#whipsilk

[scumsketches]

Does anyone have any "hear me out" SV pairings? Mine is Sha Hualing × Little Palace Mistress.

Okay so this works for both SV and PIDW versions of the character, but I first got it into my head while working on my post Bingge v Bingmei PIDW fic from the wives perspective.

The Little Palace Mistress and Sha Hualing both come from nobility, their homes run by a powerful man. The Old Palace Master is obviously a piece of shit, and in a lot of fanon Sha Hualings dad isn't so great himself. But they both clearly grew up in very different situations.

For my fanon, the LPM grew up very sheltered and spoiled, with very little real connections to others her age. In canon, LPM has no mother in the picture, the OPM is never mentioned to have a former wife or wives, but he IS known to prey on female disciples. The OPM is old as balls. The LPM is around Gongyi Xiao's age.

Huh. Weird.

Also, the little palace mistress' birth lines up weirdly well with the OPM's obsession with Su Xiyan, and for obvious reasons she can't be SXY's child, so what actually is going on here, OPM??? Did he have a bizarre, fucked up rebound about a disciple who wasn't interested in him at all? What is going ON here??

Anyways.

LPM grows up sheltered, spoiled, and expected to marry who her father tells her, first Gongyi Xiao, then Luo Binghe, because you CANNOT tell me the OPM did not push her towards LBH once he appeared. And in PIDW? She does. She marries Luo Binghe, the most powerful man in the world, and joins his harem. His very, very big harem, filled with hundreds of other women, whom she has no idea how to interact with, and she has been told her entire life her worth is based around men's favor, and her husband hardly pays attention to her unless she raises hell.

Recipe for disaster #1.

Now, Sha Hualing. For my fanon, she grew up with a LOT of siblings, all vying for her father's throne, and in order to win against them she had to become the absolute best. She became the demon saintess younger than anyone else ever had, at only sixteen, and while her invasion failed, it was still impressive that she managed to break into and cause damage to the strongest sect humanity had to offer. But her father still didn't seem to care.

Jianhong-Jun still seemed to favor her older brothers, which frustrated Sha Hualing to no end. Couldn't he tell she was the best? She had killed two of her brothers and a sister already! She had become a demon saintess! She had invaded the core of Cang Qiong, Qiong Ding itself! But apparently, all her hard work could get her was the role of a powerful and useful bride!

Fine, her father wanted her to get married that much? She would marry a heavenly demon, and help him destroy her father! She would rule the harem with an iron fist, lead his armies, be the best first wife he had ever-

Who the hell was Ning Yingying? What is Liu Mingyan doing here? THREE HUNDRED WIVES????

Recipe for disaster #2.

So, with this we have established two self-centered disaster women with complexes about being the best wives and daddy issues and a penchant for solving their problems by creating bigger problems for everyone else. So why, do you ask, do I think they should kiss?

It would be really funny.

Plus, I headcanon SHL as a bit of a Playgirl, who has messed around with at least half the harem, and the LPM as surprisingly inexperienced, considering how sheltered she's been, though with her experiences with LBH and SHL she has gotten into some... More interesting stuff.

(airplane didn't give her a whip for no reason)

Anyways I think they would be absolutely horrible together. LPM would be waaaay too attached, to both LBH and SHL, while both of them actually don't have that much investment in her. RIP LPM. This could also lead to an insane breakdown and screaming fit from the LPM at some point.

My fic is endgame mingling, rip LPM, but if we wanted to take this a more wholesome route, it would be interesting to see the dynamic of them both going "oh no I fell for this absolute bitch HOW" and both of them coming to terms with loving someone not for political gain, but just for themselves.

But really I'm here to see who breaks up with who, and who does the Xianxia equivalent of keying the other ones car.

[roguedeck]

You should be playing #7 - Gossamer Chains

One of my favorite things to do in enchantress decks is bounce enchantments.

I've made a career flickering Flickering Wards, Whipsilks, and Shimmering Wings (Tempest art, of course).

This is a great way to draw a bunch of cards - or get you Anax and Cymede triggers. But ultimately, that's just a somewhat efficient draw engine.

You're not really doing anything to impact the board.

Enter Gossamer Chains.

You might initially look at this 2-drop enchantment and be less than thrilled. But look again. What you've actually got is a Maze of Ith with an upkeep of WW that also draws you a card or two every turn.

Enchantress decks often really want this. Maybe you are running a voltron-style Galea deck. You need a little bit of defense. Even more pillow-forty decks would like another way to blank an attack step.

Things get even better when you think about the political implications of this card. Not only do you stop combat damage, you also get to blank damage triggers - and you can do it for opponent's too.

Sometimes it's worth striking a deal with opponent A so they don't smashed in the face by a giant dragon. I bet you can get at least a single free turn if you do that enough.

Pairs nicely with:

Kodama of the East Tree

Daxos the Returned

Enchantresses Presence | Mesa Enchantress | Eidolon of Blossoms | Sythis Harvest's Hand | Satyr Enchanter

Underworld Coinsmith

Alela, Artful Provacateur

Weaver of Harmony

Ghostly Prison

Mirrormade