#warlord mingjue

[winepresswrath]

The.... the hate my baby correctly post??

BEHOLD

[qiu-yan]

third option taken from here

[whumpbby]

Idk if there's a right way to say this but Jiang Cheng's biggest crime in and out canon is being not that pleasant to be around and i rlly wish people would acknowledge that instead of trying to paint him as The Worst in order to justify their weirdly intense hatred towards him

I'm going to ramble,sorry, that how I put thoughts in order:)

I think that's the perfect way to say it actually. And 100% fact imho. His biggest flaw is that he has no patience with other people's shit and no filter on how little patience he has. He lets people know he's unhappy with them. All his care and dedication is in his actions.

The way he cares about Wei Wuxian and then Jin Ling - even his scolding is an expression of care, always concerned about the way their behaviour can bring harm to them or to their sects. The way he sacrificed his life for Wei Wuxian without a moment's doubt and neve mentioned it. The way he was fighting a war and rebuilding the sect at the same time. The way his sect became absolutely notfuckwithable. The way he kept throwing himself in the way of danger for his loved ones in the Temple.

This is not some villain who only cares about himself - the way he's being painted by the antis.

There was this post somewhere saying that the biggest flaw in a fictional character is being boring - they can be a war criminal, as long as they're not boring.

I think for some people who are looking for pure escapism and feel-good simplicity (and nothing wrong with that, everyone does that) the "boring" gets replaced with "ugly". The depiction of trauma survivors that didn't "go through all that and ended up kinder". That didn't get over the tragedy in their lives to an appropriate standard. That are functional, but not happy. That bring back the bad stuff that happened because it still influences their lives and behaviours and reactions.

They want all the tragic trauma of the past, but without long-lasting consequences that aren't leading directly to cock-healing or fawning.

Like, if you think about it, no one went through the war in that book and came out "better". Absolutely no one. Lan Zhan drowned himself in guilt and directed all his anger towards Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian didn't stop running for even a moment and he became an intensely careless, emotionally dishonest person. Lan Xichen settled into not really doing much, coasting on his sects' position and JGY's help. Nie Mingjue became a bona-fide warlord who basically said "fuck these people, hunt them for sport for all I care". Meng Yao learned that you can stab your problems away. Everyone around them became incredibly trigger-happy for a long while.

And yet JC is the only one singled out as the Evil Walking The Land, because his trauma response isn't pretty and stoic and is specifically, understandably, targeting the Innocent Cinnamon Roll Protagonist and isn't fixed by the end of the book. He could have saved the world, but as long as he's not polite while he's at it then fuck him.

This is, like, primary school level morality were facing here xD

I cannot tell you how surprised I was when entering the world of The Untamed - prepared by Tumblr to see jC as this demon of a man and instead found this guy who, by all accounts, is in the right 99% of the time. Then I read the book and was staggered by the final reveal. And the absolute bullshit I was fed by people that wanted to sour me on the character before I could make my own mind.

Not even gonna get into how these people treat Wen Ning - whose whole existence is a horrific chain of horrific events ending in his absolutely awful existence of an actual slave... But he's such a cute puppy, eh?

Tldr: people who keep making excuses for hating JC do it to somehow justify the fact they can only accept Trauma Light in their fiction.

[commonpigeon]

its that time of year thats exciting exclusively for me. fanfic spreadsheet wrapped 2023.

this year i read 9,020,674 words :O thats over a million more than last year lol (7,815,414). i read 1172 fics total, which was less than last year (1325). so i suppose overall i was reading longer fics.

top ten fandoms

teen wolf - 405

fall out boy - 202

the untamed - 81

stargate atlantis - 53

the witcher - 50

the sandman - 48

x-men - 47

merlin - 46

ted lasso - 20

les miserables & atla & pride and prejudice all had 17 each lol

top ten pairings

derek hale/stiles stilinski - 389

patrick stump/pete wentz - 193

rodney mckay/john sheppard - 50

erik lehnsherr/charles xavier - 46

merlin/arthur pendragon - 45

geralt of rivia/jaskier - 44

dream/hob gadling - 43

lan xichen/jin guangyao/nie mingjue - 36

enjolras/grantaire, elizabeth bennet/fitzwilliam darcy, sokka/zuko - 17 each

aziraphale/crowley - 15

break down into months

january

top fandom was the sandman, top pairing was dream/hob. makes total sense because i was still clinging on from 2022.

top fic - And Not Ask Leave of Any - dream/hob 15th century faeries au. i have no recollection of this but january me loved it.

february & march

top fandom was the untamed, top pairing was lan xichen/jin guangyao/nie mingjue. i had been rewatching the untamed and was going insane despite not even getting to the best bits for that ot3 lol

Feb top fic - Some others I've seen - steddyhands established relationship - ed and izzy have a tavern and stede visits. again i have no recollection of this and i think its mostly sex

March top fic - An Elegant Solution - nie mingjue/wei wuxian/lan wangji. by far one of my favourite fics EVER and this was a reread and it still hurt me just as good as the first time. arranged marriage fic that fixes so many problems and weirdly the thing that hurts me most wasnt even the main pairing it was the nie minjue/lan xichen/jin guangyao. never has a fic made me pivot from hating to liking a character so effectively

crazy that neither of my fav fics were from my top read pairings lol

april

top fandom was x-men and top pairing was cherik.

my mum died in late march and i lost my MIND and could exclusively watch media i enjoyed between the ages of 12 and 14 and xmfc was The movie when i was that age

top fic - Weekend at Casterly - jaime lannister/brienne of tarth regency au. sorry i will always come back to these two altho ill admit this was rogue and came out of no where

may & june

top fandom was teen wolf, sterek

may top fic - Yes is a World - sterek. derek rejects stiles and then they get together after a few years and have to reassert boundaries. didnt finish where most fics finish and i enjoyed that extra insight into what happens after the get together

june top fic - it’s a long way forward (so trust in me) - geraskier. reread. geralt is an omega who wants too much. soooo embarassing to put omegaverse on here which i usually avoid but this fic is soooo good their dynamic is perfect

july

top fandom was the witcher, geraskier

THEY MADE THAT BARD BISEXUAL

Jinx Removing - sterek. this is saved as dr pepper fic on the spreadsheet which means nothing. another case of derek waiting for stiles and planning for them to be good for each other

bit funny that last month sterek was my top pairing but my fav fic was geraskier and now its swapped for july

august & september

top fandom was merlin, and merthur

august - Once & Future - geraskier, warlord au where geralt is a statue awoken by jaskiers kiss. really beautifully written

september - the devil's in the details - merthur. arthur lists the ban on magic and thinks merlin just learnt really really fast

i left a specific note for myself in september to lmk i was really into reece shearsmith but he simply has no fic. thanks past me

october

top fandom was sherlock, but the pairing was enjolras/grantaire. i simply have no idea how this happened

Epiphanies - enjolras/grantaire. modern au where they do a christmas reunion and enjolras isnt doing too well. i found this too relatable thumbs up emoji

november & december

ah. well this was the time of fall out boy and peterick. what a way to end the year

nov - Schrodingerverse - covid verse that was written during covid and the series that got me back into peterick. guilty pleasure fic for me

dec - time is luck - there was like 3 good fics this month it was very very hard to choose between. but this ons is the ultimate dynamic that im seeking from modern peterick fic where pete is entirely dedicated to patrick and completely accepting of their friendship and not wanting anymore. But What if He Could Have More???

in summary. when your mum dies make sure you read like a shit ton of sterek fic for 2 months in a tiny box room in a village itll be so good for you. and then go to see your favourite band from when you were 14 live and get back into rpf while trying to start 2 new jobs.

seriously though how did i read 405 teen wolf fics in like 2.5 months and then just never touch sterek again. i didnt even finish teen wolf

[lightshadowverisimilitude]

Songbird 1/?

I’m just going to start posting all the 645664064724 bunnies I have laying around, okay? 

This one is called “Captive Bride” on the bunny mountain. Nielan, Wangxian. I didn’t set OUT to make it a Beauty and the Beast AU... but it’s basically a Beauty and the Beast AU.

-

Lan Wangji held up a single hand. In the darkness, Wei Wuxian was nearly invisible. If he closed his eyes and his lips both, he might have faded into the surrounding shadows altogether, while the juniors stood out like clouds backlit by sunbeams where they knelt in the brush.

They had received the urgent request for aid from Lotus Pier just as the sun was passing its zenith, and it had been all Lan Wangji could do to hold Wei Wuxian back long enough to gather a party. The Jiang messenger had collapsed on the steps outside the gates immediately after gasping, “The Nie have descended on Yunmeng.” He had still been unconscious when Lan Wangji had assembled all available cultivators - most juniors - to make a run for their close ally. Taking so many juniors into battle made his skin prickle with unease, but they would need to be blooded eventually, and a skirmish in friendly territory while the Jiang clan was still strong was as gentle an introduction as they were likely to get. 

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said after a pair of long minutes had passed, slipping up beside him. “What is it?” 

Lan Wangji frowned into the darkness. They had all descended to the ground once the sun had set to be less conspicuous targets, but Lan Wangji gripped Bichen tightly and wished they had stayed aloft. He slid his eyes sideways to eye Wei Wuxian’s black-on-gray robes once more and considered the merits of suggesting darker battle gear for such situations as this. 

“Not sure,” Lan Wangji admitted. With seventeen juniors all under the age of eighteen to mind and only three adults including himself and his husband, he might have been imagining the shadows leering at them. 

“Seems quiet,” Wei Wuxian said, but in agreement rather than protest. 

Lan Wangji nodded. The creatures around them were too still. It could have been a response to their own presence, but he had called a halt several minutes ago, and the normal night sounds had not yet resumed. 

Holding a hand out, Wei Wuxian traced a seal on his palm, and then blew across it. A faint flicker of red limned the wings of a shadowy butterfly. He leaned close to whisper instructions, and then released the talisman. It drifted away from his fingers like smoke, disappearing into the shadows immediately. 

Wei Wuxian twisted to look behind him and then turned back with a sigh. He tutted under his breath. “They practically glow.” 

“Mmn,” Lan Wangji agreed. 

“I think you should let me have some disciples of my own,” Wei Wuxian said, and then pivoted slowly on his toes so that he faced the opposite direction and could keep an eye on their charges. Lan Xiu was at the rear of their party, his guqin already across his lap. 

“Mmn,” Lan Wangji said again. The recent aggression of the Nie clan and the resulting plunge into a war that no one had been prepared to fight had highlighted to Lan Wangji the particular weaknesses of his clan. No other clan fought like the Nie, and it had taken them all by surprise, but Lan Wangji privately admitted that they had been perhaps the least well-equipped to handle the brutal attacks. 

Wei Wuxian looked at him sharply, but Lan Wangji said nothing more, and Wei Wuxian released his curiosity for the moment. 

The juniors at least seemed aware that they were brilliant targets in the darkness, and they had hunkered down in the underbrush back-to-back. They were utterly silent, and even Wei Wuxian was uncharacteristically still. 

A flicker of movement. Lan Wangji thumbed Bichen from her sheath and scanned his eyes slowly over the trees, letting his gaze wander to better capture any movement at the periphery of his vision. At a whisper of cool air, Lan Wangji glanced to Wei Wuxian. The shadow butterfly perched on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder, only visible because of the slow fluttering of its wings. It walked on smoke-light feet up the side of Wei Wuxian’s neck and clung to his cheek, whispering its report in his ear. 

Without speaking, Wei Wuxian turned again and gestured out in front of Lan Wangji, finger angling upward. Lan Wangji followed the line of his arm and finally saw it. A slightly darker clump of shadows crouched in a tree thirty yards ahead of them. It might have been only a denser bundle of limbs, but as Lan Wangji watched, the shadow lifted its head and the whites of its eyes caught the moonlight and reflected it back. 

Realizing immediately that he had been spotted, the man leapt out of the trees. A pair of short, dark blades came unsheathed as he descended, flashing in the weak light. Lan Wangji leapt to meet him while the shadows around them exploded. Behind him, he heard the twang of a guqin, and then a startled rush of noise from the juniors. 

Lan Wangji met one blade with Bichen and repelled the other with a fast hand seal. The force sent him spinning away, and he had the barest window to reach out and touch his fingertips to his opponent’s side. He sent a short burst of pure spiritual energy out of his hand and was rewarded with a pained cry. The black-clad cultivator tumbled out of the sky and crashed hard into the underbrush. Lan Wangji maintained the pressure of his spiritual energy against the ground to keep himself aloft and turned briefly to check on the rest of his team. 

The juniors had drawn together. One had her flute out, but the notes trembled as they tripped through the trees, and the song was doing more to raise the anxiety of her fellows than give them strength. 

“Stop that and draw your sword,” Wei Wuxian ordered calmly before Lan Wangji could say anything. He clapped his hands sharply together and thrust one hand out. A flutter of pale yellow paper, and then a shadowy form was flying through the trees with one of Wei Wuxian’s clever paperman talismans attached to his chest. 

Leaving the care of the juniors to his husband, Lan Wangji pulled his spiritual energy back in and lowered to the ground. His earlier opponent staggered upright with one hand pressed to his side. Likely, he had broken several ribs, either from the initial strike, or the resulting fall. With obvious effort, he pulled himself upright, took in a breath, and went back on the offensive. Lan Wangji parried, frowning. The more effective strike would have aimed for his throat, but the man had come in low, aiming for his left leg instead. 

A wide sweep of Bichen’s blade sent his opponent stumbling backwards. The man came in with another strike meant to disable. Lan Wangji reversed his grip and slammed Bichen’s pommel hard into the other man’s forehead. The attacker choked, dropping one short sword to clutch at his head, and then doubled over and vomited into a bush. 

Lan Wangji delivered a sharp blow to the back of his neck. He slumped forward, but Lan Wangji watched him for a moment longer to ensure he was not going to climb back to his feet. Seeing no movement, Lan Wangji turned. Lan Xiu had abandoned his guqin and fought with three opponents at once, Wei Wuxian flung talismans out as fast as his hands could move, and the juniors had broken into small groups to face any of at least two dozen of the shadowy attackers. 

Sheathing Bichen, Lan Wangji summoned his guqin from his qiankun sleeve and danced his fingers down the strings. The greatest concentration of fighting was around Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji aimed his strike there, driving half a dozen of the attacking cultivators off their feet and back into the trees. 

Wei Wuxian flicked a glance at him, nodding, and then drew Suibian and slashed it across one man’s throat in the same smooth movement. Lan Wangji turned his attention back to the juniors, striding forward as he picked out another series of notes to calm their minds and strengthen their resolve. His students were good in a fight, if untested, and their training had taken hold where their experience had failed. Their sword forms were neat and perfect, but the confines of the young forest, still choked with undergrowth, and the unusual fighting style of their opponents was wholly unlike the practice field. 

Lan Wangji ran both hands over the strings, sending a wave of visible spiritual energy through the trees that scattered a group of their attackers and had still more tumbling from the trees. He released Bichen from her sheath and sent her flying, tracking the flickering sword glares and quickly separating friend from foe. 

Behind him, Wei Wuxian grunted, and then hissed. Lan Wangji sent a ripple of energy in front of him, giving himself just enough breathing room to turn. Wei Wuxian had one hand clenched hard to his side, but Suibian still flashed, wicked and almost playful in the shifting light. Lan Wangji clenched his jaw and turned back, trusting Wei Wuxian to take care of himself in a fight where their juniors were more in need of his attention. 

A moment later, he heard a short, gurgling cry, and looked sharply to his left to see Lan Xiu double over and disappear into the bushes. Three juniors rushed to his side, two fending off his opponents while the third knelt to check his injuries. Lan Wangji pressed his spiritual energy downward to propel himself over the heads of his juniors and down in Lan Xiu’s abandoned place, Bichen curving through the trees to a staccato rhythm of clarion clangs and started gasps.

“To me!” Wei Wuxian called suddenly. 

Lan Wangji did not turn, but drew his fingers over a quick run of notes to build pressure, and then released it with a single sharp strike. A pulse of blue light lit up another dozen figures as Lan Wangji leapt backwards. 

The juniors had retreated as well, three of them carrying Lan Xiu’s limp form between them while their fellows surrounded them with drawn swords. Wei Wuxian led them unerringly through the trees, quick flickers of red butterflies lighting the path. Lan Wangji followed in short hops, turning every second stride to force their pursuers back. 

Behind him, sharp cracks of fire dragged cultivators out of the trees and sent them screaming to earth. Seeing Wei Wuxian’s delicate butterflies set to such a purpose both made Lan Wangji’s chest swell with pride and sink in sadness. Bichen came flying back to him. He lifted the guqin out of the way to catch her in her sheath as Wei Wuxian’s butterflies bought them enough breathing room to open their strides to a full run. 

A short time later, they came to a sheltered clump of boulders, and Wei Wuxian led them directly inside. One giant stone had toppled over at some point in the distant past to form an imperfect roof and create a defensible space that gave them enough room to spread out some distance. There were only three spaces in the rocks large enough to admit a person, and the juniors moved immediately to cover two while Lan Wangji put himself in front of the last. 

“These Nie,” Wei Wuxian complained, but his voice was hoarse and he looked ghostly pale in the flickering light of his cloud of butterflies. 

“How bad?” Lan Wangji asked, eyes drawn down to Wei Wuxian’s side. He could not see how much blood had soaked into Wei Wuxian’s dark robes, but he could smell the metallic tang of it and noticed how shallow his husband’s breaths were as he hunched subtly to the left. 

“Barely a scratch,” Wei Wuxian said brightly, which only alarmed Lan Wangji all the more. “I’ve gotten worse from girls’ fingernails,” he added. The statement had been calculated to distract Lan Wangji with jealousy. 

Glaring, Lan Wangji called two of the junior’s over to take his place. Ignoring Wei Wuxian’s muttered protests, he pressed his hand to Wei Wuxian’s side. His eyes widened at the feel of the sodden fabric. 

“It’s fine,” Wei Wuxian told him softly. “Really. I’ve caught most of the bleeding already. Some of it isn’t mine.” 

Lan Wangji probed at his qi and found that Wei Wuxian was being uncommonly honest. He had a tendency to understate his most critical injuries while whining loudly about the most minor so that Lan Wangji always assumed he was on the verge of death whenever Wei Wuxian dismissed an injury or said, “It’s fine.” 

Wei Wuxian had refocused enough spiritual energy to create a temporary bandage over the wound, stopping the bleeding. However, Lan Wangji had no doubt that Wei Wuxian would recall that energy as soon as he felt that it was needed, so he quickly pulled a roll of bandages from his sleeve and fitted it over the wound. On the ground, the three who had pulled Lan Xiu to safety were doing the same, working swiftly but calmly on a wound to his abdomen. He moaned softly, still unconscious. 

“Did you notice?” Wei Wuxian asked quietly, lifting his arm out of the way without complaint so Lan Wangji could wind the bandage around his torso. 

Glancing quickly over the tense juniors, Lan Wangji nodded. “They're after you?” 

Wei Wuxian approximately a shrug. “Why?” 

Lan Wangji’s eyes flitted to the butterflies still dancing around them. Wei Wuxian was a highly unconventional cultivator, and his inventions had already sent ripples through the cultivation world. The Jin sect had tried to recruit him right under Lan Wangji’s nose, and he received requests almost weekly to be a guest instructor for any number of sects, both large and small.

Lowering his voice so even Lan Wangji could barely hear it, Wei Wuxian said, “I’m sure one of them tried to grab Lan Xiu. He struggled away, and I think the sword thrust was a mistake.” 

Lan Wangji frowned. “You're sure?” 

Borrowing from Lan Wangji’s vocabulary, Wei Wuxian said, “Mmn.” 

“You, they’re trying to kill.” 

Wei Wuxian nodded again. “How many Lan cultivators have gone missing?” he asked. 

Lan Wangji didn’t answer. They both knew the number, and Wei Wuxian wouldn’t have forgotten. Eighteen had disappeared off various battlefields in the months of fighting, and none had returned. No bodies left behind, simple gone. It was why Cloud Recesses could spare no one but the oldest class of junior disciples for Yunmeng’s aid. 

“We’re closer to Lotus Pier,” Lan Wangji said. 

Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes. Despite Lan Wangji having given no other indication to his thoughts, Wei Wuxian said, “I’m not running and leaving you here.” 

“I am worth a ransom.” 

Snorting incredulously, Wei Wuxian said, “And I’m not?” 

“Injured,” Lan Wangji pointed out. He tied the bandage off and started to hum, pouring energy into it. 

Wei Wuxian slapped at his hands, leaving sticky prints behind. “Don’t waste your energy if you’re going to be this stupid. Because I’m injured, it makes more sense for you to go. They’ll need you to protect them.” 

Lan Wangji glanced around. Though no one was looking at them, he knew they had the juniors’ attention. He also knew that they would not be given much longer in reprieve. The explosions of the butterflies had caught their attackers off guard and killed or severely injured perhaps five or six of them, but even so, there had to be at least thirty still out in the trees. 

“They’re trying to kill you,” Lan Wangji said. “They’ll take me alive.”

“If you let them,” Wei Wuxian said with his eyes narrowed. 

Lan Wangji hesitated. It was against his nature to consider surrender, as Wei Wuxian well knew, but Wei Wuxian would not leave if he believed that Lan Wangji would fight to his death, and Lan Wangji would not leave Wei Wuxian to fight an army that meant to kill him. He thought of A-Yuan, and how he had clutched at Lan Xichen’s robes and sobbed that afternoon as they’d left.

“I will allow it,” Lan Wangji said. 

Wei Wuxian made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. Uncaring of witnesses, he took Lan Wangji’s face between his blood-sticky hands and kissed him. The touch of his lips was sweet and familiar, and Lan Wangji leaned into him, hands gentle on Wei Wuxian’s hips. He used the moments while Wei Wuxian was distracted to funnel spiritual energy into him. 

Pulling back, Wei Wuxian glared at him. 

“You’ll need it,” Lan Wangji said. 

Sighing, Wei Wuxian used his grip on Lan Wangji’s face to tilt his head down. He kissed the emblem of Lan Wangji’s ribbon, and then bowed his head so Lan Wangji could do the same for the black ribbon sitting at its usual slightly crooked angle on Wei Wuxian’s forehead. Lan Wangji reached up automatically to straighten it, a familiar action that made Wei Wuxian smile. 

“I’ll find you,” Wei Wuxian said, and then thumped their foreheads together again. “You know I’ll teach A-Yuan all the worst habits if you make me raise him alone. I’ll be a terrible single parent. I’ll let him stay up until midnight every night, and feed him candy every day, I swear I will.” 

Wei Wuxian waited for Lan Wangji to nod, and then took out a blank sheet of talisman paper and dug a finger under the bandage Lan Wangji had wound around his torso, skewing the wraps as he did so. With a fresh coating of blood, he drew out a seal, and then whispered across it, “The birds are perching somewhere in the mist.”

The seal lit up in a burst of ember light, and then faded. Lan Wangji frowned at the bandage, now somewhat loose, but pulled the collars of his robes aside. They both ignored the scandalized gasps of the juniors, and Wei Wuxian pressed the talisman to Lan Wangji’s chest. He leaned forward to place a kiss on the back of the paper, and then shifted over to set another on Lan Wangji’s collarbone. Lan Wangji shivered, as much for the gentle press of lips as at the smoke-cool sensation of the talisman binding to his skin. He pulled his robes back together over it. 

“Set the butterflies out to cover your flight,” Lan Wangji said. 

Wei Wuxian nodded. Lan Wangji unsheathed Bichen and held her point-down as he passed between the two juniors studiously not paying attention to Lan Wangji and his husband as they said their farewells. 

Lan Wangji had barely stepped through the opening in the rocks when a gust of warm air rushed past him fast enough to stir his hair and pull the back of his robes tight against his body. Lan Wangji closed his eyes. Even through his eyelids, the burst of light was stunning. Thousands of campfire sparks exploded in the air, and there was a great cry of surprise and curses of pain. 

Lan Wangji released Bichen, tracing the loudest of the complaints and summoning his guqin in the same breath. If he hadn’t been listening for it, he wouldn’t have heard the whispering rush of the juniors taking to their swords and rising quickly into the air. They would be shielded for a few moments by both the blinding dazzle of the exploding butterflies and the resulting burst of smoke. If they were lucky and no other cultivators had waited further back, the cover would be enough to see them safely out of sight by the time the afterglow faded. 

He heard no renewed exclamations of shock. A positive sign. Unfortunately, the rest of his opponents had fallen silent, and he was forced to call Bichen back as he sent a wave of spiritual energy blindly into the trees. Several meaty thumps resulted, but Lan Wangji had no opportunity to press the advantage as a sword sailed out of the trees to his left, and he was immediately forced on the defensive.

[annulareye]

scale versus stain

dearest @shoujosparklingwater, annulareye has finally begun their descent into nieyao hell... Here! He brings him close enough to read eyes as Mingjue lets his own go middle distance. Just out of reach. See, not to touch, not to smell. Look! Displays his face, turns it to one side then the other, he’s still pretty, seems fed, unpunished. Just one bruise, the kind he might have even (he had, many times, Mingjue wouldn’t) asked for.  Baby. Wen Ruohan strokes Meng Yao’s neck, massages all the places that might be sore under the hanging hair, sore neck, knotted jaw, all those little inevitables; squeezes and shakes his shoulders out while his arms dangle and swing, manipulates the work out of him, chews him soft with his claws.  Brings him back down on his knees facing Mingjue and the room, where everyone can see better, the good cushions having magically reappeared for them both. Sinks down behind Meng Yao like he’s the whole entire throne himself and pushes the little body down. Adjusts the elbows and angles into place, still talking at Nie Mingjue bound and kneeling before them.  Even he, the prisoner, is on a very nice cushion (but not as nice as Meng Yao’s). His knees hurt differently on it. Wen Ruohan keeps talking.  There’s a light coming into his face that reminds Mingjue of court ladies, the kind he wouldn’t stand to have at Bujingshi. He’s wearing lip paint, but it’s more the way the mouth twists. His voice is still gentle but his hands are not. He pauses for a moment; regards the body before him; makes Meng Yao look up again and face Mingjue, asking if the face he’s making looks familiar; puts his knobbled fingers in Meng Yao’s mouth; sneers; makes a small motion at his belt, flips Meng Yao’s robe and commands him, all intimacy gone, to back up and move. Slowly. https://archiveofourown.org/works/28954848

[ruensroad]

how about 19 for nieyao

This is a brand new AU I made just for them, because I obviously have ZERO self-control, whoops. Thank you for prompting this couple, I’m glad people seem to enjoy my take on them!

Prompt from this list here!

Prompt 19 | “Is it possible to sleep for two days?” | NieYao

Jin Guangyao had known, if only vaguely, that the Nie were a clan of butchers. Warriors of the blade, crude and wild, but fiercely independent and militarily genius. And because his father, the Jin Emperor, could not conquer them, he’d bought them instead with his own son as currency.

He’d expected to see yurts, or crudely built houses over the plains. He’d expected children running amok and women with their breasts exposed. He’d expected many things, the worst things he could think of, and had, as such, been utterly unprepared for what they truly ended up being.

A walled city of stone. Odd fashions, but not crude. There was a wild beauty to their braids and leather armor, the way they spoke in their guttural dialect. Jin Guangyao could admit he’d been wrong about them, especially when he realized the women wielded blades alongside their men, just as well dressed in armor, just as skillful.

Equality, he’d been promised, which was why it was he that had been sent. A bastard son of a prostitute was no better than the filth in a sewer to his own people, but here?

He had been bowed to with curious respect and there had been none of the leering, or sneers, save for when a particularly loud woman laughed about his fancy silks, warning him they’d be shredded in the contest to come.

But that had been… it. Nothing about his mother, or his father. Just his clothing, which he could admit now was sadly inadequate to the rugged mountain life these people flourished in. Before he’d even reached the walled city, his golden robes had grown cold and one of his escorts had had to surrender a heavy, furred cloak over to him to wear so he wouldn’t freeze.

The smell of horse, sword oil, and metal mixed in with the mountain pine and oak, the smell of stone and hearth fires proof of life and liberty. Far from savages, the QingheNie people were, all in all, a people just like any others, with their own ways and lives, and he’d found himself fascinated, instead of revolted.

The man to be his husband was a handsome, if deadly looking man. Younger than Jin Guangyao had been expecting, and cultured in ways that had surprised him. He’d offered a fine bow before taking Jin Guangyao’s hand to kiss, and maybe his accent was thick, but it was still far more understandable than his soldiers’ when he’d greeted him, showcasing a history of book learning and etiquette.

Polite, courteous, lovely. Jin Guangyao had honestly been torn between not trusting anything that fell from his mouth and wondering how it could be that this man, whom he’d known for less than five minutes, had shown him more respect and grace than he’d ever had in his life.

His opinion on Nie Mingjue had only grown since.

The aforementioned contest proved to be an odd ritual involving no less than a dozen warriors fighting Nie Mingjue in a clash of blades and bodies for Nie Mingjue’s right to marry Jin Guangyao. Which… was actually rather flattering, seeing how hard Nie Mingjue genuinely was fighting for him. For over an hour he fought off his own men and women, and one by one they went tumbling into the dust as that blade gleamed in the setting sun, flashing red and brilliant gold.

The legends didn’t whisper of him as the Master of the Red Blade for nothing, it seemed.

But the legends also called him scary, like a boogeyman, or ugly monster waiting to snatch unsuspecting children from their beds, and that was so wholly inaccurate, Jin Guangyao was nearly insulted on Nie Mingjue’s behalf.

Like this, gleaming in sweat and covered in dust, he glowed, lit by the light and by his victory. His head lifted high, proud, he was magnificent standing there in the middle of a chaos of broken blades and arrows, and Jin Guangyao shivered as the reality of it settled in. He’s mine, his mind chanted. He’s mine!

“Am I worthy of your hand?” Nie Mingjue asked, as though Jin Guangyao had a choice in this. As though it were not a mere traditional statement, but a true question, honest and hopeful.

His eyes were soft, so soft as they regarded him. Another thing the legends had misjudged.

Hand outstretched, Nie Mingjue waited, offering him more in that moment than Jin Guangyao had had since his father had taken away his name. He saw, in this golden, brightly burning man, an actual future and reached out to take his hand without hesitation.

“I am yours,” he said, not knowing if that was correct, but it was true enough. “And you are mine.”

The cheers were deafening as Nie Mingjue climbed up the dais to stand before him and kiss his hand in reverence. Another newness that had something in Jin Guangyao shivering in the want for more. “It is an honor to be your chosen,” Nie Mingjue said, and sounded damned earnest about it too as he offered his arm to lead them back into the quiet of his rooms.

The moment the door shut behind them, Nie Mingjue gave a low, pained groan, before quickly offering him a slightly lopsided smile as though afraid he’d insulted Jin Guangyao by letting his pain be known. Lovely too, that. “Forgive me, I’m being rude,” he chuckled, and his accent was thick in his apparent exhaustion.

“You just fought off a dozen soldiers, I think you are allowed.” Ridiculous man! Jin Guangyao forced him to sit and moved off, all instinct, to grab a basin of water and a cloth. As he dabbed Nie Mingjue’s face, wiped the dirt and blood from the scrape on his cheekbone, those dark eyes tracked his every move, heavy and curious and almost sweet.

It made Jin Guangyao want to hide, or perhaps slap the rag in his face and leave. He did neither, just continued to clean his skin, and slowly a calloused hand gently caught his wrist.

“You will put me to sleep at this rate,” he gruffed, but didn’t sound nearly accusing enough to make Jin Guangyao stop his ministrations. “And I am wondering already if it is possible to sleep for two days… or more.”

“I’m sure it is, but our wedding is tomorrow,” Jin Guangyao pointed out, huffing at him. “And if you leave me standing alone I will never forgive you.”

“You will never be alone, never again,” Nie Mingjue promised. Always so serious, these Nie. So earnest and emphatic. For once, Jin Guangyao wanted to believe such words. For once, he felt like he could.

He didn’t let himself, not yet, but still found a more genuine smile of his own for him.

“I suppose we’ll see, husband mine. Won’t we?”

[drwcn]

that one bride stealing/kidnapping fic, you wrote it really really well and I still love it

Re: Tell me the one fic you associate with my username. In exchange, I’ll tell you a secret about that story.

Ahhh thank you so much!

"A Willing Hostage" [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] - fin

I'm always down for NMJ's bde sweeping everyone off their feet, with the exception of wwx who is perpetually in the dark about the fact that in addition to his sister now happily married/bride-napped by this pugilist warlord, his brother, his boyfriend, his boyfriend's brother, his boyfriend's brother's boyfriend have all hooked up with his sister's husband at one point or another.

In terms of a secret... well it's not so much a secret as a detail that's part of this world-building.

Wen Qing, Wen Ning, and Wen Yuan are the only Wens left in this Au. Wen Ruohan had a rebellion and got squashed. Jin Guangshan, as per canon, wanted to execute all the Wens, but Wei Wuxian kept the three of them alive secretly. The reason being, when Wei Wuxian got thrown off that cliff and "died", he was saved by Wen Qing.

Wen Qing works as a junior healer in the palace under an alias, and Jin Ziyao (Meng Yao) knew about it all along. She helped them cover up Jin Guangshan's murder. Jiang Cheng is very sweet on her, and is an idiot about it.

Wen Ning tags along with Wei Wuxian in his military camp as his assistant/secretary/scribe, writing his missives and such. Wen Yuan got adopted by the Lan family, renamed Lan Sizhui, and is being raised as a ward.

Nie Huaisang and Jin Ziyao met during the rebellion because Jin Ziyao was organizing insurgent forces using pugilist sects as allies. When Nie Huaisang wrote to Jin Ziyao asking him to find a "suitable young lady for my big brother", Jin Ziyao decided to kill two birds with one stone and arranged for Nie Mingjue to bridenap Jiang Yanli. That way, his big brother Jin Zixuan wouldn't have to marry her.

Mianmian eventually becomes Luo-huanghou, as in Empress Luo, and we're all better for it.

Jiang Yanli and Lan Wangji both think that for fairness, NMJ and WWX should hook up at least once. NMJ and WWX are not amused.

[afriendofhanguangjun]

BRI’S BIG LIST OF 3ZUN FIC RECS

a few people on twitter expressed some interest in my 3zun rec list so here are some of my faves! this isn’t separated by ship but by the kind of fic. there are some i didn’t rec because i can’t rec them in good conscience even though i like them. YEAH

THEY WIN I PROMISE (or: happy ending fics)

there is just one thing i need by MonocerosRex. modern au, rated G, 11k! primarily nieyao, but it’s 3zun. nieyao go on a cross-country road trip to pick up lan xichen from the airport. it is SO FUN, i laughed SO MUCH. the nieyao dynamic is DELIGHTFUL

just one kiss (for our fake date) by thefaceofno. 4k, rated T, modern au! xiyao. jgy brings his friend lan xichen as his fake boyfriend for a family gala. somewhere along the line, he forgets to mention the word “fake” to xichen. the misunderstandings are really fun and cute! 

you seem, secretly, to love everything by jelendra. 11k, modern au, M, 3zun but the focus is on a nieyao get together. it’s part of a big series but tbh i havent read the rest of the series. but THIS ONE is that lan xichen is dating jgy and nmj separately and wants them to date each other! meng yao feels really weird about this. 

Synced by theherocomplex. T, 23k, nielan, space au! nmj and lxc become partners to explore a little satellite planet. featuring fun mental bonds and AMAZING wordbuilding. the atmosphere is so quiet here. i love the vibes

soaring, carried aloft on the wind by skadiseven. E, 68k, nielan, au! lan xichen is forced into an arranged marriage with “”””warlord”””” nie mingjue and finds out that there is more than he had initially assumed about the people who are invading his kingdom. AMAZING prose, the worldbuilding is so fun, the fic itself is so soft and sweet. if you want to be sold on nielan this fic sure will sell you! 

holding off the rust by me! :3c 3zun, 3k, T, modern au. jgy THINKS he’s cheating on nmj and lxc with each other. he is wrong. it’s a good time! 

Becoming Prom King in Ten Easy Steps: A Guide by Jin Guangyao by me. 3zun, 40k, modern au, T. jgy wants to become prom king and schemes his way to the top. along the way he gets some boyfriends. this is a teen comedy movie in fic form. 

Nevermore to Leave also by me! nieyao, 17k, canonverse, rated T. meng yao’s first 100 days as the vice general of the nie sect. he learns how to be safe and the nie bros eagerly adopt him. lots of family content! 

FOR A GOOD OL’ CRY (bittersweet fics!!!)

to exist, in reaction by autoclaves. 6k, modern au, T, nielan with past xiyao. lan xichen learns to handle his grief of losing the husband he thought he knew thanks to the help of a plant shop, two cats, and the cute man who keeps coming into his shop. this made me tear up ;u;

tell me what I already know by daughterson. M, 9k, modern au, nielan with past xiyao. the entire series is AMAZING but this is the flagship fic and its honestly one of my favorites. lan xichen cheats on his husband nmj with one of the students at his university. he learns to deal with the fallout. it is heartbreaking and amazing and AAAGH JUST. AAGH!!!! LAN XICHEN AH LAN XICHEN!!!

to hoard promises that could sniff out the lie by Mayarene Rose. 3zun, 50k, T, pacrim au. please. my god. if you’re gonna read any fic on the list, read this one. i don’t know shit about pacific rim and i loved this. it cycles between their povs and it is AMAZING. it GETS the 3zun dynamic so well. im choked up thinking about it. the epitome of “they’re in love and it wasn’t enough.” 

favor by venndaai. T, 30k, focus is xiyao but 3zun is important too, hunger games au. WIP!!! this makes me SO emotional. meng yao volunteers in nie huaisang’s place and meets lan xichen in the games. im miserable over this. the prose is gorgeous and i don’t know where it’s going but i am delighted to see where! 

MY LOVE IS THE KILLING KIND (BAD END FICS)

the ruins left inside of you by aroceu. M, 26k, canon divergent au. 3zun, focus on nieyao. technically a jennifers body au. this is one of my favorite 3zun fics of ALLLLLL time. its a GREAT character study of nmj and how a demon whose power you absorbed for your own and an evil spirit that you let corrupt your soul arent all that different in the end, huh!!! the ending is so tasty. my god. i love this one.

Cry a river, call it rain by rheawrites. 2.6k, E, modern au. jgy kidnaps xichen. that’s it. that’s the fic. i love it

qinghe triptych by bloodletter. E, 3 part series, canonverse mostly nieyao but part three is sangyao and mosang. 40k total. a three-part examination on the qinghe trio and a three-part breaking of my heart. each fic is gutting and beautifully written and UGHHHHHH I DONT HAVE THE WORDS I JUST WANNA WAILLLLLL

there is the way the air feels by nenyanaryavilya. 9k, xiyao, modern au. E jgy visits lan xichen in his big lonely manhattan apartment. some FUCKED UP xiyao vibes that i love a lot, thanks. 

The Mountain Stood So Large by esperra. 16k, M, canonverse. very 3zun.  two weeks before nmj’s death, lxc and jgy take him on a night hunt. what follows is some light horror, a lot of hallucinations, and a character study on what it feels like to be unable to trust your own mind. 

Obligation by ilgaksu. 53k, rated M, 3zun at different points. canonverse. WIP. ON HIATUS a CUTTING jgy pov fic. non-linear timeline, but cuts across different points of canon. jgy is just a fucked up little man and it’s delightful to read. the prose is UTTERLY beautiful.

GETTIN DOWN WITH 3P (you can extrapolate what that means for urself)

Past Tense, Present Perfect by nonplussed. canonverse, around sunshot...? kind of a fix it fic. 6k, E. 3zun. 3zun get down to some fun roleplay and learn how to communicate with each other along the way! there’s a lot of fun identity stuff with this one. i am a sucker for dom jgy

softly by isozyme. E, 3.5k, canonverse. nieyao. jgy breaks nmj’s d*** for fun and profit. they’re so in love. that doesn’t make anything better. the vibes are terrible and i love it so much

études (in a minor key) by bigspoonnoya. E, 9k, modern au, xiyao with past (?) nieyao. jgy shows up on a repressed lan xichen’s doorstep one night saying that nmj broke up with him. lxc tries to comfort him and then he Comforts him ;) jgy is an absolute piece of shit here. i love it. the ending is GUT WRENCHING. part 3 of the series is also good!

half cloak & half dagger by fahye. 13k, E, canonverse. jgy and lxc are happily married but sometimes a gremlin has to scheme his way into a good bang, yknow???? its SO funny and the jgy pov is SO good

the notes on an old mistake by esperra. 26k, series. mostly nieyao but it turns into xiyao and 3zun. nmj and jgy are exes who end up sleeping together again... and again... and again..... if you love bad decisions you’ll love this series. jgy gets together with lan xichen and then ropes nmj into a terribly negotiated polycule.

ok thats all of them that i am brave enough to rec haha

[needtherapy]

So I started a Nielan story based on a Twitter chain about warlord Mingjue being given war bride Xichen.

What do you think? Wanna read the rest? Got any opinions on how I should post it (I mean, I’ll post it on AO3, but it seems like it would be fun to share here too—it’s just really long)?

Soaring, Carried Aloft On the Wind

[reddus-sideblog]

oh to take a relaxing ride on a river boat with my cultivator warlord boyfriend

true, true

however Wei Wushan is the most unbelievable brat good god, I don't know how someone would put up with it sometimes

Nie MingJue, though, now THAT is a man I would have my eye on, and his little brother is definitely a close second...

[starshinegoblin]

Wasn’t written for me but I’m spoiled over here too! This is so wonderful and I love it! ♥️♥️♥️

A contemplation of names.

I got caught up thinking about names and stuff. Set in @ruensroad ‘s warlord au and pretty self-indulgent besides. NieYao. First time I’ve written Mingjue too so be kind!

—————————————————

“Meng Yao.”

He said the words through trembling lips, carefully avoiding any point of contact either by touch or sight. The sound of the whetstone paused and his heart danced in his chest, wild and terrified.

“I’m sorry?” Nie Mingjue asked. He placed Baxia down with care and turned to face the small and vulnerable creature sat by his side. A lie, really; he wasn’t vulnerable, but he felt it.

“My name,” Meng Yao clarified, “my true name, the one given by my mother; it’s Meng Yao.”

Nie Mingjue watched him carefully for a few moments, his eyes dark and contemplative in the evening light. It took all his strength to not buckle under that gaze and fall apart - what good would that do, though? To crash into his knees and ask this man, his husband of two months, to forget that he had revealed this piece of hidden knowledge? But it was his name; it had been stripped from him by Jin Guangshan and replaced with something more befitting a member of that gilded household.

The tears that began to pool in his lashes stung. His fingers clenched into fists, the urge to rip and claw at the gold hem of his robes growing stronger as each silent moment passed.

Then, a touch. A finger, calloused but kind, wiped a stray tear from his cheek. He blinked and sat frozen as the man who had been described to him as barbaric wiped Meng Yao’s tears away with his own sleeve.

“Do you wish for me to refer to you thus?” Nie Mingjue asked in a low voice. He knew Meng Yao’s character now, how he could turn scathing and sharp in a matter of seconds, and he tread the unknown path carefully.

“I- yes.”

A heartbeat. Another. A thumb that traced the delicate line of his jaw. “Meng Yao...”

The sob fell from his lips without his consent. The sound of his name, his true name on someone else’s’ lips was a balm he had not known he had needed. He let the tears come and leaned heavily into the firm, unyielding form of his partner. Warm breath ghosted over his cheek as a gentle kiss was pressed to his temple.

“Say the word and the court will know. If you want Jin Guangyao erased from our histories then I will carve the characters out with my own hands.”

The words were gentle but the intent was harsh. The image of a dagger, sharp and deadly, cutting that name and crushing it was bittersweet.

“No,” he said after a while, voice once again steady, “it is a good reminder of who I could have become. Leave it.”

He leaned over and picked Baxia up, handing the blade over carefully. Nie Mingjue murmured his thanks and the evening continued as it had many times before.

Meng Yao contemplated the symbolic alchemy of gold transforming into hard steel and found it beautiful.

[hunxi-guilai]

I saw your discussion about the name of WWX’s flute Chenqing - which was fascinating! he’s trying to say so much to LWJ with that name! - and I would LOVE to know more about the sword names in this show!

oh man oh man, I don’t have the time or energy to go on a Mega Deep Dive of all the possible references that might come with each weapon, but here’s a bunch of quick translations off the top of my head:

随便 Suibian - ‘whatever’

避尘 Bichen - ‘avoiding dust,’ and yes, this ‘dust’ is the same one I got into a little while talking about Xiao Xingchen’s name. is this how Lan Wangji can wear white all the time without getting dirty?

忘机 Wangji - Lan Wangji’s battle guqin; ‘forgetting device,’ insert discussion of Taoist themes in CQL here

朔月 Shuoyue - Lan Xichen’s sword, ‘new moon’

裂冰 Liebing - Lan Xichen’s xiao, ‘breaking ice’

紫电 Zidian - ‘purple lightning.’ Exactly what it says on the tin

三毒 Sandu - ‘Three Poisons,’ insert discussion of Buddhist themes in CQL here

岁华 Suihua - Jin Zixuan’s sword, either ‘years’ or ‘magnificent years’

霜华 Shuanghua - Xiao Xingchen’s sword, which I’ve seen translated as ‘frost-flower,’ by taking an archaic reading of 华 hua. 百度百科 is also suggesting ‘possessed of moonlight,’ though I have no idea how it got there

拂雪 Fuxue - Song Lan’s sword; literally, ‘to brush off snow,’ though I can see an interpretation of, ‘to wipe clean, to exonerate’

降灾 Jiangzai - Xue Yang’s sword, ‘call down disaster’

恨生 Hensheng - Jin Guangyao’s sword, ‘hatred of life’

霸下 Baxia - Nie Mingjue’s sword, I’m... not entirely sure what it means. 霸 ba is a character that occupies both the spaces of ‘mighty warlord’ and ‘despotic tyrant,’ 下 xia means ‘down, under, below.’ Possible interpretations include ‘feller of tyrants’ (下 as an action), ‘servant of tyrants’ (下 as an abbreviation for 手下), ‘warlord’ (reading 霸下 as a play on 殿下 but I don’t think that’s a real thing), or possibly, it’s a reference to a very turtle-y dragon prince (six of nine, apparently. I’ve never heard of him)

I’m sure there are more posts out there with more in-depth information (esp. on Sandu and Bichen); let me know in the notes if you find ‘em, and I’ll edit this post accordingly!

[eriseimari]

The Untamed x Naruto PART TWO

Sakura as Wen Qing - The greatest doctor of the Wen clan. An alpha female... but the difference is in here, Jiang Cheng (Sasuke) made the first move yet Wen-guniang always backs away from him.

Kiba as Jin Ling- Arrogant brat but we all love the character sooo... fights with Naruto a lot. Owns a strong dog. (I was thinking whether it should be Zixuan or Jin Ling)

Nie Mingjue as Fourth Raikage - The fierce warlord. He was mighty and acts accordingly to what he think is fair.

Orochimaru as Jin Guangyao - Once a sweet-looking boy but hides a dark twisted mind.

PART ONE:

https://eri-butterfly.tumblr.com/post/623777617153245184/the-untamed-x-naruto-part-one

Masashi Kishimoto as Nie Huaisang - The real alpha, the one who planned it all. It's his world and everyone is just a mere pawn... but yeah he's also our favorite

[july-19th-club]

"we may be here feasting in the evil fortress we've just conquered, but you'll never get me in that seat [indicating the sprawling throne of the defeated warlord]" nie mingjue really is just a noble forthright fellow huh he intimidated me at first but now i see he is simply a man who takes the notion of what's "just" incredibly seriously and although he is strict he is nonetheless a fair and loving man when not in the throes of a hereditary fatal bloodlust anyway hauisung im so sorry for your loss

[ruensroad]

I’ll make another world for us (if you’ll let me)

Continuation of this NieYao from my Warlord AU.

---

The celebrations would not stop for three days, and that was only if the alcohol ran out by then. Personally, Nie Mingjue was holding out for five, remembering the last wedding he’d attended, and that had been for a simple solider. The wine had flowed for nearly a week and his entire army had been a worthless, celebrating mess it’d seemed.

Not that Nie Mingjue could begrudge them that. The war was over which meant time could be better spent on what really mattered in life. Love, family. Happiness, duty. For his people alone, he hoped the wine and food lasted the week and then some, if only so he could see them thrive in the culture of their home and the peace they’d fought so hard for.

Tonight, the revelry was loud, carrying over the grassy plains over the walls of the stone keep. As was customary, a temporary yurt had been set outside the city for him and his new husband, with nothing but the padded walls to protect them from the elements. It was symbolic, showcasing their ability to keep each other warm and alive, especially on this night, the first of their new life together - and he couldn’t help but wonder just what Jin Guangyao thought of it all.

He didn’t know much about the culture of the capital - that was his brother’s domain - but he could guess this was a vastly different experience than the princely man was used to. His husband was far from delicate or soft, even if he could pretend to be very well, but there were some things one could not simply shrug off. Culture shock was one, cold another.

Tonight was their wedding night and there was only one bed. That was, perhaps, the only custom Jin Guangyao would understand and recognize after a full day of bewilderment. He’d handled himself well, but Nie Mingjue was no fool. The man had been sold off like a cow, after all, and forced into a culture as foreign to him as a new language. And he hadn’t had any say in the matter.

Nie Mingjue had courted him best he could from the moment he’d arrived, to make it feel more like a choice, and for the most part he felt his new husband was receptive to him, if guarded. But there would be time to ease that tension, the rest of his life if he had any say. He just hoped it would be good enough.

For now, he focused on carefully removing the wedding armor of his people, as well as the far too billowy robes of Jin Guangyao’s. It had been Huaisang’s idea to mix the wedding garments of both their cultures into a surprisingly cohesive outfit, and seeing Jin Guanyao light up a little at the sight of the robes had made wearing the fine fabric worth it.

Still, it was a relief to shed it and pull on his far heavier sleeping robes. He kept his back pointedly to the fire and the bed, where he knew Jin Guangyao was standing, hopefully undressing for bed as well. Not that he could hear much over the burning, crackling wood, but still, he would not be the savage Jin Guangyao had been told he was.

But changing only took so long. Eventually, he had to turn whether Jin Guangyao was ready or not.

His husband was not, in fact, ready whatsoever for bed. He was still in his red robes, still in the Nie breastplate. Thankfully, his ridiculous hat had been removed before the wedding and was nowhere to be found in the yurt. His new top knot crown of braids stood out proudly in the firelight.

As it had before, Nie Mingjue felt something in his swoop seeing this man in his people’s braids, their armor. He was small but strong and buried under all the airy fabric he’d arrived in had not done anything to showcase it. Here, highlighted in fire, he was godly, like the wrathful war gods of old.

The fact he was currently running his fingers down the side of Baxia’s blade only furthered that illusion.

“Pingheng,” he called, soft as possible around the word. Balance. The traditional term his people used instead of spouse. 

Jin Guangyao did not stop his caress of the detailed steel, but Nie Mingjue did not miss the way his shoulders tensed. So, still waiting for the savage, then. He did his best not to sigh and to stay as calm and at ease as possible as he crossed over to him, slow and easy.

“Do you need help out of the breastplate?”

Jin Guangyao considered that, finally pulling his hand away from the blade to rest over the beaded armor over his chest. He looked uncertain for only a moment, before seeming to steel himself. His tense shoulders melted like wax under a flame and the smile he shot Nie Mingjue nearly convinced him it was real. Nearly.

“I’m afraid so,” he admitted, which was probably true enough. They weren’t made to be removed except by those that understood the clips and buckles. Jin Guangyao would be hard pressed to maneuver out of it alone after wearing it only once.

His smile was off putting, his eyes doe-like and sweet. He was a good actor, Nie Mingjue mused while he eased the breastplate off his husband’s shoulders and set it down at the foot of the bed.

“Does my husband wish to help me with this as well?” was what Jin Guangyao asked next, gesturing to his sash, and there it was, an uncertain flash of his throat, a too fast blinking back of fear.

Nie Mingjue let the anger come, simmer, then pass. It would not do to make his husband fear him more. He was just doing what he believed he was supposed to and damn that father of his to all seven hells for making him think this was the only option.

“Only with your permission,” Nie Mingjue said, no nonsense, and that smiling mask slipped a bit in surprise. “The bed is big enough for two, but I will not sleep in it unless I have your invitation as well.”

Slowly, Jin Guangyao stopped smiling, his disbelief clear. “You… are giving me the choice? On this night of all nights?”

Nie Mingjue gently reached for his hand and, seeing Jin Guangyao was willing to let him take it, raised it to his lips. “I do not take what is not willingly given,” he said, firm on that, and met Jin Guangyao’s eye squarely over his knuckles. “If I have to sleep on the floor for the rest of our married life, pingheng, I will do it. I know I am not your truest chosen, even if I have won the right to your hand. Your heart is another matter entirely.”

“...my heart,” Jin Guangyao echoed, like he couldn’t believe he was saying the words. “What does my heart have to do with this?”

It hurt to hear, but it wasn’t a surprise. Nie Mingue chuckled. “Everything,” he said, because it was true. “You are still yourself, even at my side. I would have nothing less of you than that, that you do as you wish.”

Jin Guangyao stared at him a long moment, not smiling, brow furrowed, and Nie Mingjue had the feeling he was finally seeing the real man behind the mask. He was even more beautiful not hiding his sharp intelligence, his cutting eyes. Nie Mingjue could drown in a man like this, a man who was as fierce as the winds blowing outside, slicing like a blade. All he needed was permission to try.

“What I want,” Jin Guangyao mused, like the concept was foreign, an oddity, and Nie Mingjue kissed his hand again, bringing him back from wherever he’d gone. He blinked, ears a tad red, and stood there dumbly as Nie Mingjue pulled back to give him more room to think.

He’d only taken a step when his wrist was caught and his stomach swooped all over again.

“What I want,” Jin Guangyao said again, stronger, more assured, “is to be warm. Are you up to that challenge, husband?”

It was more than he’d expected, a solid start. Nie Mingjue turned and smiled at him gamely and got a real, if a tad bashfully wicked, grin right back.

“It would be an honor, pingheng.”