#not sangyao yet but-

[allthelittlecreepycrawlies]

Customer Service au: NHS buys out the shop MY work at so his boss will stop bullying him

Meng Yao walked into the break room to begin the morning ritual of pulling himself together to face the usual shit once he clocked in, only to find Xue Yang lounging at one of the tables with one of his disgustingly over-sugared energy drink concoctions.

Most of which wasn't unusual, except for the fact that Xue Yang was actually early for his shift for the first time they'd ever known each other.

He was instantly wary, especially when Xue Yang grinned at him over the rim of the can.

"Looks like you haven't heard the good news yet."

"What good news?" he asked, unease climbing higher.

"The boss got shitcanned. Or, if you wanna be all corporate lingo fuckery about it, he got transferred to a position more appropriate for his temperament. A whole fuckin' province away."

Meng Yao stared at him, the words taking a bit to process past his disbelief.

The pompous asshole who'd been taking special care to make his job in particular hell ever since he'd found out whose bastard kid he was... was gone? Gone, gone?

"How did that happen?" he asked in an almost wheeze, still not quite believing it.

"Remember last week when he went off on you in front of that little frou-frou puffball in the weird outfit?"

How could he forget? They had actually been chatting up a good rapport about a piece the customer was looking to have made for a friend's birthday when the manager had come storming over to castigate his intelligence over the shade of blue of his shirt.

Short of when his father had discovered his existence and had come to make a row about what he'd do if his mother ever sought child support, it had been the single most humiliating moment of his life.

"Yeah?" he said, trying not to show how badly it still rattled him.

Judging by the way Xue Yang's grin widened, he'd done a poor job.

"Turns out the puffball's related to one of our major suppliers. We're under new ownership and we're getting a new manager starting today."

...Wow.

Wow.

At the time, he hadn't so much as glanced at the customer during Zhen's tirade, too focused on wanting to sink into the floor and disappear, and when he'd been dismissed like an unruly servant, he'd immediately clocked out and left.

But to think a total stranger had been so offended, not by his skills, but by his treatment, as to go this far...

Well.

He supposed he should at least try again. This time to make friends, not just make a sale.

[thebiscuiteternal]

Okay, sending the picture doesn't work, sorry about that, so:

Anything for the Au where Meng Yao gets snatched up by a wen solider, works his way up and is one day 'rewarded' by wen Ruohan who has Nie huaisang sent to his room?

Ah, yeah, nonnies can't send images. Submitted images require a name attached too, but with that I can at least edit you to be anon in the actual post. Totally understandable if you'd rather not, however, no push.

(note: I originally had an opening conversation between Meng Yao and Wen Ruohan for this, but my WRH "voice" felt... slightly off. Not up to my standard. I didn't want to extend your wait while I fought with it, so I might try revising it another time.)

---------------

By the time he opened the door to his room, he had gone through over two dozen possibilities for what this 'mystery present' could possibly be-

-and what he found was not any of them.

He put a hand over his mouth to keep any sound of surprised dismay from escaping, lest someone be listening in where he couldn't see them, then stepped into his room, closed the door, and immediately pressed a silencing talisman to the seam before approaching his bed.

Where there was a boy tied to one of the posts.

Almost immediately, his mind began instinctively taking an inventory of information. Which was good. As long as it was occupied doing that, it wasn't panicking.

First off, the clothing that bore all of the hallmarks of the Nie sect- captive, an important one, clearly, yet sent here instead of the Fire Palace.

The overall ragged state of his hair- clearly pulled more than once in a struggle- and the painful looking bruise that spread down from his left temple over his cheekbone- a favorite knockout tactic for attempted escapees.

Gingerly, he lifted the boy's chin, and estimated that they weren't that distant in age, maybe two or three years at the most.

As he continued his examination, his unexpected... guest made a faint little disoriented moan, eyes fluttering open just enough for him to see they were a vivid pale green before they closed again and the boy once again went slack in his bindings.

Meng Yao took a very slow, deep breath and let it out.

Then did so again.

The number of Nie family members who were in or close enough to the central bloodline to inherit that eye color could be counted without running out of fingers, which, put together with the other things he'd made note of, meant he'd been handed none other than the brother and heir to the sect leader currently leading the war against his own.

He had heard quite a bit about the Brothers Nie since he'd first come under the direct command of the Undying Sun. Wen Ruohan's opinions and feelings about them wandered the entire gamut from 'upstarts to be crushed under heel like bugs' to 'wayward children who merely needed to be taken well in hand," depending entirely on his mood at the moment he happened to be -frequently- thinking about them.

One of his very few requests of his sect leader was that he be allowed to keep his job and his home entirely separated, so given that... that Nie Huaisang had been sent here, it seemed that Wen Ruohan's opinion was currently in the 'wayward child' category.

Which didn't exactly make things easier for him, since, again, it could change at any time. For all he knew, this was anything from a genuine gift to some kind of test.

He sighed and rubbed his head.

Alright.

Alright.

He would simply -as if anything about the situation he'd been handed was simple- focus on 'for now,' to prevent giving himself a headache.

For now, this was intended as a gift.

One to be taken care of, akin to a surprise puppy.

He could do that.

Maneuvering into a position that would make it easier to catch Nie Huaisang once he was no longer bound, he pulled a knife from his sleeve and went to work on the ropes. When the last came free, Nie Huaisang slumped forward into his arms.

Huh.

He was a lot lighter than expected.

Filing that away in his mind in case he needed it for later, Meng Yao managed to get him laid out on the bed with very little difficulty.

He was not, however, a fool, so before he resumed examining for other injuries, he tied both of Nie Huaisang's hands back to the bed post.

By the time he was done, he'd found a handful of other bruises -though none as serious as the blow to the head- and some minor scrapes, as well as a qi-slowing sedative that would need to be burned out of Nie Huaisang's system.

And then it would just be a matter of figuring out what to do once he woke up.

[a-yaos-little-murder-beans]

I sat down in my arm chair to read a book, but I somehow ended up writing 6k sangyao accidental eggpreg smut where NMJ is still hoping that the fox pup MY gave birth to is a hallucination.

[wifiwuxians]

my taste is so uncommon and bad (outside of songxiao) and i would not have it any other way. 90% of what i ship has like maybe 2% of content

[mostlikelytofangirl]

Fic Writer Q&A

Got tagged by @jgydidnothingwrong :D

How many wips do you have currently?

Oooooh boy, way too many ^^;. Gonna list them in order from most to least likely to see the light of day orz

Ruoyao fake dating sugar daddy AU - currently ongoing

Omegaverse modern sangcheng - currently ongoing

Nieyao reconnecting by taking care of drunk LXC - for nieyao week

Xiyao endgame Mamma mia AU - planned for when the sc one ends

MY helping xusang by distracting WRH after accidentally getting betrothed to WX - I just think it's hilarious

Modern chengyao giving JL a puppy - a whole chapter long already

WRH trapped in a loop until he convices MY not to kill him - two whole chapters long already

A weird ass modern chengyao shared custody that can either be sangcheng&3zun or actual chengyao endgame - structure done and a few chapters

JZX is Madam Jin's bastard - one long chapter almost done

JGY as surrogate for xuanli - half chapter done

Post-nieyao revenge dating sangyao - got two chapters done

I have ideas for other fics too, but those don't have a sole word written yet, and this list is long enough lol

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

Everyone has their own reasons why they are still WIPs :'). But rn the omegaverse shangcheng one bc it's almost done but my brain is fixated on the ruoyao one bc it's HUGE, so it won't focus on the other one and let me finish it already.

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

It looks like me either forcing myself to work on something and finding my mojo along the way so I actually get a good chunk done... or opening yet another new file to pour down all my sudden ideas and feels for a new WIP :P

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

Not really. I used to, but unless the mood of a song matches the story perfectly, I normally don't bother anymore or just put background jazz to cancel outside noises. If I'm very into a song at that moment, then I just play it and somehow my brain will manage to make it match what I'm writing XD

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

Normally I just roll with it. I have a general idea of where is it going and how I want it to go and let Jesus take the wheel :'D. Only when I have WAY too many ideas for a fic that is going to be LONG I get organized with a proper structure and timeline, like the ruoyao one and the possibly two endings one.

I tag @wishthefish, @thebiscuiteternal and @hereticcryptid

[magnaflourious-nerdity]

So the ask got deleted accidentally, but @autisticharrywells asked me about SANGYAO for toxic ship bingo, and now that I have forcibly dragged them through all 50 episodes, i can at last go off---- you FOOL! you have fallen directly into my trap!!! Muahahaha

I do not know how I ended up here. I don't know WHY I ended up here, except that I'm some kind of masochist.

Like I was all prepared to be 100% team wangxian otp and read all the fic and shit, and I started out so promising. (And I do love them...) But then. Then. That little demon brought a bird to class. And the other little demon protected him during the Wen thing. The stabbing ?? The warning as Meng Yao was leaving to huaisang DESPITE actively bleeding. The pleading to Mingjue to let Meng Yao stay despite no evidence of Huaisang ever really standing up to question NMJ decisions before like that (esp in front of other clan members) (other than with things like blowing off Sabre practice) THE FAN CLENCH. MY HEART. And THEN they committed their various atrocities during which the no turning back point was hit for them so many times and yet i do believe the remorse was there and so too was some affection still, twisted as it was by time and hatred and isolation and i... I just....I slipped?

There's so much there!!! (and please keep in mind I'm mostly talking from a cql/the untamed perspective, though I have seen the donghua and am aware of book cannon, I just kinda prefer the show as the version I take to heart (with some notable jgy or Huaisang based exceptions bc i'm nothing if not willing to excuse their pretty boy mid-divorce war crimes))

These two have such a deep shared history that spans the entirety of the cannon, and their relationship is extra fascinating on rewatch as you can more clearly track the downward spiral of events.

There's also the tragedy that it COULD have been avoided, was so close to being avoided several times bc JGY is not really EVIL, (any one who says this is being super reductive imo) but he does preserve himself above all other things and people through sheer learned necessity (with the exception of xichen and isn't that also a beautiful part of sangyao tragedy?? That so clearly xichen and JGY were destined to be the tragic counterparts to wwx and lwj's relationship not nhs and jgy? That xichen was the only thing JGY ever sacrificed true parts of himself for, that huaisang knows that he could have done the same for him, but didn't? Because there was too much history with Mingjue to let it go, and also bc the devotion or affection he held for huaisang when they were both on the mountain never surpassed that point. He had too much caution to truly be himself, and Huaisang, I don't think could ever truly see past JGYs status in the way that xichen was able to since he served as his big brother's vice general and also his appointed companion to a degree. ) And where does that leave huaisang? Where he always is. ALONE. On a mountain he never fit in on in the first place. Where does it leave JGY? Stuck in a permanant customer service role to his awful father and branded further untrustable as a spy. Humilated and broken down to the point of just. So much murder. (Some of which I still maintain tain as a public service coughcoughJinGuangShancoughcough)

They are so much alike and yet so different in such key aspects, that I also have to believe they were meant to act as parallels to one another, just like wwx and jgy, or xichen and wangji. The planning and manipulation they both do (in their own ways bc i am in the camp that while huaisang is smarter than the average bear, smarter than he ever wants to let on bc it makes his life easier, he isnt able to truly outpace JGY's ability to craft a situation. What he is good at is manipulating people and social situations, and adapting his outlined plan extremely well on the fly- with the exception of maybe xichen. I dont think he meant to truly hurt xichen like that. I think that was a natural panic that if JGY was allowed to live it would mean Huaisang actually had to die at some point instead, Though I do also think perhaps there is some lingering resentment there that leads to it to bc why is JGY worth pardoning after his crimes to xichen? Doesn't this mean he inherently valued JGY over Mingjue, over Huaisang’s own pain and anguish? (he did, but not maliciously, lans are love blind we know this))

The tragedies of nie huaisang are inextricably linked to the tragedies of jgy and vice versa! Technically, huaisang, as a bastard of the clan leader with one of his concubines, (I think that's right) should be discounted as a noble son, esp considering his weaker nature and lack of talents dictated to be valuable by the standards of the nie clan. He should have the same status really or at least a status more closely similar to jgy who is constatly looked down on because of his mother's position and bastard status, despite his constant hyper competency, as we see so vividly. And yet Huaisang is given title and rank and (some) respect where JGY gets trodden into the mud and shit of life, even as he succeeds in raising the jin clans success through his actions and talents. Meanwhile, huaisang is thought to be a useless leech by others, untalented in the ways of ruling or anything that's deemed an actually respectable skill by clan leader standards. A pathetic little dude who doesn't know how to do anything, and yes, he does get cast as a headshaker in the eyes of the people, but it's never his background thats brought into question as to why he might be failing. It's considered a result of his personality, not his upbringing. And even then he doesn't get shit talked as much as JGY does. Huaisang has all the privilege that JGY was never afforded, and does that color JGYs view a bit? Does it make him just bitter enough that, when combined with his father’s looming threats and taunts, and Mingjue’s inability to ever let anything JGY does go, that he's willing to hurt huaisang in such a way, even just as a byproduct of his mission?

Huaisang’s plan is successful, bc people discount him as incompetent, yes, but also bc they still see him as a noble, as someone of enough inherent value, diminished though it may be, that he weilds that influence even when playing the fool. JGY doesn't get that respect even at his height of his power and competency as a ruler.

They are, neither of them, strong cultivators. But that factor only really affects JGY bc it means he has to fight even harder for acceptance and validation. Huaisang also gets the luxury of CHOOSING not to be a strong cultivator. Because his position in life IS secure, he can slack off. He is allowed to try his hardest to avoid the fate of his family and do his utmost not to cultivate in that manner. Which I think, too, causes some of the resentment. On both sides. Huaisang never has to work a day in his life, has barely any expectations to live up to and still gets the respect Meng Yao is constantly robbed of. And for huaisang- On top of killing his brother via musically-induced, full-bodied rage embolism, JGY is now also the reason that huaisang is thrust into a position he was entirely unprepared for way before he was supposed to be.

And we know, we KNOW that JGY is responsible for so many of Huaisang’s pretty little things. His beloved indulgences granted not by his own brother, but by his doting san-ge. Things that got burned or destroyed by Mingjue simplu for the fact that a) they were from JGY and B) they are not the type of things NMJ cosidereds respectabke hobbies or skills. A large number of his fans and painting supplies are gifts from JGY, and he stood up for and encouraged those hobbies against the person he probably fears the most at that point, Mingjue (even if he's already actively trying to kill him by then). And huaisang seemed genuinely pleased that JGY had found acceptance and was getting what he (thought he) wanted. The friendship and affection was real, just not near strong enough to withstand the crimes of the other.

And oh boy that divorce was rough and bloody and beautiful and tragic and I just love the messy nature of the relationship, how deep and how twisted it went and became. And i think, right up until the very end, JGY didn't truly want to believe that Huaisang was capable of doing this to him, I don't think he ever wanted to hurt huaisang again the way he had to when he killed Mingjue. Use him? Maybe. But not in a malicious way, not by his standards.

I am happy to read any sangyao content I can get, however! I love reading about them as companions on the mountain, growing together, bonding. Maybe young and in love? I love reading the gradual drifting apart. The years they schemed and used each other. The final divorce. And what comes after. Or what could never be. Any content, I will take, and it depends on where in cannon we are that a particular square is filled in.

Jgy had to fight for both acceptance and sheer survival, and huaisang never really had to do either. Except maybe during the ~10 years of the gap when Huaisang had figured him out, but was pretending to be useless to achieve his ends. You could argue the mindset that aside from just avenging his DaGe, he was also concerned about his own survival bc what if he became an Inconvienience instead of just the annoyance he was playing up to be? If he actually stood in Guanyao's way? It would be much easier to take him out than Mingjue, realistically. But what would be that threshold to have JGY actually do anything? Are Huaisang’s histrionics and uselessness useful to him? Or a result of guilty indulgence? Or left over fondness from a ti.e they were so close? Some combo of all? Who can say and I fucking love that uncertainty about them

Saying all that, these two are the poster child for OTP I don't want to end up together in Canon, lol. Unless it's one of the many time travel fix it aus, they simply have too much history and shared issues and rage between them to ever make sense working out. But their stories are so incomplete without the other, they are inexorably linked, and I just think they're neat!

(Please don't come for me cql fans. im sure I've misunderstood or posted an opinion that's utterly debatable on here. But like, also. I'm tired and I love them and I don't care.)

I have more to say about them that you'll probably get to hear at some point when we talk, but for now, they have BROKEN MY BRAIN.

Also, to all my fellow sangyao peeps: please feel free to send fic recs if you want. I am so hungry for the content.

[tavina-writes]

of course you know i'm gonna say sangyao, but just for fun, i'm also throwing ningsang out there.

Biscuit!! :D

Sangyao: Sometimes I feel insane about them. This is an eternal:

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Is there a reason NOT to ship it???? There can be something so personal about the "destroys your life on purpose and also by accident" thing they have going on! The amount they care about each other! I could go on LONG tangents about sangyao I'm obsessed with them.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

The fundamental way that they're so important to each other even in situations where there was no reason to start or continue being important to each other except that they still CHOSE to care.....mmm delicious. Did spoiled young master NHS need to give a shit about Meng Yao? No! Did Chief Cultivator JGY need to continuing giving a shit about "I don't know I don't know I really really don't know SOB"? No! Did they care anyway? Yes! Arguably this has made them so terrible for each other. I want to keep rotating them in the pear wiggler.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I'm not sure. I guess my unpopular opinion is that I don't think time traveler JGY could kill a NHS who hasn't done anything to him yet but I DO think a time traveler NHS could murder Meng Yao. These two can contain multitudes!!! :DDD

Ningsang: I think the big problem here with this ship is that I just haven't thought about them a ton and would only see this working out in an AU where they have to care about each other due to some sort of forced proximity issue. I haven't decided what sort of issue that would be because I also don't think they're each other's type very much so there would have to be a lot of character development on top of the AU that pushes them together. Like, I could ship it. I can ship almost anything! I'm a devout multishipper at heart! I would read about them! But I queried my brain about any prompt ideas I might have them and all I got was radio static :(. (This is especially weird to me bc I'm also a devout NHS/Wen Xu girlie so ??? I should've been able to think of something???)

Thanks for the ask! :D

Ship It/Don't Ship It Ask Game

[sangyaoweek]

💛💚 Sangyao Theme Song Mini-Tourney: ROUND 1 - PART 4! 💚💛

Links and propaganda:

Real Men by Mitski

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjYoldxFg14

Submitter:

“Nie Huaisang is Meng Yao's little boy.”

What Love? by I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

Link: https://youtu.be/TBj5DWPJwfk?si=cOsxrWjtquTQGYjK

Submitter:

“I'll try to keep this brief hit the highlights and I'm so sorry but I've been sitting in this rot for months. What Love? is about how love can be horrible and toxic and yet somehow you can't quite let it go. It still lingers and festers.

"I think you got a hold of me But don’t let go And I’ll never set you free"

The mutual obsession between sangyao, the acknowledgement it might be bad for them but still unwilling to break anything off.

"you only sacrifice the things I never ask you too"

Depending on how you want to read Guangyao’s motivations he might have in a small part killed Mingjue for Huaisang due to the already failing relationship. Guangyao assumes he always knows best and what Huaisang would want/do best with.

"I guess I met you at the wrong time"

This perfectly encapsulates the whole of sangyao. Maybe if they hadn't met under the circumstances they wouldn't have ended up like this.

"I promised you things that I didn’t mean Pushed you to the edge of insanity I shook all the wrong hands At all the right times Who did you expect me to be?"

This sums up Guangyao and how his choices are what drove his and Huaisang’s relationship to where it ends with Huaisang wild with grief and plotting Guangyao’s demise for years.

What love could be this vicious but sangyao?”

[thatswhatsushesaid]

Confession: I kind of hate how it feels like the two options for fandom are fitting every character into flat fanfic tropes regardless of who they actually are, or nitpicking what is and isn't canon. Not just for mdzs, in general. Makes things much less fun. Like seeing people object to sex headcanons because canonically a character didn't have sex... Neither did Captain Spok but that didn't stop grandma

"neither did captain spock but that didn't stop grandma" kdsl;ja; 🤝 anon you made my morning

you're right though esp about the fitting characters into flat fanfic tropes. I feel fortunate I haven't experienced this as much in my corner of the mdzs fandom, but I absolutely saw a lot of it in the realm of the elderlings fandom back when I was more active there. (there was some canon basis for some of this since a lot of the narrative involved characters chafing against their societal roles and expectations, and the novels themselves extend that struggle into what it means to be a prophet and a catalyst; it was good, crunchy stuff.)

as for nitpicking what is and isn't canon, I'm of two minds about it. I absolutely enjoy some concepts that don't have much canon support (e.g., sangyao), but there's a serious problem in mdzs fandom with canon bleed and just... not recognizing that some things just are or are not canon. examples of stuff that is canon and should not be up for debate (and yet! and yet.):

the jianghu was a more corrupt and dangerous place while jgs was the lanling jin sect leader, and markedly safer and less corrupt under jgy as sect leader and chief cultivator.

wwx also did crimes??? not sure why this continues to be a thing that people clutch their pearls over.

mxy did sexually harass his fellow disciples; he confesses to this at the start of the novel in the notes he leaves behind for wwx, and it's the closest we will ever get to hearing from him in his own words. under these circumstances, I think we should believe him.

related, jgy is not on mxy's hit-list in the novel.

obviously I could go on, but I bring these points up specifically to explain why I'm among the people who really do knuckle down and hold their ground around canon discussions. because when stuff like this /gestures @ the above, is re-litigated again and again, it doesn't actually help us better understand the source material. it muddies the waters and makes it that much harder to engage in reasonable, text-based speculation on events in the novel that aren't as clear cut.

[achilleasfury]

Sangyao Week Day 3: ghosts

@sangyaoweek

The temple barely stood anymore. Its pillars were broken and breaking, fabrics long ripped up and eaten. The statue had been vandalised again and again, face ruined beyond repair. The only thing remaining was a coffin, covered in chains, bound deeply to the ground, yet shaking and groaning as if the metal were to break down like rotten wood any second now.

No one really came to that temple anymore. It was a scorned place, devoid of life and hope - nothing where anyone would want to spend their time.

Yet twice, maybe thrice a year, the temple would receive a visitor. A cloaked figure, their face hidden behind a simple mask. They would sit down next to the coffin, uncaring of its furious shaking, and shed their coat, revealing quite mismatching robes. A dark grey, imposingly cut outer robe draped over much lighter ones, the belt not sitting quite right, somehow just a tad too big. Always the same old bloodstained robes. The stain was on the right, hovering awkwardly just above the spot where the heart was on the left.

The resentful energy would swirl around them in circles, going tighter and tighter and tighter. They would watch it float, sometimes sluggishly lifting a hand to dissipate it with a waving motion. It would always grow back almost immediately, pushing against the hand until it was lowered again.

Sometimes it would curl up on their shoulder, a mimicry of an old friend and ruined chances.

Sometimes it would curl around their neck, a mimicry of a never-would-be lovers embrace.

Sometimes it would close around their wrists, a mimicry of a scolding brother, forever lost to damned.

……

Huaisang didn’t know why he kept coming back to the temple. It was filled with memories he did not want to retain, the coffin filled with a corpse he never wanted to see again, never wanted to think of again. It was a comforting lie at least.

Not very effective, with how he was wrapped up in the robe of his biggest enemy, his dearest companion. He liked to pretend Meng Yao wasn’t Jin Guangyao. That his beloved friend had been replaced by an imposter, a fake taking his place to sow discord and hatred. (Huaisang was no liar, but he’d always been exceptionally talented at deceiving himself.)

He leaned back, head now resting on the coffin lid. His gazes turned upwards, studying the half standing ceiling. Maybe, if he just continued to count the stones, he could ignore the resentment taking a human shape next to him.

……

What are you doing here, A-Sang? Are you hiding again? From what? Your mistakes? Your brother? Me?

Oh, don't be childish, stop ignoring me. Your

hands won't keep my voice from reaching you, you know that. It's foolish to try, so why continue?

Sit down, little bird, we're not going anywhere. We have time.

Sit down, little bird, no need to rush. We have time.

Now, now, don't pull that face, you came here first. No one forced you to, dearest. It was all you and your own will.

You can't say you didn't miss me, can you? I certainly missed you. It's so boring when you're not here. All there is to do is watch the coffin shake and rattle. Sometimes I can almost hear his voice, but he stopped talking to me a long time ago.

A-Sang, if you keep making those grimaces, your face is going to get stuck in one someday. That wouldn't be good for your health.

I'm sure Da-ge wouldn't like it either - well, if he would still talk to either of us.

But you ruined your chance with that, didn't you? Well, don't be so down about it. He would not do much other than rage and rage either way.

We know him. Always filled with that unchainable fury, it truly wasn't good for his health.

Nowadays he doesn't know more than his anger. He isn't anything more than that anger anymore. It'll burn out eventually, don't worry.

I'm interested to see what will become of him, once all his emotions have worn down.

Oh, put those silly tears away. I have no hands to dry them anymore, A-Sang and you know no one else would. It's just us, like always. No Da-ge to yell at you, no Er-ge to fail at peace making.

Close your eyes, my dear nightingale, you look the sweetest at rest. The blade’s fury won't get to you, I promise. I'll gladly take the cuts meant to break your precious skin.

[paradife-loft]

btw the exchange I mentioned writing for the other day (MDZS/CQL Rarepairs) just revealed all of its fic/art yesterday and there is some good shit in there folks should check out 👌👌👌

(angry trauma-ful Jiang Cheng/Lan Wangji? Xue Yang getting wrecked? extremely caring & sweet switchy D/s-y jadecest?? I got some really lovely Qin Su/Jin Guangyao art???? there’s nearly 50 works in there, it’s a lot and it’s gr8)

[allthelittlecreepycrawlies]

For your entertainment, the opening of the next ex-twitter project I'm hoping to finish before the year is out.

---------------

As Jin Ling -with help from a visiting Ouyang Zizhen- is digging through all the stuff left behind by his uncle and grandfather's shadier practices, he comes across a mirror that looks a lot like the one that leads to the hidden treasure room, only it's much newer and smaller, only big enough for one person to pass through at a time.

It works just the same, though.

So, dragging Zizhen by the hand to keep the mirror from separating them, Jin Ling pushes through and finds a circular-shaped room.

No, it's a circular-shaped building, the one room being its only room.

And it has no door.

There is a bed between its two windows and a few empty shelves lining the wall, the make of the furniture entirely unfamiliar to either of them.

They check the windows and find they've been heavily warded, and some kind of power they're not willing to investigate too deeply radiates from the bed.

Concerned, they decide to contact Wei Wuxian, who of course brings his little Lan entourage with him.

Examining the furniture and the wards, Wei Wuxian begins to get a little rock of unease in his stomach. The Juniors might not recognize the carving style of the furniture, but that's because they've never seen any of the family quarters in the Unclean Realms.

And the wards and lack of any doors...

He investigates the array carved into the floor under the bed and the wards up its frame.

Anyone laid in it would be almost instantly placed into an inedia coma with the slightest infusion of qi, and the array is designed to re-circulate that energy, meaning it could run for a very long time without having to be reactivated.

He hears Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen muttering to each other near one of the shelves.

"-yeah, I remember her, but that was a house-house. With guards and alarms and stuff," Jingyi says.

"But she was a normal lady," Zizhen replies. "What if you wanted to hide away a cultivator?"

Normally, Wei Wuxian loves how clever their ducklings are, but right now, he hopes they don't reach the same conclusion that he has.

He trades glances with Lan Zhan and can see that his brilliant husband has also picked up on his worries.

This is a cage that has been designed for one bird in particular.

Maybe... maybe it's best that they simply destroy it without telling Nie Huaisang about its existence.

And maybe it's best that he backs off on his jibes about "paranoia" on Nie Huaisang's part in the future, if this is just a small sample of the kinds of things he had to fear in the years Wei Wuxian was dead.

—

This is how it went in one timeline. 

—

In another, Nie Huaisang did indeed get caught and Jin Guangyao sealed him away in an inedia coma so he couldn't keep interfering.

[thebiscuiteternal]

ooh, "brothel angst that might end better"?

a fusion of a few different "jin guangshan is the absolute worst" ideas along with my headcanon that nie huaisang is a favorite among the jiejies and geges of qinghe's red lantern districts because he hires them to do nothing but pass him info/gossip/writing inspiration.

short version, something causes the jin sect to be exposed as collaborating with demonic cultivators and, of course, jin guangshan throws his bastard son under the bus. since no murders have been uncovered (yet), he "mercifully" only strips jin guangyao of legitimacy and exiles him from the sect.

right into a brothel contract. after all, since he failed at his father's legacy, surely he's more suited for his mother's!

meng yao thinks this can't possibly be any more humiliating, when who should show up at his new place of employment but nie huaisang.

(nie huaisang, who had heard about the exiling, but didn't know where meng yao had been sent until one of the brothel girls on his 'payroll' contacted him to give him a worried heads-up.)

he tries to insist on buying out meng yao's contract so that he can leave, but meng yao thinks this means bringing him back to the nie sect, and the thought of having to be in the same room as nie mingjue and/or lan xichen after everything that's happened-

ha. haha. not going to happen.

it finally comes to a head in an argument in which meng yao snaps and hits huaisang before chewing him out for meddling, and only after huaisang leaves with his metaphorical tail between his legs does meng yao realize he might have just run off the only friend he had left.

(fortunately, nie huaisang isn't giving up that easily, he just needs time to regroup and figure out a new set of tactics.)

[eohachu]

英儿。。。

[wifiwuxians]

Nie Huaisang :))

First impression: "Oh my god somebody with short hair, that's wild. Is he like the baby of the group or something?"

Impression now: Grrrr. It's. It's complicated, okay? Because on one hand I admire the commitment to the bit, right, and I do love me a good mastermind, and what he pulled off was admirable. But also he's a fucking snake and I can't stand how he faced ZERO CONSEQUENCE for his shit I'm sorry I can't help it. And yet I still love him anywhere other than canon because he's fun and funny and he's really pretty and Sangyao is easily like top 5 MDZS ships for me right now so WHO knows. But his position in fandom frustrates me and I think part of why is because I haven't really seen a whole lot of people acknowledge him as sinister and sneaky, but keep in mind I don't actively engage in fandom either or seek out character takes so it might be out there more than I think

Favorite moment: When he runs towards Jin Guangyao in the manhua while making kissy lips lmao despite all I've said above I really do just want them to run off into the woods together (conversely, when he keeps the hat. That makes me go insane. FERAL)

Idea for a story: I'm so boring at this point but him visiting a brothel For Inspiration for his art and ending up seeing someone with a somewhat androgynous, very fine, beautiful face, and asking him if he'd perhaps consider modeling for him for a hefty sum and the person being rather shy and averting his gaze and it's Meng Yao. Of course it's Meng Yao I tricked you into walking into my Sangyao Palace

Unpopular opinion: I think his whole grand plan was, though unquestionably, only really partially about Nie Mingjue being killed. I think it was also for himself. For his personal betrayal. I need to see him sitting at the antagonist table more often or I am going to lose it. (Don't come for me, he might not be a villain because he's on the 'good guy's' side and he brought down the 'bad guys', but his methods are antagonistic! He keeps putting people in danger and even gets some of them killed LOL)

Favorite relationship: With Jin Guangyao! Surprise! Their dynamic makes me crazy. When I think about how much Nie Huaisang must have loved Jin Guangyao and looked so forward to his visits, even going so far as to see him as the only one truly in his corner, it makes that betrayal and all that comes after feel so much more poignant. This is why I feel Nie Huaisang is a lot darker than he's really given credit for; he had to ruin Jin Guangyao so thoroughly that only ashes remained to his name. The other characters seeking revenge in this story, even against loved ones, never thought to take it that far. Don't fuck with this dude, not ever. But back to the actual relationship, I feel Jin Guangyao truly cared for him, too, which is why he never suspected of him and stayed beside him to help all those years (he also probably felt guilty). That must have brought out a lot of incredibly complicated feelings in Nie Huaisang, making his hatred grow tenfold while still somehow feeding whatever love he once had for him. Ough. For daring to make him feel that way, he really had to be blown to smithereens

Favorite headcanon: I like thinking that he no longer really knows how to feel things due to spending so much time faking. I imagine he's a very numb person inside, or at least one who struggles with genuine emotion

[jaimebluesq]

About Me and What I Write

I was about to update my pinned post with the fics I've written, but the number has gone up SO MUCH since my last update that the post would be far too long (and I have no desire to be "colours of the sky" long!). Therefore, I thought I'd try something different for my Tumblr pinned post.

About Me and What I Write

What's Your Name: JaimeBlue - I have been JaimeBlue online in some way, shape, or form since before the millenium, so if you see the name and start thinking about Joxer the Mighty (Xena/Hercules) or Tim O'Neill (SeaQuest - hence the sq in my Tumblr handle), or even as the weirdo who loved to play Percy Weasley, Ernie MacMillan, and Justin Finch-Fletchley in HP RPGs a decade or more ago, then yeah, that's me.

What is Your Current Fandom: The Untamed/Modao Zushi - yes, I went down the Chinese Drama rabbit hole hard and have yet to come up for air - though while I watch and enjoy a few, the only one I'm active in and writing for is The Untamed.

What Characters Do You Love: Nie Huaisang, Nie Mingjue, Nie Zonghui (I sense a trend lol), Jiang Cheng, Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao, Jin Zixun (don't judge me!!! okay, you can judge me a little), Jin Zixuan, Yu Ziyuan, Luo QingYang/Mianmian... I enjoy many more than that, but I take particular joy in writing for each of them. Basically the only character I really can't stand and is irredeemable is Jin Guangshan (fuck JGS!) but I'll even write him for the right story. Favourite Pairings?: Nie Huaisang/Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang/Jin Guangyao, Nie Huaisang/Nie Zonghui, Nie Huaisang/Jin Zixun - I love and write many more than that, but to list everything I enjoy would take forever.

Do You Take Asks/Prompts/Requests?: A resounding YES. I love hearing from people who like what I've written enough to want more, and prompts give me a chance to play and stretch my wings, so to speak. And with so many of my current fics being longer/long-term projects, having some shorter one-shots helps to keep me sharp.

Feel free to submit a prompt on my Personal AO3 Prompt Meme.

What Prompts Are You Taking?: Anything about the characters I love (see above), but am always happy to try something new. I have a particular love for the Nie Sect, of course, and love headcanons about them. What Prompts Are You NOT Taking?: At the moment, WangXian. I know, it's the biggest pairing in the fandom, and while I'll always have affection for the boys and how they drew me into the story, they just don't inspire me much. I enjoy them as secondary characters, or outsider POVs on those I enjoy, but I'd rather focus my writing on those that bring me joy and may not always get as much attention in the fandom.

All right, you say you're a writer - so what have you actually written?

The short answer: here is what I have on AO3.

The longer answer(s): here is where I get to toot my own horn a little :D Here's a sample of what I've written online and why I think they would give a good idea of who I am and what I write.

Reality is Overrated: (Gen with very minor NHS/OMC) I think this is the posted fic I'm proudest of. It's a "stuck in a dream" fic where Nie Huaisang wakes up with his family alive all around him and the news that he had an accident which explains why he has lost some memories. The only person who sees anything wrong is Jin Zixun, who keeps trying to tell him that none of it is real. This was from a MDZS Kink Meme Prompt (issued by Fortune_Maiden!) asking for a fic inspired by the Superman comic plotline of "For The Man Who Has Everything" that just took over my brain, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out, down to the ending which hadn't been part of the original plotting but just brought the story around to a satisfying end.

The Nie Sect Murder Tortoises Series: (some Gen, some SangYao, other pairings occasionally) This started out with a crack fic about Nie Huaisang domesticating the Tortoise of Slaughter in Qishan, and turned into a whole universe unto itself. It even has lore, art, and a fic written by another author (Fortune_Maiden - my conversation with her about NHS and spiritual tortoises was what inspired the idea in the first place). This is probably what's been read most of anything I've done, so you are welcome to join us all in the murder tortoise crackiness!

Winning the Game: (Gen, but with minor NHS/OMC content and a torture scene) This was my answer to the question "What happened to Nie Huaisang after he passed out at the indoctrination camp in The Untamed?" It's angsty, hurt/comfort, but also something I'm terribly proud of. NHS is a survivor and often underestimated, and these are on full display in this fic.

Nothing Mutt-ers As Much As You: (Gen, Jin Ling & Jiang Cheng) Short and sweet fic about JC being caught asleep in a pile of puppies, but it's a great, tender moment between nephew and uncle, a relationship I adore and frankly should write more of (but damn I don't write post-canon much).

And the rise to the top is a fall from below: (can be read as either Gen or SangYao) I love unconventional takes on tropes, so in this one I did a take on the soulmate AU with Nie Huaisang & Jin Guangyao as soulmates. NHS discovers JGY is his soulmate when he fails at killing him, because in this au, a person is physically incapable of killing their soulmate, and the story is an example of the entwined love and hate that make NHS and JGY such wonderful compelling characters to play off of each other. I really do love them even when I torture them so!

The Good, The Bad, and the Dirty: (mostly Gen with minor NHS/NZH) Bodyswap shenanigans! NHS, JGY, NMJ, and LXC all wake up in different bodies and have to figure out what happened, what to do about it, and how to not let anyone in on the fact that they aren't who they say they are. I had so much fun writing this! But if there's one thing to read it for, it's the scene with NMJ trying to pass as JGY in Koi Tower. It was my FAVOURITE scene to write and was so satisfying!!!!

Trouble is My Business: (SangCheng) The San Francisco Prohibition era AU that nobody asked for but I gave them anyway. I got to learn a little about SF Chinatown, dust off my love for the music and general atmosphere of the era, and got to write my fav couple in the middle of it all. What more could I ask for?

A Miracle Engulfed in Flames: (SangCheng - Explicit) This is the fic I wrote for the Reverse Big Bang in partnership with Mikoiifish, an amazing artist that I worked so well with, I've commissioned her to create images for another project. This story is an au with major fantasy/fairy-tale elements and I had to wrack my brain a few times to get the lore just right and the causes and effects of things, and I think the final product is something I'm quite proud of :D And of course Mikoiifish's art is AMAZING. Open the link for that alone!

They Can Love Me Better: (Nie Huaisang/Jiang Cheng/Qin Su revenge triad) JGY gets his comeuppance by the three people he'd least suspect. It all started with some wonderful people on Tumblr putting forward the SangChengSu agenda, and I've happily subscribed to it and written it twice (with at least one more to come). It just turned out to be such a great scene showing the dynamics of the three, and the sexiness of them (nothing graphic, but you can feel the heat between them), all written from JGY's pov as he gets owned. Yeah, this was a fun one :D

They Get Around: (NHS/multi, LQY/multi) Okay, this is a little fic I wrote that not many have read but I love the hell out of it! It was an experiment in writing mostly through dialogue (dialogue in general is one of my strengths and something I love to write), so by a certain point you're identifying the characters by the way they talk and how they address each other (e.g. only Wei Wuxian calls Nie Huaisang "Nie-xiong"), but even more, it was a humorous take on many of my favourite ships. The idea is that it's a modern day au where NHS & LQY are friends having bad luck in love, and set each other up on blind dates with people found for them online. Nothing graphic, pure fun, and I love how it turned out.

Lover, Please Stay: (NHS/LWJ) This I wrote for the MDZS Mixtape Exchange 2022. The song I was given was AMAZING and really inspired me, and I think the story came out well to bring out some of the lyrics and emotions in the song. The idea is that after WWX's death and LWJ's beating at the hands of the Lan Elders, he goes to Qinghe to heal and NHS becomes his caretaker. The road to love isn't always clear-cut, particularly when you know the other person's heart already belongs to someone, but sometimes things actually do work out in the end.

I'll Carry Your Load: (NHS/NZH - Explicit) 5 Times Nie Zonghui carried Nie Huaisang's Saber (and 1+1 time Huaisang did the carrying). This was a passion project of mine, and involved more than a bit of emotion at the end - it's basically the course of NHS & NZH falling in love with each other through tales of NZH carrying NHS' saber - very much inspired by the scene in Fatal Journey where the Nie are being attacked outside the saber tomb and NHS just reaches over and takes one of NZH's twin sabers as if he'd done it a million times before. I love SangHui to pieces! But yeah, be prepared for potential tears.

When Fate Opens a Window, Let Us Fly Through It: (NieLan with mischievous baby bros) A take on the Lan Ribbon Marriage trope with NMJ waking up bound with LXC 'by accident'. The Nie and the Lan are so much fun to write together, and damn it, NMJ deserves some happiness!!!

A Night at the Purple Peony: (NHS/Surprise - Explicit) One of my FAVOURITE fics I've written because not only did I have so much fun writing it, but the surprise pairing has become a HUGE guilty pleasure of mine and I've written often since. So yeah :D The plot is that NHS is in the mundane world at a gay club he's been told about, a place where men can go to meet one another in private. He and many others are masked, and he has an intimate night with one... and one day discovers that man is someone he knows in the Jianghu. I'm particuarly proud of the fan dancing seduction scene ;)

I Will Never be Satisfied: (Yu Ziyuan/Multiple - Explicit) The Yu Ziyuan gets gangbanged fic that one person on the Kink Meme asked for and I had a fun time writing. No higher meaning, just sex, but I'm pretty damned pleased with how it turned out :D

Would I Spend Forever Here and Not Be Satisfied: (NHS/OFC - Explicit, NonCon, Necrophilia) In a strange way, this fic is me in a nutshell. I saw a prompt and got an idea for it, and in the process of writing what was supposed to be an excuse to write a necrophilia scene, I created LORE and questions about right/wrong, the needs of the many vs the needs of the one, complete with NHS' innate desire for vengeance. And it's good! (At least I think so.)

So yeah, that's me in a big nutshell. Please feel free to read, like and comment if you enjoy them! And I'm always up for asks/prompts/requests.