feels like a different issue especially when writing in a fandom that’s not originally English-language, which gets you into issues of translation and words/terms that don’t HAVE specific equivalents etc etc)

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Lord of the Rings. And hey, SangCheng troll, that one WAS self-insert fic because I had *such* a crush on Eomer, Third Marshal of the Riddermark/King of Rohan.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I always hate this question - how can one choose their favourite?! I think I give a different answer every time. Let’s see, today my favourite is Autonomous because it has such good lighting.

Tagging people is actually so difficult because it requires me to remember who I know who even IS also a fic writer! @megalodont of course, but also... @demoiselledefortune? @mulberrylotus? @two-idiots-in-love? @lefthandsuzukimethod? forgive me Ana I’m pretty sure I tag you every single time saying that I don’t remember if you write. Well guess what! I still don’t remember!

Anyway if y’all want to answer then here it is. And if anyone reading this wants to then consider yourself tagged, too. <3