#it didn't quite work

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

in fear of what awaits from @val-the-bun's AU, i dream up were-harpy Vaggie chaggie FLUFF to prepare myself

and also Razzle and Dazzle are here. whether they wanna be or not :D

Big scary harpy Vaggie repeatedly trying to “nest” Charlie’s little demon goats whenever Razzle and Dazzle show up to help Charlie with the whole “Giant Murder Bird Monster” situation

First time she lunged at them Charlie’s heart STOPPED

bc Razzle and Dazzle are hellborn they won't pull themselves back together if torn apart and why didn't Charlie think of that and does harpy Vaggie know that and is she about to kill th-

Nope!

Charlie’s weird new roommate grabs Dazzle by the scruff of his neck fur and shoves him deep into the pillow nest she spent two hours arranging Just So

Then harpy Vaggie chases Razzle around the room until she can do the same with HIM

By that point Dazzle had climbed free and when harpy Vaggie saw him escaping she SCREECHED and fluffed up

and THIS time after stuffing him back in the nest, she also herded Charlie over to “sit” on him

This was needed bc Razzle had taken the chance to escape too, taking off with a lot more speed than his brother, vanishing into the rest of the house while harpy Vaggie was busy

If he was hoping for out of sight out of mind he was wrong

Harpy Vaggie scents the air and goes hunting after him, making low soothing “coo” sounds and the occasional frustrate  SQUAWK when the “chick” keeps running away from her

Charlie relaxes in the nest with Dazzle, heart rate slowly returning to normal, smiling in relief at the noise of harpy Vaggie crashing into things and breaking stuff somewhere in the house during her determined pursuit of Snuggle Times

A grumpy Razzle is finally brought to the nest clamped FIRMLY in Vaggie’s jaws (not a scratch on him) (plenty on Vaggie though, feathers ruffled from getting hit with falling debris)  

And as Harpy Vaggie shoves her prisoner into the pillows before sitting over him (again very firmly) (sulking Razzle only kept in place by her weight while Dazzle snoozes peacefully under Charlie’s arm) Charlie risks reaching up to scratch the ridge of feathers over harpy Vaggie’s eye, making the demon bird monster slowly droop and fall over with head landing in Charlie’s lap

Charlie could get used to this~

She thinks, until Vaggie starts trying to FEED the “demon goat baby chicks”, and breaks out of a window to go eviscerate a sinner for their dinner

The sinner wouldn’t have minded so much

(vaggie swooped in from behind and made it quick so they honestly felt more surprise than pain)

but harpy Vaggie also insisted on taking their liver away with her afterwards

Charlie had leaped through the broken window after her, chased her down on hoof half way across the pride ring, and then spent half an hour trying to get her bird monster roommate to stop sticking her head into the sinners ribcage rummaging around for treats and come home already

Charlie did NOT have the energy to argue about the organ theft, but promised the sinner they’d return it soon

back home, harpy Vaggie tried feeding the liver to Charlie’s “kids”, getting more and more anxious and wound up each time they refused

Charlie’s solution was to plead for her plushie demon friends’ cooperation in a very gory stage magic trick

Razzle and Dazzle glumly pretend to ‘eat’ the organ, letting Charlie scoop it up and yeet it out the window while harpy Vaggie preened in satisfaction before stuffing the “chicks” back in the nest again

This horrified the Charlie, since harpy Vaggie was still covered in blood and gore

Charlie: “Noooooo no no no, Vaggie! Ew! We need to clean you up first before snuggle t- UGH NO DON’T LICK THE BLOOD OFF YOURSELF!!”

Sadly, giant bird monsters do not fit into your average sized bathroom for showers and scrubbies

So annoyed harpy Vaggie was herded up onto the roof by Charlie while Razzle and Dazzle connected the gardening hose

Charlie: “Oh stop hissing, I made the water the same temperature as a the, ugh, blood spray from earlier. You’ll be FINE.”

Harpy Vaggie: (clacks jaws and starts biting at the water)

Charlie: “That’s fine too. I literally don’t care HOW we do this as long as you Don't get guts all over the freshly washed pillow nest the moment Razzle and Dazzle take them out of the dryer.”

Harpy Vaggie: (SCREECH)

Charlie: “Look I’m SORRY we took apart your nest and you’ll have to spend forever getting it just right again-"

Harpy Vaggie: (SCREECH AGAIN)

Charlie: "I'm sorry! But I am NOT snuggling up with fresh bloodstains, Vaggie!”

Harpy Vaggie: (hissssss)

Charlie: “No! Now let’s scrub your talons so we can get this over with an dry YOU off!”

One traumatic failed attempt at using the hair dryer on Vaggie’s many, MANY soaking wet feathers later...

Demon Charlie: “HOLY SHIT IM JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU!!!”

Harpy Vaggie: (CAW) (CAW) (C- coo?)

Demon Charlie: “WHAT?” (deep breath) “What is it? The hair dryer not so terrifying after all?”

Harpy Vaggie: (edges closer)

Demon Charlie: “It’s okay, see? It won’t hurt- Hey!”

Harpy Vaggie: (snags hair dryer in jaws and bashes it to the ground)

Demon Charlie: “Fuck! Vaggieeee- Now how are we going to get you dry!? You’ll be miserable and wet all night like this!”

Demon Charlie: “…are you cuddling up to my angry hell fire flames, Vaggie.”

Harpy Vaggie: (coo)

Demon Charlie: “The hair dryer is too scary and has to die, but my literal demonic hellfire is nice and good for snuggling with? Really?”

Harpy Vaggie: (starts preening)

Demon Charlie: “I’d think that was so sweet, if my hair drying hadn’t just been killed before my eyes.”

Harpy Vaggie: (starts trying to preen charlie)

Demon Charlie: “Aww okay okay!” (laughs) “It’s cute even with the wanton destruction of personal property~ And I’m VERY honored to be your preferred method of getting all warm and fluffy again~”  

Next harpy time, Charlie boarded up all the windows and rigged a box of donuts up with some decoy clothes and string so she could make it “run” down the hallway while harpy Vaggie pounced on it

(both had been Vaggie’s ideas, once she heard what happened with the liver incident)

And while harpy Vaggie looked a bit confused at the meal she brought back to the pillow nest

(why did the guts smell and taste like raspberry jelly???)

seeing Razzle and Dazzle dig into the offering so hungrily made her puff up again with satisfaction, which made Charlie breathe a sigh of relief and then laugh too, and from then on a pretty comfortable routine for harpy nights got established

(and if normal Vaggie was once caught sandwiching a piece of very rare steak between two donut halves as a snack, well, it probably wasn’t the worst thing hell had ever seen)

(probably)        

Charlie really likes her weird new sinner roommate anyway~

(Vaggie stays awake at night after each de-harpy-ing, finding herself snuggled up with the princess of the people her every instinct is telling her to go back to killing and wonders if not being loose on the streets of hell regularly doing more murder is enough to balance out receiving so much kindness from the last person who should ever have to show her any)

(the person who would be fully justified in throwing her out or keeping her locked in a cage if she was ever told the truth of that Vaggie is- was- is no matter how hard she tries not to be-)

(coward. selfish)

(she wants to help Charlie redeem sinners)

(she'll be putting those sinners in danger of their immortal lives if she lives anywhere near them)

(except... when Charlie's there, making her feel safe instead of bloodthirsty...

(... maybe she can be safe to be around)

(maybe keeping quiet is her only way to have a chance to do something good for a change)

(she tells Charlie in the morning that it was being in harpy mode that wore her out so much, and left her with a smile so sad)

[elenirlachlagos]

SangCheng Fanfic Rec List

This list is definitely not exhaustive, I'm sure there's some I've forgotten because I neglected to put them in my bookmarks. I just dug around in there and tried to make it a little diverse and covering different authors.

I'm trying to word this post in a way that it doesn't get flagged, so please also mind the tags on the fics.

Sorted by word count, starting with the short ones.

the strangest, dampest embrace by Anbessette

Rating: teen and up

tags: crack treated seriously, shapeshifting, squid!NHS, friends to lovers, interspecies romance, Cloud Recesses study arc

POV: WWX

word count: 3.020

chapter count: 1

status: completed

AU or in universe: canon divergence

summary: Squid Yao Nie Huaisang is learning to shift into human form. Jiang Cheng is having the weirdest 'oh no my friend got hot' crisis in teenage history.

personal opinion on the fic: This sounds ridiculous, I know. And it kind of is. And it's also... kinda cute? This one fic is rather short, but it's the start of a series. Other fics of this series are rated explicit and with NHS being a squid, you can decuce what that means...

dark water by Morgan (duckwhatduck)

Rating: explicit

notable tags: drinking, loneliness, lots of feelings but no talking about them, hopeful ending

POV: JC

word count: 7.055

chapter count: 1

status: completed

AU or in universe: in universe

summary: Sect Leader Jiang invites the freshly appointed Sect Leader Nie into his chambers to have a drink, and it leads to more.

personal opinion on the fic: This is basically pwp, but filled with emotions. JC discovers, in a way, his sub nature, but he's also an emotional mess, and while NHS keeps it together more, he's also not 100% confident and in control - and this is actually one of the aspects I like about this, it feels much more authentic like this.

He's no bully, he's my friend by JaimeBlue

Rating: General audiences

notable tags: homelessness, dog!Jiang Cheng, unspecified city, , podfic available

POV: NHS

word count: 8.976

chapter count: 1

status: completed

AU or in universe: urban fantasy/modern cultivators AU

summary: Nie Huaisang has been living on the streets for almost two years since his brother's death, just trying to get by despite the 'things' he sees that scare him, though nobody else can see them - it's been that way since he was a boy. Then one day he chases some kids away from harassing an injured pit bull, and he finds in the dog a friend and partner in surviving life on the streets. But there is more to his dog than meets the eye, and maybe the companion he'd saved might just save him in return.

personal opinion on the fic: This fic is different. First of all, there's not much romance in it, just a hint of SangCheng at the end. Not surprising since Jiang Cheng spends most of this fic as a dog. So it's NHS-centric, too. It's very heartwrenching, but also sweet and hopeful (and I'm not even a dog-person).

the cold read by offlight

Rating: teen and up

notable tags: fake/pretend relationship, drunk making out, set in USA

POV: JC

word count: 12.022

chapter count: 1

status: completed

AU or in universe: college/university AU

summary: JC is annoyed by WWX constantly going on about his relationships, while he never had one. NHS comes up with the seemingly brilliant idea to start fake dating; for not entirely unselfish reasons.

personal opinion on the fic: It's a cute, fluffy fake relationship fic. Maybe things go a little too smooth overall, but sometimes you're just in the mood for that. However I do think the anger directed at JC towards the end is a little unfair; he genuinly didn't realize. There's a hot little drunk make-out scene in the middle, that doesn't go too far (so the teen rating is still correct, in my opinion).

the light of autumn by crooows

Rating: general

tags: canon compliant, hurt/comfort, talking, drinking, angst with a happy ending

POV: JC, NHS

word count: 13.845

chapter count: 5

status: completed

AU or in universe: in universe, post-canon

summary: Nie Huaisang arrives a week early for the conference which will be held in Yunmeng to discuss the position of chief cultivator.

personal opinion on the fic: This is a short one, so you can't expect a long built up and maybe the big "oh!" realization comes a little too fast. But the story shows both of them broken in ways that make them understand each other, and they're so sweet and cute together. Haha, that poor Jiang disciple.

Lights, Camera, Kiss by MissMagus

Rating: explicit

notable tags: 5+1 Things, dom/sub, brief Nie Huaisang/Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji, bottom Nie Huaisang, service top Jiang Cheng, top drop, (plus a few other tags for the "movie" they're filming)

POV: NHS

word count: 15.377

chapter count: 1

status: completed

AU or in universe: adult entertainment industry AU

summary: When Nie Huaisang gets paired with straight Jiang Cheng for a five-part series, he’s sure it will be an utter disaster. Until the cameras start rolling and their chemistry alights like wildfire.

personal opinion on the fic: Alright, this is pretty much pwp; most of it is set during filming. Also this is of course most probably not in any way representative of the real industry. My favourite things about this is how the whip was incorporated (not done enough, imo) and the top drop JC experiences, something I've never read before.

Just Let Me Stay Here by Your Side, That Would Be Enough by xcourtney_chaoticx

Rating: teen and up

notable tags: friends to lovers, arranged marriage, canonical character death, post-traumatic stress disorder - PTSD, non-sexual intimacy, Jiujiu content, OCs

POV: NHS

word count: 15.822

chapter count: 1

status: completed

AU or in universe: canon divergence

summary: In the wake of the Sunshot Campaign and the sworn brotherhood of Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen, and Jin Guangyao, it is decided that Nie Huaisang should be married into the Yunmeng Jiang. He is married to Jiang Cheng.

personal opinion on the fic: Sweet, fluffy slow-burn arranged marriage - sometimes you just need something like this. (Ok, maybe not always only fluffy, some of the dark things of canon still happen and there's the PTSD tag...)

Neutral Territory by Pyrria

Rating: mature

notable tags: movie violence, everyone lives/nobody dies, no Golden Core transfer, gangsters, bar/pub setting, drinking

POV: NHS

word count: 19.185

chapter count: 2

status: completed

AU or in universe: cyberpunk AU

summary: A series of conversations between Nie Huaisang, the overlooked, underestimated, playboy younger brother of the former leader of the Qinghe gang and Jiang Wanyin, a lowtek bar owner who knows more than he should and is connected to some very dangerous people. Is Jiang Wanyin someone Nie Huaisang can trust as he tries to unravel the attempt on his brother's life? Or is he one of the many moving pieces acting against Qinghe? If he's already fallen, does it even matter?

personal opinion on the fic: I really like the idea of the loss of a Golden Core being changed into not having cybernetic implants. I love the description of the AR technological world contrasted with the "old-fashioned" real worldness of JCs bar - it makes me wish I could actually see this (as film, animation, whatever). Plus it's always nice to have some uncle/nephew interaction and Nie Zonghui included. Yay for family. The mature rating is for the violence that the whole gang theme includes; I'm really bad with gore and violence and such but it hardly bothers me, so I'm sure most others will be fine.

a loving kind of boy by artsy_alice

Rating: teen and up

notable tags: tooth-rotting fluff, coming out, Jiang Cheng and puppies, 5+1 Things, childhood friends getting together, asexual Jiang Cheng, minor WangXian

POV: mixed, it's a bit chaotic (but it works out)

word count: 19.740

chapter count: 7

status: completed

AU or in universe: modern cultivators AU

summary: Or, 5 Times Nie Huaisang Comforts Jiang Cheng Through the Power of Cuddles, Heart-to-Hearts and Cute Animals, and the 1 Time it was the Other Way Around

personal opinion on the fic: I love the world-building in this. It's basically a collection of scenes from their lives, so there's not much development or plot or anything, and the SangCheng just kinda happens, so don't expect big romantiv events. Make sure to check out the author's social media accounts, though, because there's lots of cute art from this AU.

bright sunlight filtered by givemebaretrees

Rating: explicit

notable tags: arranged marriage, hopeful ending

POV: JC

word count: 20.175

chapter count: 1

status: completed

AU or in universe: canon/in universe

summary: Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang are arranged to marry each other by Jiang Fengmian and Madame Yu, which seems to make everyone happy—up until Wei Wuxian's life is changed by the Sunshot Campaign. Jiang Cheng is left to pick up the pieces of every broken promise his brother left behind, and some of his own, too.

personal opinion on the fic: I really like how the story weaves itself between the events we all know; it mentions them but doesn't do any unnecessary retelling. JC and NHS slowly dance around each other, getting closer, and then again further away. I kind of wished the NSFW part was a little expanded, then again it also fits like this.

Four Days in Lanling by halotolerant

Rating: explicit

notable tags: first time, mastermind!Nie Huaisang, grief/mourning, drunkenness, podfic available

POV: JC

word count: 21.020

chapter count: 6

status: completed

AU or in universe: in universe, partly post-canon

summary: During his first Cultivaton Conference as clan leader, NHS does some scheming that doesn't directly pay for his masterplan, and after the events at Guanyin temple, JC begs him to help his nephew again. And maybe also something else that happened between them can be rekindled, too.

personal opinion on the fic: The fic treads a fine line in making JC the oblivious and inexperienced and passive one; this could go very wrong - but it doesn't. He does have his expertise and he's growing into his role. They both have their obvious traumas and weaknesses, too. I do love how clever NHS is in this, it's a joy to watch how he manipulates and no ones notices.

Heart opening flow by gekidasa

Rating: teen and up

notable tags: yoga, college/university, background WangXian, awkward boners, jealous!JC, established NieLan

POV: JC

word count: 27.002

chapter count: 10

status: completed

AU or in universe: modern AU

summary: Jiang Cheng agrees to do a class at Cloud Recesses Yoga as a favor to Wei Wuxian. He was only planning to go once, but then Nie Huaisang walks into the class, and Jiang Cheng is immediately smitten. Unbeknownst to Jiang Cheng, the feeling is entirely mutual.

personal opinion on the fic: This is one of those fics where clearly the author pours in much knowledge about their interest. There's reference pics for yoga poses and all (it's pretty advanced yoga, though, so don't try this at home). NHS tries his hardest with flirting, but he is up against JCs insecurities. They dance around each other for a bit, but it's so sweet. It's seperated very conveniently into short chapters.

A Sweet and Vicious Cycle by Kendershire

Rating: explicit

notable tags: sugar baby/sugar daddy, emotional manipulation, pretend relationship, scheming Nie Huaisang, protective Jiang Cheng, panic attacks, terrible Jiang parents, demisexual!Jiang Cheng

POV: NHS

word count: 37.192

chapter count: 12

status: in progress

AU or in universe: modern AU

summary: After his life was upended and his brother incarcerated, NHS has to make a living with a generally disdained job - and uses it for his carefully planned revenge scheme. He intends to use his childhood friend for his means, too; but it doesn't quite go as planned.

personal opinion on the fic: The JC in this fic is what all those rude young CEOs in Asian dramas should be and never are. He's so noble that it'd be easy to condemn NHS for what he is doing, if it wasn't obvious that NHS is not unaffected. I so love the idea of the Crisis Blanket! Everyone should have one. This fic is not completed and has slow updates, but it's not abandoned.

perfect pretenders by skyestiel

Rating: teen and up

notable tags: WangXian, Gusu Trio shenanigans, practice kissing, making out, getting together, friends to lovers, mutual pining

POV: NHS, WWX, JC, LWJ alternating

word count: 60.549

chapter count: 15

status: completed

AU or in universe: in universe, canon-divergence

summary: During a drunken get-together, wei Wuxian has the glorious idea of a kissing competition between him, JC and NHS. Later, and still drunk, JC has the equally glorious idea that him and NHS could outdo WWx with the help of - each other.

personal opinion on the fic: Yay, Gusu times trio/quartet content! Happy innocent youth. I love all their interactions, I can very well picture them like this. It's so cute, but also sensual - I think chapter 5 has to be one of my favourite SangCheng content.

Shorelines in the Moonlight by Emrysian

Rating: teen and up (but there is an outsourced NSFW scene that has an explicit rating)

tags: hurt/comfort, suicidal ideation, Junior Quartet, qi deviation/unrest, loneliness, anxiety, slow burn, angst with a happy ending, family feels, JL/LSZ, healing, relapse

POV: alternating (JC, LWJ, JL, LSZ...)

word count: 62.854

chapter count: 27

status: completed

AU or in universe: in universe, post-canon

summary: A year after the events at Guanyin Temple, everyone seems to be moving on with their lives and learning how to live as they are. That is, until Sect Leader Nie's health is brought into question at a Discussion Conference, and soon everyone realizes that there are some things that have yet to be addressed. Grief takes many forms. What happens to those who are left behind?

personal opinion on the fic: Completely self-indulgent, but I love how everyone starts worrying about NHS. He even gets those infamous hugs from JC - since CQL this is something I'm jealous of. I love how the juniors crush on NHS, it's so cute and also hilarious. The time everyone spends together in Qinghe at the festival and in Lotus Pier, is so sweet to read with its family feels and budding love... Not everything goes smooth, though, there's a little more realistic approach to healing.

Come Go With Me by roseclaw

Rating: explicit

notable tags: set in USA, therapy, moving away from family, surfing, chronic pain, mentions of a being in a car accident and witnessing death (chapter 13), yunmeng sib feels, accidental kitten acquisition, small town vibes, lots of food preparing, house renovation, lots of ogling, making friends

POV: JC

word count: 102.289

chapter count: 15

status: completed

AU or in universe: modern AU

summary: Six years after he was in a car accident that killed his parents and left him with hardware in his knee and chronic pain, former competitive surfer Jiang Cheng quits city life, takes his parents’ inheritance, and buys a dilapidated inn on the ocean to fix up.

personal opinion on the fic: Everyone is mentioned in this fic, seriously, everyone, including Zonghui; there's kittens and even Wang Yizhou's thigh tattoo gets a mention, too. Personally I think that JC (often very relatable) and NHS (who stays mysterious throughout) feel a little OOC, though it may only be the vastly different setting. I do love the setting. I don't know a thing about the area in which this is set nor the surfing community, but it has a certain atmosphere I really like coming back to. (Somebody do a mood board?) The relationship between the siblings is really well done. When I first read this, my mother had a knee surgery, so a lot in this sounds familiar, especially how a lot of things that are normal to others are out of the question, and how overdoing it on good days can easily lead to bad days.

we both know better (maybe we don't) by captain_apostrophe

Rating: explicit

notable tags: fake/pretend relationship, demisexual!Jiang Cheng, slow burn, rich families, nobody is dead, background WangXian, occasional smut (often XueSang), Jiujiu content, robbery, sexuality exploration, angst and hurt/comfort, terrible Jiang parents, family dynamics, childhood trauma, non-sexual intimacy, divorce, skip codes for explicit content

POV: NHS, JC alternating

word count: 281.873

chapter count: 56

status: on hiatus

AU or in universe: modern AU

summary: NHS was hired to paint a mural on WWXs pizzeria wall but then WWX has another job for him: be the fake date for his very attractive brother to get people off his back about marriage and kids. The problem is that WWX didn't inform JC of his plan - and it goes how you might expect it to; or even worse. But since the worst damage seems to already been done, JC decides "why not" and the deal is on until WWXs wedding.

personal opinion on the fic: The "JC is a martial arts instructor" content you didn't know you needed. NHS is so thirsting over JC in this, and he's taking us all on that trip with him. The growing casual intimacy between them is so lovely to read (I'm a little jealous, really). I was a little worried about the addition of an OC to the family, but it works. The big "oh!" moment is so cheesy, so tropey - and so, so good. There are a couple of flaws. Sometimes it tries too desperately to be woke, like there's some secret plan to squeeze in a whole modern sex ed curriculum, to the point that it feels like in school books when the authors try to put some kind of story around a math problem (in this case the other way around) but it ends up being awkward. The demisexuality of JC is really well done; some other parts not that much, in my opinion. The more obvious problem is of course the current status. I'm not surprised, it had this vibe the last couple of chapters... But if you don't mind the uncertain future, do read. Or you could always stop after chapter 42.

[avenger-concerto]

You could make a topic completely unrelated and people in the RF subreddit will still somehow find a way to shoehorn a potshot at Rune Factory 5.

[ba1laur]

something inbetween

[sanctus-ingenium]

VIII Strength redraw

[asavt]

Once upon a time a small rat walked into my web...

[petfriendamy]

One Ring to dazzle them all One Ring to wow them One Ring to bring them all And then your beauty show them

Um... About that category...

[benevolenterrancy]

I'm on chpt20 and I want to study SQQ like a bug. My man is flushed, hair down, robes literally falling off his shoulders, LBH on his lap playing with his hair and kissing him... and he finally cottons on to the fact that maybe this isn't how you have a platonic and important discussion. Enforces it for all of five seconds at which point LBH starts massaging his waist and SQQ is back to being like "yeah this is fine and normal". Amazing. Can't believe he insults the IQ of SQH's characters.

[reunitedinterlude]

phil being trolled (1, 2, 3)

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts Union χ - Daybreak Town

[hypewinter]

"Excuse me!" Batman heard a tiny voice call. He immediately jumped down to a balcony where a small boy was standing in his pajamas. A boy who looked remarkably like one of his own.

"There's a monster under my bed. Can you come shoo him away?"

Batman wanted to say no, he really did. But the kid was so small and he reminded him so much of his boys that he relented. Batman allowed himself to be led inside and to a room where he crouched under the bed to see.... a mirror.

[stellas-and-tonitruses]

Everything we know about Project Apple (and, by extension, Anya's past) thus far

thought i'd compile all of that now while endo's on break Just In Case the next chapter happens to start anya's backstory (i don't Think it will but endo likes surprising us LSDFKLFS)

important disclaimer that project apple and the organization in charge of anya's experiments have not been confirmed to be related! there's evidence that they have things in common, in particular employees, but that's our only real connection between the two thus far. still! worth looking into

more under the cut!

so, starting very strongly with the very first mention of anything related to the project: anya's introduction in chapter 1

despite her being a main character, we know very little about her past at the moment, and this little blurb at the beginning makes up a very big portion of what we know.

things to note here:

as an experiment, her name was "Test Subject 007". important to note that the notation differs between her and bond: she was Test Subject 007, bond was Subject 8, no zeroes in there;

she had been made thus by accident, the phrasing itself implying quite heavily that she was just a normal child before said accident (but this is the translation! i don't know japanese so i can't cross-reference with the raws to clarify if the phrasing changes anything, but the fanbook uses the word "gained" to describe her powers too);

because her mind-reading is an unintended consequence, that means the scientists were presumably not, at least initially, trying to achieve cognitive enhancements in humans, and were instead trying to achieve something else, whatever that might've been;

she escaped from the facility and then moved from institution to institution, looking for a family.

so, crucially, through this little introduction we learn that there is an organization, government-funded or otherwise, that is or was conducting human experiments for unknown purposes. we also learn that whatever family anya had prior to being involved in the experiments is more than likely unreachable, at least as far as she knows, and so she has settled for finding a new family to take care of her instead.

in terms of the facility itself, here we see they clearly drilled it into her that she can't ever reveal her secret (and the darn plush is there too -- in the anime it's even more emphasized, as you can see in the gif i made)

through her reminiscing though, we get our very first look at the scientists that were in charge of her! they're in the gif above but here they are in the manga too. it's so interesting that the anime actually shows their eyes behind the glasses though, fascinating choice.

the insistence on world peace is important, as it explains her own personal obsession with it and shows that it's not just because of twilight's own focus on preserving the peace. i also don't think twilight ever really talks about "world peace," only about "preserving the current peace between westalis and ostania" -- anya seems to be the only one talking about WORLD peace (even in the very first scene where either of them mention it in proximity to each other in ch 1, loid says "understanding the other party is the first step towards peace" and anya's interpretation is "understanding me makes world peace?") but take this with a grain of salt because i might be wrong! going through every single mention of peace in the story just to fact check this one little trivia fact is a bit much i think so i'm not doing it JSDFKLSD

but yes

remember mr hair strand and baldy, we'll see them again. not her though, ig she wasn't in charge of bond

now, fast-forwarding to chapter 19, we finally get a name and a premise for the experiments:

"but oana," you might say, "this is talking about animals only! how do we know it's the same project as anya's, which involved human experimentation?"

i don't think it is, is the thing! i think it's related to the experiments anya was a part of, which is evidenced by the same scientists being featured in project apple too, but there's more going on that we don't know about. there wouldn't be such adamancy on keeping the two separate in every official mention of them if they were just the same thing, imo!

back to the evidence, we learn that the project, conducted and funded by the previous ostanian regime (meaning donovan's related to it one way or another, since he was prime minister), was marked by franticness and desperation -- a prime place for accidents like anya's telepathy and bond's future vision.

we also learn that the project was sacked by the new administration and that the former test subjects ended up on the black market.

(this makes it very important, imo, to learn when anya escaped the facility vs. when the project was sacked. it's clearly no longer in function, but while we've heard nothing from them thus far, i'm willing to bet the shady dealings around the desmond group are NOT related to the war, as W.I.S.E. has been led to believe, but rather to reignite project apple. that is speculation however so i'm going to refrain from theorising much on why the desmond group is focused on acquiring pharmaceutical companies!!)

ok speculation tangent over, back on track

so, that's already a decent amount of info! but moving to chapter 22, when bond is finally home, and we finally see some familiar faces

behold! baldy and mr hair strand!

and 2 other guys we don't know but will see again in another bond flashback!

that's 2 out of the 3 scientists we've seen thus far from anya's own time as subject 007, confirming that there IS a connection between anya and bond's experiments, regardless of whatever the project anya was a part of might've been named.

this is also the chapter in which we learn that bond himself was subject 8 (or, if we take it from the fanbook, subject #8. still, diff notation from anya!)

in chapter 31, we learn an interesting tiny piece of trivia. we don't get any further info on it, but it IS mentioned as something that is known by W.I.S.E.:

ostania is rumoured to have done human experimentation! and W.I.S.E., and by extension loid, are aware of that.

do i know how them knowing may be important later? not really!

the next droplet of info we get is in chapter 40. we see that project apple had collaborators that are still functioning unhindered.

of course, born industries is only rumoured to have been involved with project apple, but regardless of whether or not they actually were, the rumour itself implies that the project likely pulled scientists from various other companies' R&D departments.

(this makes the desmond group's acquisition of glooman pharmaceuticals shadier, but anyway)

as a side note, twilight is emoting so much at just his wrong assumption that bond is seeking revenge against the scientists. imagine how he's going to react when he finds out about anya JKSDFKLFSD

and now aaaaall the way in chapter 58, we see the bald guy who anya also knows, the two scientists from bond's previous flashback, and one whole new guy!

and thus ends our current knowledge of it all!

the only other thing worth discussing is anya's knowledge of classical language

but plenty people have already discussed these scenes, especially recently, so here are some links: 1 | 2 | 3

the only thing i can add is that i'm fairly certain that classical language is a lot more likely to be latin than old english, because it's a very common language to learn in school (in europe at least, and ostania is based on east germany so it makes sense to me. i learned mandatory latin in school for a few good years too, even if i wasn't that good at it lol) and because one of the most common modern usages of latin are in medicine and science, it would make sense that she'd be better at it due to exposure.

a possibility is also that the scientists would think in latin to conceal their thoughts from her, and that's how she ended up learning so much. she's not fluent in latin, she's just well acquainted and that cicumstance would explain the how.

BUT THAT'S SPECULATIONNN

also i don't think "ANIA" is an acronym, nor do i think anya's been misspelling her own name out of lack of knowledge. "ania" is a polish diminutive of anna and an alternate transcription of Аня, so i think it's far more likely that anya isn't ostanian or westalian than it is that her name comes from an acronym.

now,

TL;DR!

what we know about project apple (and the "mysterious organization"):

project apple was funded and conducted by what appears to have been donovan's regime and, from what W.I.S.E. knows, aimed to create highly intelligent animals for military purposes;

W.I.S.E. is aware that ostania is at the very least rumoured to have dabbled in human experimentation;

the project is presumably no longer on-going, though it is likely there are efforts behind the scenes to revive it;

it is rumoured but not confirmed that project apple had collaborating companies that are still functioning perfectly fine;

the same scientists who were in charge of bond were also in charge of anya, signalling that there is a very significant connection between project apple and the "mysterious organization;"

based on what they were telling anya, they were/are very focused on "world peace";

their experimentation methods include but likely aren't limited to electrocution.

and what we (vaguely) know about anya that relates to this:

she is at the youngest, 4 years old, and at the oldest, 5 nearing 6. we don't know her real age, all we know is she definitely lied about being 6;

she is very fixated on specifically world peace while twilight is focused on peace between ostania and westalis. the scientists are the very first we see talking about this, so it's likely their fault;

she is unreasonably well acquainted with classical language;

she has escaped the facility at LEAST 1 year ago;

and, one tidbit from the fanbook (page 29): "Anya has been reading minds for as long as she can remember," implying that her memory of a life before the lab is muddy at best and absent at worst.

that's all we know that i know of!!

if you got this far, thank you for reading :D hope any of this was interesting or sparked any theories >:] have a good day!

[quirkle2]

it's nice to feel childlike wonder again

[starry-bi-sky]

mmmmmm read a disciple shen yuan/shizun luo binghe fanfic about two days ago where the first chapter was the Immortal Conference arc, and SQQ was the one who had to be pushed into the abyss (he was still the villain) except Luo Binghe was refusing and was like, lowkey losing his mind about SQQ being so close to the edge. SQQ ended up having to be the one to fall in himself because of the system's punishment system. The rest of the fic is leading up to that moment. But like, MMM i've been obsessively thinking about that first chapter for DAYS ever since.

now i've been in svsss for a grand total of *checks watch* a week. but god obsessed with that. I want to write/read a fic where disciple SQQ goes a little nuts down there. Like keep all of the things that make SQQ, SQQ, but just. Throw in a little bit more trauma in there. A little bit of a mental break. Let him go a little nuts as a treat. Just a tad unhinged. I wanna see him go, just a little, "god fuck it, i've tried so hard to change this shitty story's outcome and it feels like everything i've done has been for nothing. I'm going to die in this world no matter what I do, I've been doomed from the start, so might as well die the way I want to." and he just, breaks a little! Under all the stress.

He still retains the traits that makes shen yuan, shen yuan, like his overwhelming kindness. But he's just! yk. A little less patient. Paranoid. Jumpy. Colder. A little more aloof and closed off. A little more Shen Jiu. He's no asshole child abuser, but he was a Number One Hater in his past life and he's leaning into that old habit a little more now.

(On a totally coincidental not-at-all related note, there's not enough SJ-and-SY-are-the-same-people fics out there that i've found. This is totally unrelated...)

The Endless Abyss turns the mind into an over-sharpened blade, and SQQ is both fascinated and perhaps a little excited to explore a place that doesn't have a lot of info on it in the mortal realm, but still terrified out of his mind. And he's no Luo Binghe, he doesn't have the sheer brute strength and power to just bulldoze his way through, so he has to be a lot more sneaky and cunning if he wants to survive.

The fic itself role-swapped LBH and SQQ so that SQQ was the half-demon (which lowkey fucks) and LBH the human, but I'm equally-if-not-more obsessed with the idea that LBH remains the half-heavenly demon and SQQ the human. If only because I keep thinking about SQQ befriending some demons (particularly and specifically a group of succubi) and they grow very attached to this Human Cultivator so through magic plot stuff they create some kind of seal/illusion/talisman that makes SQQ appear as a demon because a human cultivator in the endless abyss may as well be the equivalent of putting a giant neon target on your back.

And iirc Shen Jiu was taught demonic cultivation by that one guy(?? i've only been here a week so im not caught up in ALL of the lore yet) so that could totally happen here.

(On the other end of the realms, poor Shizun Luo Binghe is just. losing his fucking mind over losing his most precious and beloved disciple. About .5 seconds from burning down the peaks himself. somebody sedate him.)

The Endless Abyss sucks and SQQ is having a really terrible time and can feel himself going lowkey mad, but also holy shit look at all this WORLD-BUILDING. look at all this flora and fauna, and oh if he had the equipment for it he'd be writing all of this down. ALL OF IT. He was kinda-sorta-already planning on never leaving the Abyss as some sort of fucked up self-exile and self-preservation thing, but now he might? actually just?? never leave if he can help it, like he lowkey likes it down here.

anyways the next time anyone ever sees SQQ again he's got hair so long its almost touching the ground and he's either in rags and half-feral or he's been completely dolled up by his adoptive succubi sisters and still about three seconds from biting anyone who tries to touch him. (he's also lowkey trying to book it back down to the abyss even if he has desperately missed all of his friends and shizun)

[nelkcats]

Ember's Music Emporium

When he became King, Danny had not banned the ghosts from earth but asked them to be discreet, so instead of giving concerts that were extremely flashy, Ember decided to open a music store.

It was complicated to find a good location since she wanted to go far away from Amity, but she was aware that not all cities would accept strangers and it could be dangerous for her if they found out she was a ghost.

Money was not so difficult, Ember had collected several things during her unofficial concerts, among them: cash (besides, Danny was willing to sponsor her if that wasn't enough), and musical instruments were even easier to find as Skulker loved to build them and wanted to help her.

In the end, her little music store set up in Gotham (rusty laws, natural ecto, crazies everywhere and lots of people who looked extremely colorful, she assumed they would take her as one).

She and Skulker worked very hard at turning the dusty place they bought into something nice where everyone was welcome; they also made it a sort of temporary home, seeing as they couldn't go to the Infinite Realms every day.

And everything was a success until someone tried to attack their little business; naturally the ghosts protected it and very soon, a rare scarecrow was hit by one of Skulker's bombs.

It didn't cause much damage but it definitely drew attention. Many tried to attack after this and they kept responding (Skulker much more excited than she was about the whole thing).

But Ember was determined to not call Danny, she was sure they would get scolded about attacking people and not going unnoticed as they promised (although the rude people attacked them first and none of them were dead, or Danny would have come).

When some weird guys in bat costumes started trying to sneak into her humble music store (and they didn't even bother to pretend to be customers like the nice guy in the red helmet), she decided that maybe it was time to call the halfa. Things had gotten a little out of hand.

[polinsated]

Colin, I can take care of myself. Then what good am I to you! for @polin-erospsyche