#save face!!

[dcviated]

@runefactorynonsense sent: [ The wind around here has been pummeling my work and poor car today. Have a sappy windy prompt ]

The door was pushed shut in one decided flick of the wrist as she passed by, with steps taken almost as swiftly as the gale outside. A lone leaf swirled in, danced almost mockingly around her feet, before the sharp lock of the door cast a more comfortable quiet in the hall. Lynette gave the leaf a pointed, almost offended look, before her natural path took her away from the door she'd (well, rudely) taken from the Earthmate's hands. "The weather's only getting worse. Don't prove yourself a fool and go back out in that." She felt as though another gust, and rasp of a few branches, proved her point. "Work yourself to death tomorrow, instead. Meanwhile-" A hum in thought. A nod at some unshared thought. "Why not breakfast for dinner, unless you're forsaking the rights to those blueberries you so bravely rescued from the storm?"

Well! That was... startling to say the least. And it's a miracle that Raguna hadn't just walked into the door once Lynette had shut it in front of him. Wouldn't have been the first time he went on automatic like that... some embarrassment saved. A drop kept from the bucket. Small. But something!

"Ah- But I was just going to--" His words are locked away just as swiftly as the door was. He was not going to speak just yet, just as he was not going to work more just yet. Tomorrow... a pained look is passed outside the window. It had a strange air to it, like a moving painting that dipped and bowed from everything outside yielding to the whims of convection.

"Mmm..."

Whatever reluctance Raguna felt at the denial of completing unfinished tasks was quickly dispatched by shared thoughts from Lynette. It was as though an unseen stone had pricked at the window to his mind, something shared perhaps unwittingly. Why was it that damn Earthmate always seemed to know something others didnt? The smile, oh so familiar, graces his expression as he sets aside the work gloves and frustrations they created.

"That's a good idea. I like it! So with breakfast for dinner in mind... Would you rather I make blueberry pancakes. Or muffins? What do you like more, Lynette?" She is, of course, welcome to take however long she likes to divulge this sensitive information to the other. In the meanwhile he'll get to preparing bowls and other ingredients, the fresh berries getting a gentle wash in the sink.

Raguna turns after a moment of this, resting a similarly gentle gaze on the woman with a slight cant of the head. The weather outside was volatile, aggressive, but none of that permeated the walls of his home. In here, with this company, he was all but dismissive of whatever threat was poised. But who are we kidding? He wasn't worried about the storm to begin with.

Upsetting Lynette, however? Well we couldn't have that.

"And~ what else would you like to go with them? We'll need more than just that for dinner. Maybe some eggs? Hash browns?"

[fairsweetlonging]

truth serum / system reveal au where shen qingqiu gets hit with an uncloaking spell that reveals the system in the reflection of his eyes every time it pops up.

during one of his missions, in the treasure hoard of some dragon-like creature, he finds a golden, oval shaped hand mirror, its gaudy style more victorian based than anything (airplane you hack!), that doesn't seem to do anything when he looks into it. but when he does, it reveals the system's screen in his eyes.

he doesn't notice this, of course, because he can't see it, and the system, surprisingly, stays quiet.

the peak lords think he's cursed.

maybe mu qingfang is the first to notice, during the mandatory post mission check-up, when shen qingqiu is scrolling through his most recently accumulated points and mu qingfang can see the strange vividly-blue lines reflected in his pupils. it's gone when shen qingqiu blinks, like it was nothing but a trick of the light.

it comes out when yue qingyuan is visiting and, just as he's done laying out the plans for a new mission, shen qingqiu's eyes glaze over and a bright blue box takes over the whole of his iris. shen qingqiu goes quiet; the thing in his eyes moves, shifts, pulses for a second, like static worms crawling all over his pupils. then he blinks, and it's gone, and shen qingqiu accepts the mission that yue qingyuan was almost sure he would decline.

maybe there is an intervention, when the peak lords corner shen qingqiu at qian cao peak and try to figure out what's wrong, subjecting him to all kinds of treatments and curse-finding spells that turn up empty, they can't find anything.

of course, the silencing threat is still very much up and running. at first shen qingqiu was kind of confused by the whole ordeal, but when the peak lords start describing a "strange blue box", he realizes, with sickening suddenty, that they're describing the system. and he can't say anything.

this only makes everything worse, because their fellow peak lord now keeps evading every question and acts like he doesn't understand. liu qingge points right at his face and asks, "that blue box, what is it?" and shen qingqiu laughs nervously and starts talking about how bright the weather is and surely it's the sky and nothing to worry about!

even worse, during the intervention the system thought it was a good idea to start talking to him, so now even the peak lords who hadn't seen it and who might have been persuaded by light tricks and reflections, get a first row view that no, that definitely isn't a trick of the light.

they try to do the whole thing of "are you in danger, blink twice" but shen qingqiu can't even do that because it's still a direct admittance!

maybe eventually he starts saying vague confirmations that don't actually confirm anything, like "this master hears what you're saying", or maybe he goes with a classic "this master can neither confirm nor deny that." but the system starts warning him for that too and eventually he stops saying anything, which worries the others more.

luckily mu qingfang catches on that every time they ask a direct question about the box or shen qingqiu says anything vaguely confirming, it appears. it doesn't appear when they ask about curses or demons, so it must not see that as a threat.

for a little extra angst: maybe the peak lords keep pressuring him for answers, and at some point shen qingqiu gets fed up and snaps out something like, "why don't you understand that i'm not allowed to answer that!" the system counts this as a direct admittance, threatening it's existence. so it punishes. shen qingqiu has a qi deviation so bad it lasts two weeks and takes two people every day to cleanse his meridians. the system doesn't appear in that time. it doesn't appear for a long while after that, either. the peak lords stop asking, mainly because shen qingqiu will instantly leave the room if they do. they don't stop searching for a cure, though.

shang qinghua returns from a business trip and catches on the second someone mentions a blue box and forced silencing.

[egophiliac]

buckle up lads we're going BACK INTO THE BOOK

[bishy437]

チーンホワ君の日常。

sqh’s everyday life.

[saewokhrisz]

together in death

[happypeachsludgeflower]

Non transmitigation au where Shen Yuan auditions for a part in PIDW on a lark when it gets a live action adaptation, not thinking he’ll actually get a part (he just wanted to be able to say he did it okay? He was dated okay??! He was not dared he just thought it’d be neat, but he’ll admit to nothing.) and, much to his horror, ends up cast as Shen Qingqiu.

He somehow accidentally makes Shen Qingqiu so likable that he’s the most popular character. The fandom goes feral over him. He becomes famous. New fans are joining the bandwagon in droves to watch him.

And all the while, Shen Yuan is frantically trying to pretend he isn’t the most notorious anti fan troll to clown on the internet. He has never heard of PIDW before what do you mean Peerless Cucumber whomst?

[deadsetobsessions]

Danny’s Wayne adoption bait. The guy that owns the bodega knows it. Everyone and their mothers knows it. Danny, on the other hand, had no clue. To be fair, he had just crash landed in this dimension a week ago and his back was still sore from the weird design the car had.

(It’s only three weeks of homelessness later does Danny realize that he crash landed on the Batmobile. Whoops. Oh well. He’ll blame it on Clockwork if the vigilante asks after repair costs.)

(Bruce, on the other hand, is scouring the streets for this kid the car cams caught- oddly static filled footage- because his mind jumped to the worst case scenarios: a suicidal meta or a meta being threatened or a meta in a trafficking scheme or even worse all three at once and Bruce just can’t because there is a child in danger, he doesn’t have time to sleep.)

Danny rubbed at his back, eyes going watery at the memory. Sure, his wounds have healed over by now but the- heh- phantom pain is no joke. He shuddered, huddling closer to his threadbare hoodie. His only saving grace from getting jumped while walking the streets of Gotham at night is his invisibility and intangibility. Also, he’s floating, so “walking” doesn’t apply to him.

He’s gotta check on the kid he saved yesterday from a mugging, so Danny hurried along to the depilated apartment complex the kid was squatting in. Turning visible and tangible as he turns the corner, Danny glanced around for Amy.

“Danny!”

“Hey, kiddo. Doing alright?”

“Yeah! Come meet my gang!”

Danny felt his eyebrows rise to form Jazz’s exasperated look. Ouch. Waving the pain of losing Jazz away, Danny smiled at the excited girl.

“A gang? I wasn’t aware I was being brought to your almighty group.”

“Yeah! Uh, you actually helped a bunch of us so…”

Danny thought back to all those times he punted crooks away from robbing kids and shrugged. Yeah, what Amy said was likely.

“Kay, kiddo.”

She scowled, and Danny didn’t have the heart to tell her it looked more like a pout.

“You’re just a teenager.”

“Well, you’re a just a kid.”

Danny cackled as she chased him down the street, trying to kick his shins.

Life is good, even if he’s homeless and hungry.

——

“Jason.”

“Old man.” Jason mocks back, pausing his tasks. He waits as Bruce struggles to put his thoughts and feelings into words.

“There’s… a meta.”

“In Gotham?” Jason tilts back, hands halfway to his guns as a silent offer. Bruce shakes his head.

“A child. In Crime Alley.”

“In my turf?” Jason’s disquieting demeanor quickly swapped to a protective one.

“Trafficking, I think. Male, black hair…”

“Shit. Get Dickwing back here, he’s good with traumatized kids. I’ll go look for him.” Jason’s already moving, mind filtering through the kids he knows might have information to offer.

Bruce nods, shoulders relaxing. Jason smacks down the lump in his throat at the subtle sing of trust. “I’ll get Oracle and Red Robin on it.”

Jason morphs from Jay to Red Hood in one smooth step, helmet firmly placed on his head. He grunts in agreement, slinging his legs over his motorcycle. He roars off, mind half filled with tearing apart whatever traffickers dared to shit near his territory and the other half filled with worry for this possible kid.

——

Danny, as the Bats become aware of his existence, hands Amy and her kiddie gang a bag of fancy beef jerky.

“Try these with peanut butter, it’s kind of good.”

Amy stares at him, the judgement of an eight year old more piercing than anything he’s ever experienced.

“You’re fucking weird-”

“Language!” He squawks.

“-but sure, whatever you say, boss.”

“Boss?!”

The kids ignores his alarmed face.

[hinamie]

itakugi sillies fr the soul

[romancegifs]

SAVING FACE (2004) dir. Alice Wu

[s0fter-sin]

thinking about the way ghost doesn't hesitate to start killing shadows when graves betrays them but soap only takes one hostage

you can almost hear the voice in his head telling him it doesn't have to be this way; they can still talk it out

"i'm calling shepherd"

his first instinct when confronted with betrayal is to play it by the books: to go up the chain. that goes against everything we've seen him do. he bucks authority at every chance except for the one time he's confronted with the barrels of his allies' guns

he wants a peaceful resolution; for the first time we've ever seen, he doesn't want violence to be the answer. there has to be another fix, a solution that doesn't end with him killing the same men he's been working with; his friends

nothing's happened yet

it doesn't have to go this way

but ghost has been betrayed before. he knows the way this ends; either with him six feet under or his enemy

he doesn't hesitate

it's only when they knock alejandro out that soap shoots; when they spill the first blood and cross a line they can never come back from

only when ghost orders him to run and he has to cover his retreat

and somewhere along the line, between civilians’ screams and taunting voices, between his shaking breath and ghost steady in his ear, that naivety is stripped away; his trust turned to teeth that he uses to sink into throats of men he'd have given his life for

"be careful who you trust, sergeant; people you know can hurt you the most"

he's learned the price of trust

just like ghost did

but unlike ghost, he has someone to guide him through the aftermath

"good advice, It"

[disgracefulthings]

AU where, after throwing Luo Binghe into the abyss and Shen Qingqiu stops eating because the food on his peak is too bland, he discovers that a. Shang Qinghua is a good cook and b. that it's very similar to Binghe's cooking. He decides to have his meals over on An Ding, which confuses his fellow peak lords, but they are also very relieved because he is actually eating.

When Luo Binghe escapes from the abyss he ends up hearing rumors about this, and sees Shang Qinghua as a romantic rival. Instead of taking over HHP, he decides to open a restaurant because clearly the way into his Shizun's heart isn't to become a respected cultivator, but through his stomach. Shang Qinghua does have one thing over Binghe, and that's his ability to make modern dishes that Shen Qingqiu misses.

Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua are very confused and have no idea what Binghe's restaurant has to do with his plans for revenge, and they think it's safe for Shang Qinghua to go in to spy because Luo Binghe would want nothing to do with him.

However, when Luo Binghe spots Shang Qinghua in his restaurant, he challenges him to a cooking competition with Shen Qingqiu as the one and only judge. Shang Qinghua doesn't want to die, so he agrees, but he is afraid that Binghe would take Shen Qingqiu if he loses, so he decides that he needs to out cook Binghe to save Shen Qingqiu's life.

Shen Qingqiu has no idea what's going on (classic Shen Qingqiu) and agrees to judge. Binghe makes him his favorite dish from Qing Jing Peak, while Shang Qinghua makes him his favorite modern dish.

In the end, Shen Qingqiu can't choose because both of the dishes are really good, and Binghe breaks down, saying that if Shen Qingqiu really likes Shang Qinghua's cooking, then he is willing for both of them to marry Shen Qingqiu.

Shang Qinghua, who had no idea that those were the stakes, backs out of the competition because he had no interest in marrying his bro (Mobei-Jun has been stewing in jealousy this whole time and decided that in order to win Shang Qinghua's heart, he needed to cook for him. When it's revealed that Shang Qinghua doesn't love Shen Qingqiu, he takes him back to his palace and presents him with all the food he has learned to make. While not as good as the protagonist's, Shang Qinghua is still moved because he never thought anyone would make something for him, much less his spoiled king)

Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe do make up and get married, and Binghe reluctantly asks Shang Qinghua advice for making modern meals

[coutureicons]

[mydairpercabeth]

facecards so lethal i started watching star wars

[anticidic]

Their slowly widening height difference over the years and Chuuya's eyes shifting to having to look up. 😭✨

[tea-n-ink]

When the final curtains falls, face the wrath of the understudy

[starry-bi-sky]

on a completely separate note; shizun luo binghe with a disciple shen yuan who fell into the abyss??? *thinks about LBH canonically stealing SQQ's corpse for 5 years* he'd hallucinate i think. like, like visual and audial hallucinations.

Keeps thinking he's seeing SQQ in the corner of his eyes, or wandering between the trees, amongst a group of disciples. Thinks he hears him calling for him, but its just the wind or another disciple.

Gets Xiu Ya reforged but patently fucking refuses to make a sword mound. Because his disciple Is Not Dead :))) There was No Body. He's Not Dead. And If You keep Insisting That He Is, He's Gonna Skewer You :). He's holding onto Xiu Ya so he can return his most favored disciple's sword when he returns. It's on his hip right next to Zheng Yang where it's supposed to be.

Also this motherfucker?? does not sleep btw. He has the image of SQQ, wide eyed and hysterical and standing at the mouth of the abyss burned into his fucking eyelids. Can't use the dreamscape to escape it either because he keeps trying to save him and either he does and it's an incredibly cruel trick to wake up to, or he doesn't and he gets his heart broken in several different pieces again.

There is no convincing this man that Shen Qingqiu is dead. Absolutely nothing at all. He is buried so deep in denial that moles would be jealous of how deep he is. He keeps making tea for two in the bamboo house only to remember that it's just him. SQQ's fans are hiding everywhere, little reminders of his presence. He goes to wake up SQQ on the mornings he sleeps in-- only to find the room empty.