#my pretty jie

[chineseredcarpet]

Zhu Xudan for China Fashion

[fruityfroggy]

For those who don’t know, Lilya’s name in the cn version is “Red Crossbow Arrow”

I just wanted yall to know this cuz I’m so not normal about this, I’m really not

[bunni-bun]

lovesoutlet_official:

【清新校花】傅靖雪❤️ 項婕如 @chloeee7 飾演 18歲，氣質嫻靜的天秤座⚖️ 人稱商學院女神，沒有缺點的金融系大一學生。感情世界在左又禾闖進她的生活後似乎起了變化...。 #愛的奧特萊斯 #LINETV #LINE貼文串 #台劇 #愛情 #青春 #浪漫

(16.04.2021 - character intro for Fu Jingxue, played by Chloe Xiang via TLO's Instagram!)

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Holidays! Untamed figure skating please!!

a continuation of 1 2 3

There's silence for long enough that Wei Wuxian would think he'd been hung up on if not for the lack of dial tone. "Hello?"

"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan says.

He finds himself smiling before he can stop himself, but it's not like there's anyone here to make fun of him. Or yell at him. Jeez, but can Jiang Cheng hold a grudge. "Hi," he says, realizes he's said that already, and clears his throat. "So, I don't know if you've noticed, but one of your pretty little junior Lans is missing."

Lan Zhan gives a deep, pained sigh. Wei Wuxian used to be the only one who could pull that particular sound from him. He's delighted that it's recipients have increased. "Is it Jingyi?"

"It's Jingyi," he says. "A-Ling is protesting being put with Huaisang and showed up at my place instead."

"They do have incompatible temperaments," he says. What a polite way to say they'll end up beating each other to death given enough time in close quarters. "Jingyi accompanied him?"

"Apparently," he says. "I spoke to A-jie already and I'm going to be training A-Ling. Jingyi is welcome to stay as well if you guys are okay with it and send me his choreography."

There's another long moment of silent. Wei Wuxian waits him out. It's been a while, but he has lots of practice. "Jingyi is not your responsibility."

"He's A-Ling's friend," he says carelessly. "I don't mind. He needs to work on his jumps anyway."

"Those were your specialty," Lan Zhan says, voice softening just slightly, just enough that Wei Wuxian doubts more than a handful of people would be able to pick up on it.

"Yeah," he says, unable to keep his voice from softening in return.

They're not fighting. Things ended completely amiably, no matter how angry Jiang Cheng had gotten about the whole thing. They're adults and it's been years, they're just discussing logistics for the kids, that's all.

That's all.

[only10th]

Thinking about a what if A-Yuan remembers being placed in the hollow tree by Wwx? What if he remembers Wwx and his family?

When A-Yuan woke up and realized he was in CR he expected for his Xian-gege to appear around the corner. It only made sense since rich-gege was there. Even tho it only happened once, A-Yuan noticed how close his Xian-gege stood to the Rich-gege, and how they moved almost in a synchronized manner.

“Rich-gege, where Xian-gege?”

There’s only silence from the Lan cultivator, eyes already watering and tears quickly flowing down his face. The reaction has A-Yuan confused. Why would rich-gege cry? He saved him and Xian-Gege from the scary people, just like Xian-gege said he would.

The child looks around, patiently waiting. He knows Xian-gege loves to play hide and seek, it’s their favorite game after all! Oh, maybe rich-gege felt sad because Xian-gege kept winning! So, A-Yuan moves closer to LWJ, softly patting his cheek and whipping the tears away. “S’okay! Xian-gege is good at playing hide and seek, sometimes he hides really good! I’ll help you find him!”

That only seems to make the man want to curl onto himself, harsh sobs being wrenched from his chest. He was holding on to something, clutching it close to his chest as if it was part of him. A child can be curious, so he tries to see what it is. He gasps when he notices the red fabric. It’s Xian-Gege’s red ribbon!

“You found it!” A-Yuan celebrates, “Xian-Gege lost it. He’ll be so happy that rich-gege found his ribbon!”

“A-Yuan…” LWJ whispers brokenly. Nothing more comes from him, but now the child is a bit concerned as to why Rich-Gege is crying so much. It reminded him of when he’d see Xian-gege crying and he didn’t like when he cried. So he tries to gather himself and give rich-gege a hug, but the man winces loudly when he tries to round his arms over his shoulders.

“Rich-gege…?” A-Yuan asks alarmed, now noticing the red staining his pretty white robes. Xian-Gege always talked about how he liked rich-gege’s robes, how pretty it made him look even though they looked like mourning robes. The stain only seemed to grow bigger, and only then is when the child starts to panic, “Xian-gege? Xian-Gege will help! Xian-gege, stop hiding, rich-gege needs help!”

“Wangji?” Someone unexpectedly comes speed walking into the room. More people with white robes come into the room, all their faces with alarm and worry. By instinct, A-Yuan stands in front of LWJ. Xian-Gege told him that Rich-Gege was the only good person he knew from the sect that wore white robes, they couldn’t be trusted.

“S-Stay away!” A-Yuan warns, his small body blocking the larger man behind him. “Don’t h-hurt rich-gege, o-or Xian-gege will be mad!”

The healers and LXC can only look at the child, perplexed at how he protected LWJ. Even more so at the term of endearment used to describe their HGJ and the late YLLZ.

LXC tries to step closer, but that only makes the child puff his chest and stretch his arms wider, just like Ning-ge had taught him. “Young one, we are here to take care of Wangji. We won’t bring any harm to him.”

A-Yuan stares at the man that looks similar to LWJ, but he can’t help but be cautious of him. The child shakes his head, “Xian-gege said not to trust anyone that’s not Rich-gege. Xian-Gege and A-Yuan help rich-gege.”

There’s clear conflict in LXC eyes as he looks at the boy and then at his brother. Has Wangji not told him the news yet? But his priority was to take care of Wangji’s wounds, and he could easily just go around the child, but that would only cause trouble. So he nods in understanding, kneeling until he is at eye level with the boy.

“You are a fierce protector, I must admire that. However, my didi needs help. His wounds… are far too great.”

“Then Qing-jie can help! Qing-jie is the best doctor!”

LXC pressed his lips together before sighing, “I’m afraid… Wen Qing is not here to help us.”

Qing-jie still hasn’t come back? But Xian-gege told him she’d come back with Ning-ge. He looks around one more time… where is everyone? Why hasn’t Xian-Gege come out of his hiding place? The boy backs up until his back collides with LWJ's chest, who instantly wraps his arms around him and envelopes him in a tight embrace.

“Rich-gege… Wh-Where is Xian-gege?”

LWJ inhales sharply and then in a mere whisper he says, “I’m sorry…”

It doesn’t make sense, why would he apologize? He didn’t like any of this… he didn’t like the sour feeling in his stomach and he didn’t like how sad rich-gege looked. “I want Xian-gege…”

“I’m sorry, A-Yuan…. I’m sorry…” LWJ repeated with grief, more tears flowing down his cheeks. He had the same expression Xian-Gege had when he woke up after Ning-ge brought him back from his trip. It was scary to see Xian-gege and Ning-ge fighting. “I couldn’t protect him… please, forgive me…” LWJ sobbed as he hugged the child tighter.

At some point, A-Yuan’s eyes started to sting with tears. He wanted his Xian-gege and his popo, and Qing-Jie, and Ning-ge… where were they…?

“Where is Xian-gege…?” He asked again but this time with tears slowly falling down his cheeks. He couldn’t take it anymore, the uncertainty. The sad look the people in white gave him and rich-gege crying.

With a shove, he escapes the safe, warm embrace and scrambles out of the bed and runs past everyone and out of the nice house. The world outside was brighter, it almost blinded him how the sky was so blue and there was green everywhere. It was so unlike the grey and darkness casting over the mountain that he called home.

“Xian-gege!!” A-Yuan screamed as he ran, ignoring the calls from the people in the house. “A-Niang! A-Niang!”

The boy ran, and ran until his little legs couldn’t carry him any longer. He hadn’t realized where he was going, but he found himself surrounded by tall trees. It was too much. He just wanted his A-Niang to come get him. So he cried for him. He cried for his family to come get him.

“A-Yuan!” Someone called desperately, “A-Yuan!”

“A-Niang…?” He swears he saw a flutter of dark robes through the trees, but once the person came into the light he realized it was LWJ. Despair and fear clouded his features as he called for the boy, and it reminded him when he got lost in the market and had met rich-gege for the first time.

Rich-gege was safe, it’s what Wwx always said to him. So A-Yuan stands from where he was hiding and runs towards LWJ, clinging to his leg just like he had the first time.

LWJ instantly crumbles, picking and hugging the boy despite the bloody mess on his back. “A-Yuan…”

A-Yuan sniffles, burying his face on his chest. Staining his robes with tears, “Xian-gege…”

LWJ sucks in a sharp breath, “Gone… Forgive me…”

So both of them cry, being there for each other as they mourn the ones they lost.

[jennifer-jeong]

Fluff + Crack | L&DS x Reader Rizzing Them Up With Slang

Xavier, Zayne, Rafayel

Are you guys rockin with my photo editing skills or what LMAOOOO I laughed very hard while making this

CONTENT Fluff, crack, flirting with love and deepspace men by calling them handsome, implied feminine reader in Rafayel’s because he calls you pretty lady, CHARACTERS ARE 18+

AUTHOUR NOTE HELLO so I tend to play games like Genshin, Tears of Themis, and L&DS in mandarin because it’s the games native language and I speak mandarin so it makes me happy and comfy hehe. So basically I was thinking that if the characters call you things like “xiao jie” (english = “little lady” or “darling”), you could call them something like “shuai gei” (english = “handsome guy” or “lady-killer/papi”) LOL

You see him reading on the couch in your shared apartment as you’re preparing for a date. He’s waiting for you and looks amazing so you say:

“帅哥~, 准备好了吗?” Pinyin: “shuài gē~, zhǔnbèi hǎole ma?” English (direct translation): “handsome guy~, are you ready?” English: “hey papi~, are you ready to go?”

Xavier/Shen Xinghui

He looks at you blank faced and then starts to sound out the word, trying to understand what it even means. He raises an eyebrow and says he understands that you’re saying he’s handsome but…??? So you end up explaining it to him anyways (he’s such a boomer but it’s cute because he’s YOUR boomer <3). You tell him that he indeed looks handsome and you just wanted to let him know in a funny way. He nods, smiles, and then thanks you. He puts his hand over yours and reaches the other hand to cup your cheek, making sure that you know he thinks you’re so pretty. As you giggle in response you can both feel your hearts fluttering as you press your lips together.

Zayne/Li Shen

He looks at you deadpan, almost mildly offended (teasing rizz), before going back to his book. On the inside he’s trying not to laugh because he always loves your antics and will only play dumb to tease you (he’s secretly a just a silly lil guy). You try to keep using the slang but he just continues to say “I don’t know what that means, say it properly.” You refuse because you’re pretty sure he knows this slang. After a few more tries you let out a huff and mutter something about just wanting to compliment him for being handsome or whatever while pouting. He finally breaks and chuckles, saying he loves your expressions while snaking his hands around your waist. You start to argue back but he cuts you off with kisses on your forehead, hands, and finally, lips.

Rafayel/Qi Yu

Raises an eyebrow, slightly shocked, but then makes a proud face and pretends to hair flip (zesty). He smirks because he knows what you’re getting at and he wants to make you say it again. He cups a hand to his ear facing you and flutters his eyelashes at you and says “sorry, I didn’t catch that.” You laugh at his silliness before a lightbulb appears above your head. You walk closer to him and lean down to his ear and say it again, slowly and seductively. His eyes blow wide open and he blushes hard, his face and ears turning red. He stutters and then coughs into his hand. He reaches out to grab your hand and leans his other arm on the back of the couch (nervous rizz) and says:

“对, 准备好了, 我的美女~” Pinyin: “duì, zhǔnbèi hǎole, wǒ de měinǚ~” English (direct): “yes, I’m ready, my pretty lady~” English: “yes, I’m ready to go, mamacita~”

|| MASTERLIST ♡ || This was really fun to make LOL thank you for reading! ||

[manonim]

The round three ends soon so it’s time for some Jie propaganda!

Look at them go!

Ok… Jie works hard to win and so do I! My opponent is very strong and she won’t let me win easily but I won’t either!

Please vote for your winner !

@lmk-oc-competition

Also a full picture:

I must say it looks pretty well even though I made it in rush, still it haunts me that it could look cooler if only I wasn’t busy with school…

[sooniebby]

Crack headcanons— my OCs dick size/thick of slender..Yall better like this…

Yubin — 6, slender

Riki — 5, thick (he also has a knot attached to it)

Jun Jie — 5, thick

Eun Jae — 6, slender

Kimura — 5, slender

Nalin — 6, slender

Soojin — 7, thick (he’s also pretty tall, 6’2)

Levi — 6, thick

Vincent — 7, slender

Mikey — 6, thick

Keita — 6, slender

Xavier — 8, thick

Yuta — 8, thick

Yichen — …. 9.5… thick… (he’s a big man already he’s like 6’6, obvs he big down there too!)

Yichen biggest dick and tallest OC!! Let’s go for my baby girl!!

Now when it comes to boobs… Yichen, Vincent, and Xavier wins.

Ass? Yuta only—everyone else flat I’m sorry yall 😞

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

~*~

uh-oh, you’re in trouble

by tiraminsu

T, 8k, Wangxian

Summary: “So, um – if it’s not too much to ask, could you pretend you didn’t see me and just… let me go? I’ll find an inn or something, and you can track my every move if that helps! I just need to wait until I can get back, and I promise I won’t do anything reckless. Not that I could, anyway – no golden core here. The last world I was in didn’t even have cultivation. Seriously, you can check if you want. And – and I swear, I’ll keep quiet and steer clear of you – “ “Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji cut into his rambling, “You may stay.” Wei Wuxian gawked at him. “...Huh?” Lan Wangji was already heading for the door. “It is late. I will prepare a warm bath for you.” or, Wei Wuxian dies and becomes a transmigrator, only to find himself back in his original world thirteen years later – right in Lan Wangji’s bedroom.

~*~

Protecting that which was broken

by MyLittleHaloqii

Not rated, 1k, Jiang Yanli & Wei Wuxian

Summary: “No honey, well not alone at least.” She carried the little boy into her arms, shocked at how easy it was considering they were only a few years apart in age. “Jie-Jie will come with A-Xian! We’ll find a nice warm house with lots of food far away form any scary dogs. Would you like to come with me?”

~*~

In Allegiance to the Truth

by Anonymous

T, WIP, 33k, Zhuiyi & Wangxian

Summary: “He was the dawn to my twilight; the sun and sky to my moon and stars. He was the conviction to my doubt, and he favored the bold. He was the justice to my mercy, and he favored the righteous.” Sizhui’s god hangs their head. The stars in their eyes dim. “And just as the unknown begets fear as much as it does curiosity, the known truth can inspire rage as much as it does devotion. It is easy to justify horrible, terrible things as long as one thinks they were right.” In which a disgraced cleric and his party consisting of a cursed ranger, a very-normal “bard” and an oathbreaker unravel a mystery involving his god and their husband. Oh, and they’re also following an arm to the rest of its body.

~*~

Feeling The Warmth Again

by mxtx_disciple13

T, WIP, 34k, Wangxian & Xuanli & Chengqing & Nielan

Summary: BURIAL MOUNDS SETTLEMENT DAYS If someone would have tell Wei Wuxian that someday in the future he'll going to meet his twin pretty sons in a lan sect robes for the first time and at the burial mounds of all places, he would laugh his ass off until he has tears on his eyes and he can't breathe anymore. But here he is, holding two pretty lan babies who called him... "Mama?"

~*~

Shatterproof

by Greywake (@greywake)

T, WIP, 37k, Wangxian

Summary: Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli arrive at the Cloud Recesses Institute for Advanced Cultivation. All they had to do was complete the two-year programme to gain their full cultivation qualifications and not get into trouble. Easy! …Right?

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for these hard-working authors if you like – or think others might like – these stories.)

[rhysiana]

Because I saw a post about how modern AU WWX would probably actually be as tall as LWJ, if not taller, since so many modern AUs don't feature him suffering as much childhood privation as canon, which reminded me of another thought I have had, about how an early life period of interrupted growth can in fact just delay a person's growth spurts rather than eliminating them. Thus: WWX who gets confusingly taller after graduating from college.

3 People Wei Ying Talked to About Suddenly Getting Taller and 1 Person Who Definitely Noticed On His Own

[Now also on AO3]

Wen Ning

Wei Ying looked down at his feet, perplexed. "Wen Ning?" he yelled down the hall. "Did something weird happen to the washing machine that you didn't tell me about?"

Wen Ning popped his head around the door to Wei Ying's room. "No? I don't think so."

"Then why are all my pants suddenly too short?" A new thought occurred to him and he looked up, now delighted. "Wen Ning! Are you actually pulling a prank on me? I know I don't have all that many clothes, but still, this must have taken so much work! I respect the dedication." He held out a fist.

Wen Ning just blinked at him. "I think... maybe you got taller, actually?"

Wei Ying scoffed. "I'm way too old for a growth spurt. Seriously, did Nie Huaisang put you up to this?"

Wen Ning gave up arguing and simply produced a tape measure instead.

~*~

Wen Qing

Wei Ying burst into Wen Qing's lab, which he might have felt worse about if she hadn't been babysitting an experiment while no one else was around. He still received an impressive glare, but he didn't have time to worry about that right now.

"Wen Qing, I need you to test me for every weird kind of chemical exposure you can think of!"

She blinked at him, looking remarkably like her brother for a moment. "Wei Ying, you're in computer science. Exactly when do you come in contact with chemicals?"

"Uh. A leak on the science campus somewhere?"

"What is actually wrong with you? Tell me in the next," she glanced at the clock, "three minutes or leave."

"I apparently grew another inch in the last month without noticing. That can't be natural. I'm 23."

She stared at him for a moment, frowned, and then her expression cleared. "You said once that you had a bad time when you were younger. Stopped growing for a while."

"Why do you even remember that?" Wei Ying asked with an uncomfortable laugh, looking away. He must have been drunk; he didn't usually bring that time of his life up in any detail. It just made people sad.

Wen Qing turned away briskly, ignoring his minor display of emotion, and checked some readouts he was pretty sure hadn't actually changed in any way yet. "Well, that's why. Your growth spurts just got delayed, not erased. It's normal. I'll send you some references tomorrow."

He swept her up in a relieved hug. "Thank you, Qing-jie. Even if this does mean I'm not developing some weird superpower mutation."

She poked him cruelly in the ribs to get him to let go. "Go away, you're distracting me."

~*~

Jiang Cheng

"You what?!" Jiang Cheng demanded at full volume. It'd been a while since they'd managed to get together in person--Wei Ying had nearly forgotten how red with frustration Jiang Cheng could get.

Wei Ying grinned and bounced a little on his toes to really rub it in. "Grew another inch."

"No! This isn't allowed! The universe can't do this to me!"

"What's the problem, little brother?" Wei Ying edged closer so he could prop his elbow on Jiang Cheng's shoulder and really lean on him. "I think I should get jiejie to measure me again and mark it on the door frame. Really make it official."

"Don't you dare!"

"Why don't I ask her now, so she'll be all ready when we see her next weekend?" Wei Ying fished out his phone and then held it up over his head, laughing, as Jiang Cheng lunged for it.

Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed. "An inch isn't really that much," he growled, and hooked Wei Ying's leg in a takedown they'd both learned when they were 11.

Wei Ying tossed his phone out of wrestling range and turned his full attention to finding a hold that would make Jiang Cheng tap out.

~*~

Lan Zhan

"Wei Ying."

Most people claimed Lan Zhan's voice (and face) didn't have any expression, but Wei Ying could clearly hear the shock underlying his name.

"Lan Zhan!" he returned brightly. "You're back! Did you have a good trip? You've been gone for months and months!"

Wei Ying was used to the intensity of Lan Zhan's regard under normal circumstances--one of the many things he loved about being friends with him--but he didn't think he was imagining that it was particularly intense today.

"It was as I texted you," Lan Zhan said shortly, and then, surprisingly, continued before Wei Ying could get a teasing reply in. "Wei Ying... did you get taller?"

"Oh, that!" Wei Ying felt himself start to blush, for some reason. "Yeah, I did. It was so weird at first, but Qing-jie assures me it's normal, and I've almost gotten used to it now. It was just an inch but I had to go buy all new... pants..." He trailed off as Lan Zhan pushed into his personal space much closer than he ever had without Wei Ying initiating it first, as far as Wei Ying could recall. "Hi?"

They were nearly chest to chest now, and he could see it when Lan Zhan actually had to tilt his chin up just a bit to meet Wei Ying's eyes.

"Hello," Lan Zhan said, grave and low and very, very focused.

Wei Ying wasn't entirely sure what was happening right now, but he was pretty sure he was into it.

[strewwwberry]

I’ve seen a few posts spinning the idea that Shen yuan had ex-girlfriends before getting transmigrated

This was where I got pretty much this entire idea from so I give entire credi to them lol coz I basically copied it in different words 😂

Go check it out first! :

I love it so much, and the cherry on top has to be that it would totally make sense for him to have had girlfriends like are you kidding me,

He’s described as decently attractive and if we know anything about how shen yuan describes himself and others that aren’t through obvious bias (such as yue Qingyuan, Shen qingqiu and liu qingge first looks he gets of them) then I’m confident in that he’s probably telling the truth, we also know he’s rich as hell, he’s a literal neet/nepo baby, and we also know that he has siblings, more specifically a little sister.

Now as someone who can have insight into the woman’s brain as someone raised a woman™, a guy who gets along with their little sister is a green flag

Now all that in mind, shen yuan getting some is not that shocking in all honesty, and frankly his nerdiness probably added to his charm for some girls and his totally not gay just respect women juice also probably got some oblivious girls to go "awww what a sweetheart"

So yes, shen yuan with exes is spectacular for the logical reasons

Now the funny reasons.

Can you imagine him talking to airplane about this? Shang qinghua is just like well wtf do you know about sex you virgin and shen yuans just like "Lan-Jie thought I was great stfu"

Shang qinghua would be flabbergasted

And to add to that, shang qinghua definitely catfished shen yuan and I will stand by that in any shen yuan has exes universes

Going off of the other post linked above, shang qinghua with some nickname like "Xiao Hua" or maybe "Xiao Mei" just meaning little sister and shen yuan just never questioning it until Shang Qinghua just up and ghosts him after realising nah this dude gay a hell

Back to svsss and Shen yuan is listing off his exes and mentions "Xiao Mei" on his like 47th ex an sqh is just like

😃😃

Humour my darling, I'm cackling

Anyway brainrot over have a good night/morning/afternoon (￢ ‿ ￢ )

[jiecomic]

Chapter 1- The contract

|Table of contents|Next

Red Son walked through the corridor with a mischievous grin on his face chuckling to himself, right before his mother's room he cleared his throat and walked in slamming the doors into the wall.

" Mother!" He jelled as soon as he kicked the heavy doors "I think I found it!"

Iron Fan turned to her son and looked at the roll of paper which was in his hand.

" Finally..." her red lips formed an evil smile

The women moved to her son and took the paper before Red Son was able to say anything.

"After all these years..." she started to unroll the map "After thousand years my love will be able to come back to living!"

She stared with a flaming gaze at the red marking on the map.

" How are the preparations?" Iron Fan turned to her son with a face full of enthusiasm

" Everything will be ready within a month" Red Son smiled showing all his teeth

"Great" Iron Fan nodded and with a map in her hand she came closer to Red Son "Soon your father will be free again and we, the family of Demon Bull King will raise and rule this world!" She started laughing at the end, soon her son joined her.

The son and his mother were so absorbed in their 'villain moment' that they didn't realise... that they weren't alone....

Just under the ceiling, in a small crack, there was a spy who followed their every move with its red eyes. As quietly as possible the little creature disappeared in the darkness leaving only a small cloud of pink dust...

Jie sat on her cough as soon as she teleported to her house. She buried her nose in her hands letting her elbows rest on the table, after spending a few minutes in this position, she lifted her head. She was emotionally tired but tears still didn't stop flowing from her eyes.

Her lips were formed into something that looked like a smile of a person screaming inside of their head.

"It's all over..." she whimpered quietly, her voice was pretty dry from exhaustion

" Goodbye my old, uncomfortable cough" she whined while trying to stand on her two feet, after that she moved to the coffee table "Goodbye you piece of wood... I'll never forget the pain you give me when I hurt my toe on you"

Then she moved to every other furnitures in the room, then to the kitchen and even a toilet, at the end was her animal which was... well let's say that it was hard to interpret it's race. But for Jie it was a dog, and that's the reason behind his name.

" Gou..." Jie hugged a little beast in her arms still crying like a baby, Gou probably didn't understand the atmosphere since he was only chewing his tail while Jie continued her goodbye " Listen your little demon, your gonna be better without your mom, ok? I-I hic...hic... I left you your favourite snacks and...sniff... and put my picture near your bed so that you wouldn't cry after meee!"

She left him at the floor and got her luggage from gods know where.

" Goodbye, thank you for staying by my side all those years but... You'll going to be safer without me!" She said as she opened the door of her house

Just before taking the first step she froze due to the sudden realisation...

'I have nowhere to go to...' she thought while closing the door

With that Jie decided that leaving her home and bab- *ahem* pet... wasn't a good idea so she started unpacking.

***

"I'm gonna fight them!" Jie stood up pointing her fist to the ceiling " No... Princess Iron Fan will kill me in a second with the help of that lunatic son of hers..." with that thought all energy left her body "Would be much easier if my powers weren't sealed away" she scratched the back of her neck while swearing at the Jade Emperor in her mind.

" That's the end huh?"- she looked at her photos on the wall, all with her and Gou. Some were taken on holiday, some on a beach, the cutest one was with her and Gou celebrating her 2000 birthday "Well... maybe I didn't deserve more than just those thousand years...WAIT!

Jie suddenly stood up all filled with energy from her toes to head "There is a way!"she stood like that for 3 seconds " Cause... He will help me right?" She started to question her decision.

'There is a way that he will agree... although...'

Suddenly she felt something pulling her dress. When she looked down Jie's eyes met the innocent gaze of Gou.

A smile had slowly appeared on her face.

"Don't worry Gou..." She crouched to pet her dog "Till now I have been only hiding, it's time to fight for my life!"

With that thought Jie snapped her fingers and teleported.

She felt confident with her decision and was ready to stand before a great sage.

***

Jie wasn't confident anymore.

She was standing on a beach of Flower Fruit Mountain (the farthest she could teleport to) questioning literally every of her life choices that leaded her to this damn mountain.

" Maybe moving out wasn't such a bad idea..?- It's not like I was never homeless anyway..."

Right when she was about to go back Jie noticed that she wasn't alone.

"Gou?!"

'Damn it! I had to bring him along by accident!'

The dog was so excited about visiting a new place that he ignored his owner and ran into bushes as fast as he could.

"Wait!"

"Gouuuu!"

"Whyyy are you doing this to me..!"

And like this, the great chase had started!

(By the way Gou won)

***

Without realisation Jie had entered the secret cave of Sun Wukong.

She had no idea how had she been able to break the seal, but probably thanks to despair.

" Gou..." she whispered as quietly as she could "Gou..." this time a little bit louder

Woof!

Jie's heart almost escaped through her throat when Gou had answered to her call just next to her.

Now when she didn't have to worry about her pet Jie looked around.

Judging by the state of this place there was NO WAY that the Monkey King would still live here.

At least that's what Jie hoped for.

'I've got so far, it would be a shame to not at least try...'

She cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"MONKEY KING!!!"

"Are you here!?"

When her calls started echoing through the cave she started counting to three in her mind.

'One'

'Two'

'Three...'

"..."

"Looks like he isn't at home, well what a sha-

"HI THERE!"

At that moment Jie's heart really jumped to her throat.

She made a few steps back trying to calm herself but when she saw HIM her instincts were ordering her to run as fast as she could.

"M-Monkey King?!"- she jelled while looking behind at a specific monkey

" Yeah!- the one and only!" He answered proudly

"But..." he moved closer to Jie and looked at her as if he had a scanner in his eyes "Do I know you...? I don't remember fighting you..."

"You're right" Jie was finally able to say something "My name is-

" What are you here for?" The monkey cut Jie off as if he was already tired of her presence

"I'm here cause-

" You want to fight?"

"NO!"

" You want an autograph?"

"No, I-

" You came here because you feel like a tiny piece of dust in a big universe and you seek for a reason of your existence?"

"...No..."

" Aha! So you came here for the peaches of immortality!"

"WHAT?!- wait, why do you even have them?-BUT NO! I'M NOT HERE FOR ANY PEACHES!"

" Then you are here for-

'Gah! This will take an eternity!'

"Forgive me for interrupting you, but I'm not here for a fight, an autograph, a philosophy lecture or some magic fruits!" Since Monkey King was FINALLY listening to Jie, she decided to use this chance "I mean no charm, ok?"

Chomp!

"..."

"..."

" Is this thing yours?" Wukong asked calmly while raising his arm, his arm with such a beautiful, yellow sleeve made from an old, expensive fabric...which Gou was trying to eat...

"It's my dog"

"Take it away until it's still in one piece"

"Yes sir…"

Thankfully Jie was able to stop Gou from chewing Monkey King's clothes.

Wukong was checking his sleeve's condition while Jie was sweating and screaming in pain (mentally).

" I'm sorry..." the demoness muttered quietly. Since Wukong didn't seem to be angry and was a little distracted she decided to finally have a serious talk with him "I'm really sorry for interrupting your peaceful time, but this is half of why I'm here. You didn't know about me till now even though I was living in this city for hundreds years because I was hiding from you. You and every other being that could kill me while all I wanted was a peaceful life..."

She looked at the monkey to see if he pays any attention to her. Thanks gods he seemed pretty interested in her speech.

" As you can see I'm a demon, that's why for many years I was doing only what was expected from a monster, then I faced the consequences and... lost everything... but thanks to you, for the last thousand years I was able to finally live my life the way I wanted.- And I don't want to lose this. The family of Demon Bull King is planning something and you're aware of that. So please... in order to keep our peaceful lives, please... let me stand next to you"

Jie bowed her head and waited for Wukong’s reaction.

" So you want to be my ally? Don't feel offended but... you don't look too strong"

That actually hurt Jie's pride but it didn't take her long to recover and continue

" Unfortunately you’re right, half of my power was sealed away long time ago, but believe me" she looked up at him with a red light in her eyes "If you give me an order I will show your enemies the true fury of the fox demon"

"Ha... sounds more like a servant than an ally" at the end of the sentence Wukong grinned

" If that's who you want, then I'll fit in that role"

The Monkey King seemed to consider Jie's offer.

" Come to think of it..." his face started to show a little bit of excitation " I'm a king... but all I have is a group of a little cute monkeys..." He looked at Jie again. She could tell that he was using a golden sight on her. It really felt as if he seen her through at that moment.

"At least five tails your hiding huh?- he chuckled quietly "ALRIGHT! Since now youuuuuu...."

" Jie"

" JIE, are under my command! As a servant of a great Sage equal to heaven, The Monkey King- Sun Wukong!

Wukong stood in front of a kneeling Jie while lifting his arm as if to reach the demoness, as the air between them became tense and a strange string of golden light connected their wrists Jie knew that the ritual of contract started...

The contract between demons isn't a normal contract. It's like an exchange. A servant gives their live and loyalty to their master, while master shares a little of their power with them. The thing is that only master can break the contract.

At that moment Jie was able to feel the power of Monkey King running through her veins.

' Such a little power and I already feel like my body is about to explode...'

She also allowed herself to look at Monkey King's soul orb.

You see, Jie has a special ability that allows her to see the souls of livings trapped in an orb. With that Jie could always recognise the power, personality and sometimes the intention of the soul's owner.

There is not such a thing like two identical souls but Jie had never seen a soul like Wukong's. It was bright to the point when she though she's going blind, so hot that it could burn her if she had ever reached for it, it was big and it's shape was changing every second as if someone put it into a fire. All because this poor little orb couldn't contain the full strength of the great Monkey King.

' He really is dangerous...'

' But that's good'

Jie suddenly felt an ache on her wrists, she looked at them and saw the two golden rings around her hands.

' Like a chain'

"Is it done?" Monkey King broke into Jie's thoughts "I've never done this before..."

Unconsciously Jie started rubbing her neck, where a jade necklace was hanging. Or, how she liked to say- her death threat.

"Don't worry Master... Everything is just as it should be"

There was no way for Monkey King to know it back then but Jie hid something important from him... the fact that if she found their contract inconvenient for her she could easily break it. Which gave her an advantage.

'There's no way I'll let him use me, for the sake of my life I will never let anyone do that again...'

"So... when are you going to strike the Demon Bull King's family?" Jie asked as if she was ready to cause chaos and beat some demons with her new powers, now she was confident to win against Princess Iron Fan!

"ME?!"Monkey King started to laugh his head off "Nah, I won't even lift a finger!- I'm retired! "

Jie looked as if someone had turned her into a stone "T-Then whose gonna fight the Demon Bull King?!"

"Well, my successor of course!"

"..."

"Excuse me?"

This way the great Monkey King managed to destroy all of Jie's hopes in one sentence

End of chapter 1

|Table of contents|Next

[guzhufuren]

Well now that our series is over I was wondering what your Top 5 fave moments were from MYATB!?

took me a week to calm down and think about this, sorry for the delay bun

1. the ending newlyweds montage: trying to sneak away to kiss, calling each other pretty, being married and domestic. it's what my dreams are made of, it's what i crave from every ql i watch. i cant believe that it's a chinese one that gave me this

2. Xiaobao's "a divine goddess!!!!" moment in the forest. i swear i cried from all encompassing happiness and joy when i saw this in the trailer, it's sooo ancient China romcom flavoured

3. the kiss. our first uncensored wuxia full kiss. i could never imagine they would do more than a gentle peck, as faithful to cdramas, but Nancy jie, Lele and Xiaokai truly gave it their all

3. girl Huaien in the carriage. girl Huaien at all times. this man is my wife and i'm so in love with her i could float in air. when i even think about this scene i swoon and giggle and start making dreamy sighs

5. the first major toxic yaoi event my beloved. this was my favourite bit that i knew from the novel in advance, i prayed for months that it would make it into the show and they delivered it fucking flawlessly, almost word to word, it drives me insane

[waterlilyvioletfog]

Screenshots from YYXH Ep. 1

Ling Miaomiao, drama consumer extraordinaire spends her whole day off reading a brand new book by her favorite fantasy author only for it to turn out to be a rank, idiotic, mediocre romance!! The betrayal!!

Miaomiao now somewhat bemused to find herself in aforementioned mediocre romance as the no-good, no-brain, vicious secondary female lead, trapped by a System into playing out that role.

Omg hi!! It’s this actress!! Off the top of my head, she showed up last year in A Journey to Love as the empress and in TTEOTM as the SFL. Her character, the mirror demon, gets immediately defeated, but she also apparently has an official character poster. Possibilities: she’s relevant again later (who’s this master she mentions?); they wanted to show off this sick-ass character design (who can blame them); they were marketing to her fans (most likely option).

Meet our secondary leads! This moment is a good example of showing the audience how Fuyi and Mu Yao were the original novel’s leads.

After TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES, our male lead finally shows up in style via guitar riff accompanied song, blasting in as a fireball, single-handedly beating our little mirror demon.

Miaomiao and Mu Sheng… do not hit it off. He’s insanely protective of his sister and is (justifiably) suspicious that Lin Yu (the character Miaomiao has entered) has bad intentions. But they do have pretty intense chemistry! Mu Sheng is sneaky, crafty, petty, often quite mean, and the baby brother of all time. He also operates on a slightly different moral system than either Fuyi or Mu Yao. The scene before this one, he is about to kill the mirror demon despite Fuyi’s directives because she hurt Mu Yao, until he gets distracted looking after Mu Yao because the mirror demon hurt her. 🤷 Essentially, at this point his motivations can be boiled down to “A-jie?? Is a-jie okay??? If you hurt a-jie, die!! If you fail to pay proper attention to a-jie, die!!! If you steal my a-jie’s attention, DIEEEEEEEE!!!!!”

After defeating the mirror demon, Miaomiao meets her character’s dad, who by complete coincidence is played by the same actor as HER dad, who is dead. THAT’S RIGHT, BABY!! DADDY ISSUES WILL LITERALLY FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO!!!

[lmk-oc-competition]

LMK OC COMPETITION - ROUND 1

click to see full image

Táozi belongs to @somewhat-insane

Jie belongs to @manonim

Learn more about them below the cut!

Táozi:

Táozi is a demon monkey from FFM whose parents were killed by poachers. He was found as a baby by one of my other OCs who raised them as their own. Likes traveling and painting and is generally pretty carefree. Doesn't have much experience in a fight but is fairly agile and athletic (being a monkey and all) so depends on being able to run away from any altercation.

Táozi sees Wukong and Macaque as his uncles since Macaque briefly took shelter with Táozi's father after being resurrected, and Táozi has vague memories of Wukong before his parents died. Other than that, Táozi doesn't have much connection to the main cast.

Jie:

Jie is the fox demon who's serving Monkey King in order to have his protection. She's a mysterious, quiet person who tries her best to keep up with Monkey King and MK, though spending time with such chaotic monkeys was never part of her plan. Jie is determined to keep her life as peacful as possible, so if anyone would try to destroy that... They can be sure that there's a certain fox who will never forgive them.,

[nevertheless-moving]

The Demon of Yunmeng: Chapter Six

Part One — Part Five

“You’re sure, Wei Gongzi?” Wen Ning held the reigns with care, looking at the horse uncertainly. It snorted, eyeing the glint of metal around Wen Ning’s arms and legs with reciprocal doubt. 

“Of course!” Wei Wuxian said. He leaned in, voice growing conspiratorial. “You know Jiang Cheng can’t openly support the Dafan Wen, not without risking Jiang Sect’s position. But the two of us will never be able to repay the debt we owe you.”

“I appreciate that, it- it’s just….” Wen Ning hesitated a moment. “My sister and I really do consider all debts paid between us, you know that right? I don’t w-want—” he exhaled, grimacing slightly and dropping his voice. “I know you’re in some sort of trouble. Jie-Jie’s been on edge about it all week. If it has something to d-do with us —”

Wei Wuxian shook his head, putting a hand on Wen Ning’s shoulder. “It has nothing to do with you whatsoever,” he said sincerely. “It’s about me. Well, me and my dumb inventions.”

“The tally?” Wen Ning whispered.

“Guessed it in one. I might have pissed them off a little with your family, but it was always going to be something. Trust me — the Jin are more than willing to make up excuses to take it from me. ”

“Is there — Is there anything I can do to help? An-anything at all?” 

Wei Wuxian snorted. “You know it’s funny you ask, I originally — what? What is it?”

Wen Ning’s eyes had grown wide and fearful, staring at something over Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. He quickly turned around, only to see the back of Lan Zhan’s head. 

“D-Did I do something to offend Lan Gongzi?” Wen Ning asked, still looking alarmed. “He w-was glaring at m-me like I killed someone!”

“Eh.” Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, that’s just his face.”

Wen Ning looked doubtful. 

“In any case, Lan Zhan and I have it covered,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. “I might not be able to visit for a while, but when I do, everything should be fine.”

“Alright. But if there is some way I can help —”

“I’ll let you know.” He hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at Lan Zhan’s back. “Ask your sister about the details,” Wei Wuxian said under his breath. “But I might end up annoying Lan Zhan really badly and be back in a couple days, and might ask for your help with something, but you are absolutely free to say no, got it! You already said all debts are settled between us, so no taking that back! It’s a pretty stupid idea to be honest.”

“Um,” Wen Ning frowned. “Okay?”

“You’re a good man Wen Ning,” Wei Wuxian said, pulling him in for a hug. Talismans hummed at his chest, and he smiled. “I’m really glad I didn’t snap your neck when I had the chance.”

“Me too, Wei-Gongzi,” Wen Ning said, returning the embrace. “Thank you again for the horse — everyone always appreciates them. You’re sure you can’t stay any longer to say good bye A-Yuan? He was so happy playing with you last night.”

“Ah, don’t tempt me,” Wei Wuxian said, stepping back. “Thank you again for hosting me!”

“Thank you, Wei-Gongzi. I wouldn’t even have this home if it wasn’t for you, not to mention I wouldn’t be alive to —”

“Okay! Maybe we should stop saying thank yous between us. And seriously, you are the only person who calls me that."

“...Safe Travels, Wei-Gongzi.”

He sighed. “Until next time, Wen Ning.”

Wei Wuxian squared his shoulders, marching over to where the Second Jade himself stood.

“Ready?” he said, slinging an arm over Lan Zhan’s shoulder and feeling him stiffen.

“Mn.” Lan Wangji strode forward, leaving Wei Wuxian’s arm behind.

Wei Wuxian let his mouth ramble aimlessly for the first hour or so of their journey, eyeing Lan Zhan occasionally to see if he would crack under the persistent mild annoyance. The man bore it with enviable patience, humming with acknowledgement at all the right places to confirm he was listening, occasionally even saying whole words back.

Once Wei Wuxian felt enough time had passed to lure him into a false sense of security, he started to shift the conversation. Lan Zhan had disappeared before dinner last night, lingering only long enough to confirm that they would leave together in the morning, not leaving time for discussion.

Possibly he had been reporting to his Sect that he would be travelling by foot for the near future and might not be easy to find. Possibly he had been chopping down a forest, raging over the confused impulse to prove his dedication to justice that had led him into this situation. It was impossible to say by looking at him.

Time to get to the heart of things — nice as it was to walk beside Lan Zhan without arguing, he really didn’t want to wait until he was at Carp Tower to come up with a new plan.

 "So," Wei Wuxian said, hands behind his head. "We're heading to Lanling together."

"Mn."

“You're still committed to pretending to be my cultivation partner."

"...Mn."

Sunlit shone lazily through gaps in the trees as they walked; it was a pretty good day to be on foot, all things considered.

"No reservations," Wei Wuxian said skeptically.

"..."

"Lan Zhan," he said, rolling his eyes and coming to a stop.

Lan Wangji kept moving at an even pace.

"Lan Zhan!"

Lan Wangji continued forward.

Wei Wuxian hurried to catch up with him. "Look, it's best to get these things out sooner rather than later," he said reasonably. "I'm not going to stop pestering you, and if you don't tell me, I'm going to start guessing things that are worse than whatever you might say. Let’s just get it over with!”

"...Are there none among Wei Ying’s past lovers that you will acknowledge?" The man didn't even have the courtesy to turn and make eye contact when he said it.

Indignation rose in his chest. "I thought you said you didn't believe — ohhh you mean actual lovers."

"Mn." Lan Wangji's hand fell to his sword, but he made no move to draw it. It was good to have some indication of when the man was experiencing a real emotion — even if it was only ever anger. Lan Zhan had always gotten annoyed by his flirtatious behavior, hadn’t he?

Well, Lan Zhan was doing him a rather large favor, even if it was part of a bizarrely un-Lan-like plan to achieve justice. He could meet him part way and swallow his pride on this, if nothing else.

"Yeahh..." Wei Wuxian said, a bit sheepishly. "I might have slightly exaggerated about some of that in the past."

Lan Wangji glanced over, eyes narrowing.

"I mean it's not like I actually had a lot of free time during the sunshot campaign," he said defensively. "I'm going to have to pretend I literally wasn't sleeping ever to have been having sex with you during the war — and as you pointed out, we at least already knew each other and were conveniently near one another often enough. When the fuck would I have seduced random women?"

"Mn." That grunt was a bit tighter, as it tended to be when referencing intimate matters.

"Plus you must have noticed I'm a little less popular since taking up demonic cultivation — not an invitation to discuss changing my ways, just to be clear."

“...”

“What? You really think you’re the only person to be put off by my cultivation path? You’re not the only person with standards, Lan Zhan.”

"...Seen Wei Ying with women. Recently. At Phoenix Mountain Hunt."

"Pft." Wei Wuxian shrugged. "Just because a woman's willing to ride next to an attractive war hero in public doesn't mean she actually wants to spend quality time with him in private."

"Mn."

Wei Wuxian squinted suspiciously. "Was that ‘Mn’ skeptical?" 

"..."

"Come on, we have to be honest with each other, if we're going to be lifelong cultivation partners."

A tighter grip on the sword, then Lan Wangji turned his head away to look at the trees to his right. "Wei Ying claimed he had 'lots of experience,'" he said, voice free of inflection.

"What?" He struggled to think back. "When did we talk about experience? You mean in cloud recesses, because like I said I seriously exaggerated — oh! Haahahahaha!"

Lan Wangji whipped his head around to look at him, back rigid, but Wei Wuxaian struggled to do anything but bend over with laughter.

"Oh man," he said, still laughing. "You mean that nonsense I said during the hunt! Come on, you — wait. Wait!"

Several thoughts bumped against each other. He had run into Lan Zhan immediately after that mysterious kiss. Lan Zhan had been unusually offended by his presence. Lan Zhan said —

"Wait," he gasped. "When you said you saw me with women — do you mean you saw me kissing a woman?! At the hunt? Lan Zhan, did you see me kissing someone at the hunt?"

"Shameless!" Lan Zhan snarled, picking up the pace.

"Come on!" Wei Wuxian wheedled, hurrying to match his step. "You did, didn't you! Who was it? Lan Zhan, was that why you were so angry back then? Was I kissing someone you likmmnn Mnnn! mdphhnn!"

The silencing spell, seriously? he thought, first dumbfounded, then furious. 

He turned around, stalking back the way he came.

What are we, junior disciples? Fuck this, I don't need to voluntarily agree to extra time being disapproved of by Hunguang-Jun. This is stupid, so fucking stupid.

“Wei Ying.”

Maybe I’ll take Wen Qing up on her idea. Probably Not. Okay, definitely not, but we can discuss other things — we’re geniuses, surely we can come up with a smarter plan than this, right? We figured a way out of the Qiongqi pass and it wasn’t all luck.

"Wei Ying!"

Wei Wuxian made a rude gesture over his shoulder, continuing on.

"Wei Ying — this is foolish."

This time he made rude gestures over both shoulders, narrowly resisting the urge to fling a talisman back.

"...Wei Ying, I apologize. I should not have."

He paused, shocked, then opened his mouth, feeling the spell lift.

…Did he really just apologize? To me? For discipline?

"Hunguang-Jun," he said, rubbing his mouth, not looking back. "I know you don't approve of this sort of talk, and I know you're doing me a huge, life changing favor, but if you're going to silence me every time I talk about something immodest, there's no way this will work."

"You are right." 

Wei Wuxian wheeled around in surprise. "I'm right?"

Lan Wangji bowed low from the waist. "I will not silence you again. It was poor behavior. Forgive me."

"Well," Wei Wuxian said, smile starting to creep up involuntarily. "I suppose considering what you’re sacrificing, and the fact that you're too dignified to shout at me anymore, I can forgive the occasional spell. But not unless I really deserve it, alright? I mean, it's not like I don't know I can be annoying. But it can't be every little question."

"Mn."

Wei Wuxian laughed. "Alright, fine," he turned back south towards Lanling Jin, feeling oddly buoyed by the argument.

Maybe he really has changed since our school days. If he can admit to being overly harsh towards me…

"Anyway," Wei Wuxian said, scratching the side of his nose as they fell back into step with one another. "There's experience and there's experience, and I promise, I don't have as much of either as people think I have."

"..."

"It's not like I've actually been lying, not really. People assume things! I don't correct them. At most I exaggerate. I'm not one of those men who points at a maiden and claims to have taken her virtue just to make myself seem more masculine."

"I see." 

 Wei Wuxian waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, I know, ‘do not exaggerate your accomplishments,’ 'don't speak unchastely of others.' I get it, I think I'm suffering the consequences of my actions well enough without having to copy the rules again."

"Mn."

"Right," Wei Wuxian said, clapping his hands. "The point is, there's nothing to worry about with that at the trial, I promise — no past true loves who I will have to deny to their faces, definitely no bastards."

"Then I have no further concerns."

"None?" Wei Wuxian asked skeptically.

"...I am willing to accept certain discomforts. No reason to discuss it further."

"Really Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian said, more sincerely. "I know that you're capable of sacrifice. It's just not necessary to accept those discomforts for the sake of justice, not in this case. Sure, I won't be able to claim my nights were full during the war, but that would be a stretch to explain anyway, and we're still not that far from the Wen; we can go back and I can —"

"Why him?"

Wei Wuxian glanced over at the unusually clipped words, but the Second Jade was once again facing away. "Why Wen Ning, do you mean?"

Lan Wangji turned his head just enough to glare at him out of the corner of his eyes.

"You mean why was I originally planning on asking him to pretend to be my cutsleeve lover?" Wei Wuxian asked, bewildered. "Or why am I saying I could still ask him now?"

Lan Wangji clenched his sword, eyebrow twitching slightly.

Wei Wuxian blew out a breath. "Who else would I have ever thought to ask? It's not like being a demonic cultivator makes your acquaintances more likely to spend time developing bonds of friendship with you, and then the accusations on top of that..."

He threw his hands in the air, letting out a bark of laughter. "How was I supposed to have ever guessed in a million years that you of all people would have said yes to this crazy idea? I thought you still hated me." He cocked his head, eyeing the man beside him thoughtfully. "When did you stop hating me, anyway?"

"Never hated Wei Ying."

"Bullshit!" Wei Wuxian stopped to wave a finger disapprovingly. "I believe you might not anymore, and I know your rules prohibit 'excessive opinions of vitriol' but rules don't change how a person actually feels."

"Never hated Wei Ying," Lan Wangji repeated, setting his jaw and planting his feet.

"Then why the hell did you hound me throughout the war — years, Lan Zhan, actual years of both of our lives, just to criticize my cultivation!" he rolled his eyes, trying to keep his tone light despite the roiling in his chest.

Lan Wangji didn't answer, and Wei Wuxian pushed further. If they were doing this, they might as well get it all out while they were still close enough for Wen Qing to patch him together if it came to blows.

"At a time when we were both fighting the same enemy, you acted like I was the worst person on the battlefield!” Wei Wuxian accused. “Like my crimes outweighed that of the Qishan Wen one hundred fold!”

“Did not.”

Wei Wuzian scoffed. “Just admit you at least used to hate me, even if you’ve meditated past it now. I'm the one who invented the ghost path, Lan Zhan! Hating my cultivation is the same thing as hating me!"

"Not hate," Lan Wangji insisted.

Wei Wuxian snorted, growing sarcastic. "What, so all those times you said 'demonic cultivation is bad for the mind' that was out of sincere concern for my own sake, not the people I would kill in my wicked madness?"

"Yes!"

He paused, staring at Hunguang-Jun, a man who was famously honest, and was also famously succinct. Succinct to the point of possibly being bad with words.

Hunguang-Jun stared back.

"...Seriously?"

"Yes." There was relief on Lan Zhan's face — only a hint, but coming from him...

Wei Wuxian's throat felt tight. "You were worried about me? Not... what I would do to others?"

"Yes. Still worried," Lan Wangji said quietly.

"What about wanting to lock me away in Gusu Lan?" Wei Wuxian dragged a hand across his face, eyes itching, throat still too tight. "You honestly expect me to believe you wanted to imprison me out of concern too?"

"No!"

Wei Wuxian took a step back, surprised by the volume of Lan Zhan's answer.

Lan Wangji took a step forward. "Not imprison. Heal Wei Ying. Protect."

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying said, frustration and a tangle of other painful emotions rising up. "Setting aside the fact that I'm not giving up the cultivation path I invented, what the fuck do you think would happen if I actually did come back to you to Gusu? You think your clan would treat me kindly? Let me run free?"

There was no agreement or disagreement; Lan Wangji just looked at him with anger — or possibly concern?

"They beat people for sneaking out at night!" he continued. "For drinking! Lan Zhan — even if — even if you only wish to help and "heal" me..." He dragged a hand over his face again.

Lan Wangji stared at him, hands fisted at his sides.

Wei Wuxian took a deep breath to settle himself. "Setting aside the fact that I don't need to be healed — your sect never had love for me and my ways, even when they came from a place of childlike innocence. I was thrown out of your uncle's presence for speaking of the idea of using resentful energy to counteract other dark forces. You honestly expect me to believe they would treat me fairly now, after everything I've done? That they would hesitate for one moment to punish me as severely as they possibly could?"

This time he waited for an answer. Lan Zhan opened his mouth. "I want Wei Ying safe," he said finally, voice unexpectedly hoarse, maybe even desperate.

It was impossible not to be moved by such a sincere confession. But in the end it just made him feel the way he did when earnest concern crept into Jiang Cheng's shouting about his laziness. The way he felt when A-Li's gentle questions about his sword hinted at a fearful depth of care.

Fucking tired.

And, besides, what did safety really mean, to someone as narrow-minded as Lan Zhan?

Painful clarity suddenly struck Wei Wuxian. "Wait... Lan Zhan... Is that it then? Is that the reason you agreed to this plan? So you could bring me back to your sect as your cultivation partner, and tuck me away somewhere 'safe'?"

"NO!"

Wei Wuxian's jaw dropped at the vehement denial, loaded with raw emotion that came from fucking nowhere. To his continued shock, tears appeared to be welling at the corners of Lan Zhan's eyes.

"Ah—" Wei Wuxian looked around wildly. "Um..." The overgrown path was still clear of any other travelers, and they were both skilled enough to sense the approach of others, but it seemed like a good moment to double check.

"Would not," Lan Zhan grit out, each word sounding like it was ripped painfully from his throat.

"Lan Zhan!" he said. "It's alright, I believe you!"

What the actual fuck?? What did I say?? The only other time I saw him cry his father was dying?!

"I would not," Lan Wangji repeated, turning away to hide his face.

Wei Wuxian couldn't help but reach a hand out and place it carefully on the man's shoulder, even knowing the contact was unlikely to help. "I believe you, Lan Zhan." He exhaled heavily. "Ah, Lan Zhan...and I thought Jiang Cheng was bad at expressing his feelings!"

Lan Wangji whirled around to face him, offended.

It was impossible not to laugh a little. "Oh, Lan Zhan! Come on, now that I know you actually don't hate me, of course we can be friends!" He paused. "You...do want to be friends, right?"

Insects chirped in the silence for an excruciatingly extended moment.

“Or I suppose there’s a lot of room between hatred and friendship,” Wei Wuxian said, pulling his hand back from where it had been lingering uselessly outstretched, using it to scratch the back of his neck. “I mean — ha, you don’t have to be friends with someone to want to help them, right? Or maybe you did at one point, but then the demonic—”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, ears red, hands clenched.

“...Lan Zhan?”

“...I want.” Lan Wangji grit out, and Wei Wuxian’s heart swelled. 

"Great!" he said, slapping Lan Zhan on the back and darting away before he could draw his sword. "Took you long enough!"

He started walking forward, whistling cheerfully and allowing Lan Zhan to regain his composure in relative privacy. After a few minutes he dared to glance over, and was relieved to see Hunguang-Jun’s face had returned to its normal smoothness.

"Sooo..." he said, the casualness of his voice sounding fake even to his own ears. "When exactly did you decide you wanted to be friends?"

"..."

"Come on! When I was studying at cloud recesses? After? When we fought the Xunawu of Slaughter?"

"..."

"Yeah, this is pretty much how I always imagined our conversations going when we became friends."

It was barely late afternoon when Wei Wuxian insisted on stopping, setting up camp when they found a ready looking patch of trampled ground – not too far from a small creek, firepit already dug by past travelers.

Lan Zhan didn't protest the short day — probably because he was also aware that there was little to be gained by arriving at Carp Tower early. It was unlikely anybody would be thrilled at the thought of hosting the Demon of Yunmeng for unnecessary nights.

Possibly he was also disproportionately fatigued by the amount of genuine conversation they had had in one day. Wei Wuxian was fairly sure this was the most he had ever talked to Lan Zhan. Well, talked to and been spoken to in return.

The two worked companionably setting up camp, Wei Wuxian giving up on prying Lan Zhan for answers to sensitive questions, instead rambling about several (non demonic) talismans he had been working on.

"Alright," he said, dumping another armload of dry wood by the firepit. "I'm going to go see if I can find some fish or something for dinner. Don't worry, I'll make sure to find you something, too. I'm sure they don't teach hunting in the Cloud Recesses."

Lan Zhan gave him a look, setting down what looked like most of a tree.

"Fine," Wei Wuxian said, rolling his eyes. "Just enough for me."

"No rabbits."

Wei Wuxian turned back to him in surprise, but Lan Zhan wasn't looking at him.

"You eat meat?" 

“Not in cloud recesses.”

“Alright,” he said, only a little wrong-footed. "No rabbits."

By the time he returned with five pheasants, courteously plucked away from camp, the fire had produced coals hot enough to cook over, a pot of water was almost boiling, and Lan Zhan had chopped enough extra wood to last a small family through the winter.

"Leaving enough firewood for the next set of wanderers?" Wei Wuxian asked affectionately. "Ah, you really are too good." He sat down by the fire, setting down a bundle of thick stemmed freshwater mints he had stumbled across.

"Rule 847," Lan Wangji said, setting down his own wild mushrooms and onions. "Do not balk from giving unthanked aid to strangers."

"Hey, that one's not so bad," he said cheerfully. "I remember my mother saying — anyway, if I was by myself I'd just chuck this all into soup, does that sound alright? We've got time and I've got some spices with me."

"Mn."

"Great!" he said cheerfully, "I'm not as good a cook as shiji, but still, this is going to be so much better than that medicinal stuff you have back in Cloud Recesses — you like spicy food, right? Wen Ning said how nice it was that you brought spices on one of your visits, so I figure you must have gotten a taste for them at some point, in order to actually appreciate how important they are."

"...Mn."

Cooking, meditating, and eating went... surprisingly well. Lan Zhan wasn't exactly the most companionable person he had ever camped with on a night hunt, but he was also far from the most annoying. He didn't even say anything about the whispers of resentful energy he surely sensed during Wei Wuxian's own evening rituals.

It wasn't until they had laid out their bedrolls by the banked embers, Wei Wuxian having judged the weather to look good enough to make setting up a tent to not be worth the effort, and Lan Zhan probably having a rule against frivolous tent use, that he decided to broach the subject again. Hopefully his cooking had put Lan Zhan in a more cheerful mood.

"Really," Wei Wuxian said, voice lower and more sincere than earlier. "When did you decide you wanted to be friends? Because obviously I've been trying to get you to warm up to me since we were fifteen."

"Mph."

"What!" Wei Wuxian said, sitting up. "What do you mean 'Mph?' You don't think I can tell the difference between 'Mn' and 'Mph' at this point? You don't think I was being genuine back then?!"

"..."

He leaned over to poke Lan Zhan's shoulder with Chenqing. "Come on," he said, whining. "It's not even Hai, you can't pretend to fall asleep on me yet. You think I didn't outstretch my hand to you in good faith at cloud recesses! I invited you to drink with me! I brought you rabbits! I shared my springbooks! What is boyhood friendship, if not that?"

"You did those things to mock me," Lan Wangji said, expressionless and toneless.

Wei Wuxian hesitated, and Lan Wangji closed his eyes.

"Ok, maybe a little," Wei Wuxian admitted. "But that's part of friendship! Teasing!"

"..."

"Really!" Wei Wuxian said, annoyed. "I tease all my friends! It's not like I was bullying you, you were the one in charge of my discipline, and you could silence me whenever you wanted! If I went a bit further with you it's only because things were skewed in your favor!"

He laid down, sulking for a few moments, slightly embarrassed by his own defensiveness. He shook it off soon enough, and had just gotten up onto one elbow to tell Lan Zhan that it was all in the past anyway, when the man spoke up.

"I know," he said quietly. "Wei Ying did not intend to be cruel."

That stabbed far too deep into chest, considering the things he had been called over the last few years. "You thought I was cruel?" he asked, tone neutral.

"Did not know cruel words," Lan Wangji's eyes were open again, but he stared resolutely up at the sky, not shifting the slightest bit to meet Wei Wuxian's gaze.

“...Not back then, huh? I'm guessing the Wen taking you for Indoctrination might have changed that.”

“Mn.”

“Yeah, I can see that providing some counter examples.”

Even talking about petty teenage hurts, Lan Zhan still looked like a perfect jade carving of a cultivator in the moonlight, long exhale barely moving his chest. "Wei Ying says things he does not mean. Actions are different."

"Oh," Wei Wuxian said, laying back down. "Huh."

They laid in silence for a few minutes.

"Your actions always spoke true, too," Wei Wuxian blurted out. "I mean, remember when you actually turned us both in when I knocked you out off the wall during curfew? I thought that was crazy, but also pretty cool."

"...I remember, Wei Ying."

Wei Wuxian grinned. "And then in the cave during indoctrination...I mean if it had been anyone besides you or Jiang Cheng there with me, I'm pretty sure I would have died fighting that thing. We made a pretty good team, huh?"

"Mn."

The last daylight had almost completely drained from the western horizon; We Wuxian watched the stars slowly start to fill in the sky. "I really had no idea you thought of me with friendship back then," he sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter now."

"...I will do better," Lan Wangji said after a long pause.

Wei Wuxian once again propped himself up on his elbow to stare at him. He squinted, but Lan Wangji was turned away so he couldn't see his face, for what good that was worth anyway.

"I mean throwing your whole future and a bunch of your principles aside to pretend to my cultivation partner is a pretty dramatic and unselfish gesture of friendship," Wei Wuxian said dryly. "I'd say it more than makes up for a bit of teenage scolding and badly expressed concern during wartime. Some might even call it unnecessarily excessive."

"..."

"Alright, alright I'll let you sleep," Wei Wuxian said, falling back down. He really wasn't tired, but whatever. It wasn't the first time he had spent hours coming with talisman designs behind his eyelids, and he didn't want to push his luck doing anything more interesting.

To his surprise, Lan Wangji continued the conversation. "Does it make a difference?"

"Does what make a difference?"

"Knowing why I disapprove of your cultivation path."

Wei Wuxian bit back a groan. "Lan Zhan, you really are a good person, and I truly am happy to be your friend," he said, trying to keep his voice light. "But if I wasn't willing to give it up for Jiang Cheng or A-Li, why would I give up my power for you?"

"...Mn."

"If you want to keep talking, we can discuss more about how we're going to fake —"

"It is time to sleep."

"Right. Good night Lan Zhan."

"...Good night, Wei Ying."

Wei exhaled a sigh of relief, quickly followed by irritation, then guilt.

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