#WINRN sequel

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

Luo Binghe is miserable on Qing Jing Peak. 

“Again,” Shen Qingqiu says sharply. 

Luo Binghe, panting from exertion, moves through the sword form from the beginning. As he extends one leg behind him and raises his arms, he feels a sharp slap from Shen Qingqiu’s fan. 

“Shoulder’s down,” Shen Qingqiu snaps. 

Luo Binghe drops his shoulders. 

The next whap comes to the back of his knee. He yelps and stumbles to the dirt. 

“Your feet should be closer together, your knees bent more deeply. Again.” 

A quarter shichen later, and Luo Binghe is barely keeping his feet. He moves swiftly through the form, and this time he knows it’s done perfectly. 

Shen Qingqiu’s narrow gaze watches him intently. When Luo Binghe completes the progression of movements, he taps his fan against his palm. 

“Hm,” he says. “You’re slower on the uptake than Shang-shizhi, but it will do.” 

As he walks away to correct the other junior disciple’s forms, Luo Binghe does his best to strangle the hilt of his practice sword, imagining someone else’s neck in its place.

Unfortunately, that other neck looks exactly like his own. 

——

“You’ve gotten taller,” Ming Fan observes, grabbing Luo Binghe’s arm and pulling at his sleeve. “We’ll need to get you fitted with new robes soon.” The older boy clicks his tongue, frowning as though this was a personal inconvenience, like he would be the one sewing those robes himself.

Luo Binghe huffs, but he can’t help a small, proud smile. He has been growing, absolutely shooting up since coming to Cang Qiong and getting access to a steady supply of food. 

“I’ll take your new measurements later and send them to An Ding,” Ming Fan says, dropping his hand and crossing his arms.

“Yay!” Ning Yingying says, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “Xiao Binghe is getting bigger! Soon you might even be as tall as Binghe!” 

Luo Binghe’s eye twitches. 

——

Shang Binghe is the bane of Luo Binghe’s existence. 

Everywhere he goes in Cang Qiong it’s “Shang-shidi” this and "Shang-shizhi” that. “Oh, you look so much like Shang Binghe! Only not as stoic and handsome!” “Have you met Shang Binghe yet? You two look so alike! Last week he rescued three puppies from trees and produced a miracle cure from thin air for a plague in some far-off place! Isn’t that great?” And, especially, “Binghe? Don’t we have one of those already? And I thought he was… taller.” 

It is driving Luo Binghe insane. 

Shang Binghe, the head disciple on Bai Zhan Peak, is the same age as him. They have the same name. They have, Luo Binghe was dismayed to discover upon their formal introduction, the same face. Except that Shang Binghe is tall, strong, and popular. He has two living parents who love him—one of them is a Peak Lord, and rumour says the other is some important foreign trade contact. Everyone in the sect loves him. Even other sects call him a once-in-a-generation talent.  

“It’s just not fair,” Luo Binghe whines. 

“Cheer up, buddy,” Peak Lord Shang says. He pours Luo Binghe a cup of oolong and slides the tray of snacks towards him. Sulkily, Luo Binghe takes a few melon seeds and begins to pick at their shells. “Listen, you don’t want all that spotlight stuff! When everyone’s eyes are on you, that means you have to deal with all their expectations and worry if you’re living up to them and all that. Isn’t it better to be the unknown entity? Then you can do whatever you want! Enjoy your youth!” 

“I don’t want to enjoy my youth,” Luo Binghe mutters. “I want to be a great cultivator and grow four inches.”

(2/2)

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

In the dead of winter, the wife of a goat farmer gives birth to two daughters, lying in the straw of their barn. They are her first children. It has been four months since her wedding. Unlucky, unlucky. 

“I really am cursed,” she whispers, looking over the faces of the sleeping girls. Identical, right down to the tiny, pin-prick freckles on their cheeks and chins. 

One of the goats approaches to snuffle at her ear, and then at the babies. The one on the left scrunches up her nose at the sensation. She supposes she will have to find a way to tell the girls apart, but… well. It’s not so important. 

Her husband won’t even look at the girls. Unfortunately, neither look very much like him. 

—

“I’m not doing this again,” A-Hua says, gripping the makeshift scrap-cloth bag that holds all of her belongings in this world tight, like it’s full of gold and treasure and not two stale mantou, a strip of goat jerky, and a bent iron nail. She’s dressed herself in their little brother’s clothes, tied her hair up like father does. Their brother is tall enough already, and the two of them short enough, that it’s only a little small on A-Hua. Only shows a few inches of A-Hua’s ankles and wrists beyond the hems. 

A-Yan stares at her, and wonders what, when they look so similar, makes her sister so different from her. 

“You can stay here and try to take care of them for mom and dad if you want to,” A-Hua goes on, not pausing for A-Yan to speak, “It’s good. It’s good! You’re a nice sister. But if you do, you’ll probably starve with them, and killing yourself for our family won’t make anyone love you more.”

“Someone needs to take care of them,” A-Yan says, her voice dull. The fire that burns hot through A-Hua has always been absent in her. Silent where her sister is loud, apathetic where her sister is emotional. Grounded where her sister is flighty. It’s ironic that it is the colder of the two of them who seems to care so much more. 

“Sure, sure,” A-Hua agrees. “Like their parents, maybe?” 

“You used to think so, too,” A-Yan says. 

“I woke up,” A-Hua says. “… you could, too.” 

It’s the first time that A-Hua has made the offer since she decided to leave. For months, A-Yan has watched her sister toss and turn and cry out in her sleep. Her childish enthusiasm condenses and hardens into an alien sort of desperation that A-Yan doesn’t understand. She thinks that she knew A-Hua would leave them before her sister did. But never had A-Hua said: “Come with me. Let’s go together.” 

She isn’t sure if it’s because A-Hua had known she would say no, or because her sister doesn’t want to stay together. 

Either way—

“No,” she says. “Take care of yourself.” 

A-Hua nods, ties her makeshift bag around her neck, and slips away into the night. 

—

She never sees her sister again. 

One year later, demons invade the countryside and slaughter her entire family, down to the last chicken and goat. She comes home from hunting in the late-fall forest a li away from the farm and finds the first of the bodies lying in the dust of the road. She follows the blood trail home. 

At Huan Hua Palace, Palace Master Su tells her she’s the most extraordinary student he has ever taught. He holds her hand to correct her grip on her sword and walks her through the swing. She’s the youngest disciple of her age group to receive a spiritual sword. Its name is Gu Feng: a solitary peak. The Palace Master says it’s a sign that she will be great one day—singular, above the common person. She finds it a lonely name.

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

would you say it would be somewhat accurate in the yah (young at heart) sequel to have sqh taking care of/being mentor to TWO lbh’s 🤭 say yes i have moves im tryna make

YES absolutely, you are correct. SQH sees another LBH clamber onto CQM fourteen years later and has the following thoughts in rapid succession:

ah, fuck

well, technically All LBH's are My Son. so. yoink

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

In one of Shen Yuan’s earliest memories, he is lying in his mother’s lap. 

His mother’s lap is the site of many of his best memories of early childhood. Often, when they travelled, it was only the two of them—no companions, no roof over their heads, no beds to lie in. Just him and her, together, keeping each other warm. Her on a log by a fire, offering him a soft, safe place to sleep. 

On this occasion, though, they had stopped to see some of his mother’s friends, which meant that the air was warm and fragrant and there was soft, bright cloth everywhere, and even so, his mother still kept him close. She and her friends had been talking for some time, long enough that his energy waned after a day on the road, and he’d slumped over some time before and was drifting, hazy, in a place between dreams. Her hand petted his hair, which lured him deeper into the warm darkness of sleep. 

“—oing to settle down,” one of mother’s many friends was saying, her deep, rough voice pitched in annoyance. “Your debts are paid, your father is dead, and you’re a gorgeous young woman. Why don’t you find A-Yuan a father, and yourself a comfortable home?” 

“You know how I feel about marriage,” mother says. Her voice is a buzz against his back. 

“Then find a nice village and tell everyone you’re a widow. I guarantee some granny will be falling over herself to offer you a spare room. You have skills outside the flesh trade—you’re a good seamstress and have a keen mind for business. You can even read and write; heavens know I can’t!” 

“Chunchun is right, Wu-jie. A woman shouldn’t travel so much. How is Yuan’er ever going to make friends, moving all the time?” another of mother’s friends asks, her voice high and forcefully lilting. 

There is a shifting of fabrics. Shen Yuan is too tired to open his eyes and see what the women are communicating without words. 

The woman with the deep voice sighs. “You can’t run from ghosts forever.” 

“Not ghosts,” mother says. “I saw one on the road three days ago.” 

Shen Yuan drifts off before he can hear more, his mother’s hand passing through his hair as he curls up against her legs and begins to snore. The last thing he hears before sleep fully claims him is a distant, metallic ding.

(1/2)

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

wait. kiddoS? plural??

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

if this doesn’t like stress you out i’d looove to hear about/lil teaser for what you’ve been writing recently or have plans for! i feel like it’s been too long since ive thrown myself at your feet in honor of your yummy writing and i’m like a dog begging for scraps 🫣

omg yes!!! u r so kind hjkhkj (>/////<) ♡ and if ur a dog here then woof bc i am literally always sniffing around ur blog for ur beautiful art (the fem SQHs!! ur killing me!!)

i am currently working on way too many WIPs rn which is why all of them are going slowly (uh oh), but here are some in vague order of which should be posted when, w some teasers (⸝⸝> ᴗ•⸝⸝)

Moshang Reverse Minibang! its almost fully written and i am so excited to share it

The Trees Deny Themselves, ongoing Baby Boom fic w plantzun baby

new bingliushen fic for this years MXTX Food Zine (sequel to Manger A Toi)

To The Evenness I Fake, a qijiuliu omegaverse depressing smut extravaganza (G4G prompt)

Thunder crashes overhead. Rain strikes down, sending ripples through muddied soil and dragging every leaf and blade of grass into a slump of exhaustion towards the earth. Wind whips back the branch on every wide, tall oak tree that stands, straight and rigid, up towards the quickly blackening sky.  That’s what Yue Qingyuan smells like, he’s been told. What little of his scent that can get out past the medications, the cultivated suppression, the specialised soaps. He is very careful about that. If you are scentless, they will distrust you, his Shizun had said. And if you allow yourself to give into the weakness of your body, they will discard you. You must control yourself. You are the master of yourself. You are the master of your peers. Lightning and oak and wet soil. Ozone.  He hadn’t smelled much at all like that as a child.  The forest and the storm might be beautiful were Yue Qingyuan not standing on the edge of a surging river, attempting to battle a beast as large as a cow with four times as many legs.

I May Be Young At Heart, WINRN sequel AKA Bingmei vs Bingge extra (with bonus SY and a mystery to solve)

hualian's own baby fic ahahaha... shhh dont judge me

In the next town he reaches, he finds an apothecary. “Um, hello,” he says, fidgeting in the cramped front room of her shop. “Do you, by any chance, have something for when… for, um… for, after… if you, that is, if you are on the receiving end of—of—“ The herbalist, an old woman whose wrinkles are as deep and numerous as the rings of a tree trunk, holds up a gnarled hand. “Say no more,” she says, and starts grabbing fistfuls of herbs from the cabinets lining the room. Three minutes later he has an herbal concoction and no more money. “This will prevent any consequences?” he asks the woman, who squints at his cup and adds a pinch of one more herb that just sits on top of the steaming, thick liquid without incorporating at all. “Ab-so-lutely,” she declares. He nods firmly, plugs his noses, and chugs it, just as she tacks on, “My potions are the best in ten li. The chances of it not taking care of any lingering problems are slim-to-none, sonny.” Right. He chokes down the liquid, parts with the last of his coin, and goes on his way, resolving to put the whole incident out of his mind.

a few more G4G prompts such as: Tianshang fic where TLJ tries to help SQH's love life by making MBJ jealous, Yueshang fic where SQH tries to pavlov YQY into emotional honesty as a disciple by sneaking him romance novels with happy endings, Bingqiu insane toxic lesbians college AU, and Moshang fic that is EITHER gonna be about SQH struggling with dissociation or a study of violence in moshang's relationship leading up to them getting together. and more!!

aaand lots of older WIPs ive probably posted about before that i plod away at (ᵕ ´ ∇ ˋ ˶) ahahaha... ive been trying to focus on all of the prompts i gotta finish but AFTER THAT. ILL BE FULLY UNLEASHED. and can write more of the WIPs i wanna work on just for me ᕙ( •̀ ᗜ •́ )ᕗ

thank you for the question again !!! always fun to yap hahaha (and im easily peer pressured so. if u wanna see more of anything...)

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

oh! and you totes don’t have to answer if you don’t wanna but is there any more potential sqh centric fics coming ? whether connected to winrn or not? i mean tbh ill read anything you write regardless but as the number 1 sqh truther im curious !!

absolutely!!! literally cant stop wont stop SQH writing hours he lives in my brain

some upcoming SQH fics include a few gotcha prompt fills (fic abt SQH's mental health journey, TLJ/SQH fic, disciple days YQY/SQH fic, poooosibly a XXXHolic au if i decide bw moshang and jiuyuan) that will GOD WILING be kind of short. Then on the non-prompt/longer end I have outlines or parts written for a moshang role reversal w a twist series, some cute sickfic content, and a moshang fic for the SVSSS Big Bang i am dying to get to

plus probably more but lemme not get ahead of myself

also def got plans to do at least on WINRN sequel, although probs not immediately after the fic wraps up. ive got a whole plotline in my head for the kiddos during the canon timeline that i do self-indulgently really want to write haha

(and thank you so much aahh that is so kind ( ∩´͈ ᐜ `͈∩))