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Y'know what I am going to move Huaisang to the multi-muse. All currently active threads and starter calls will be carried over there.

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Ngl I have been thinking about moving Huaisang to the multi

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I keep sitting down to write those starters, and suddenly my brain is a lone pea rattling around in a tin can

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I feel like the instinct is to say WWX is a PI and LWJ is a cop BUT — I honestly think it works better if LWJ is a PI (does a lot of pro bono work, it's fiction so we can say he specializes in exonerating the falsely accused perhaps) and WWX is A Man With A Past who had to fake his death to outrun the law or something worse. WWX's "resurrection" is more along the lines of witnessing the death of MXY and it becoming a matter of "if I don't solve this mystery fast, I'll be next". Which puts him in the path of the PI anonymously hired to investigate: LWJ.

Tangentially related, but a film noir-esque MDZS AU would be very fun

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Tangentially related, but a film noir-esque MDZS AU would be very fun

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There is something to be said for Huaisang preferring to paint in the gongbi style (even in a modern verse!) but I’m too tired to pull it together

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Y'know I never did work on moving Huaisang's info

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Crazy what fandom does to you. Just saw a night blooming cereus (aka the Gu Qingzhang flower) and got excited. Over a flower.

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starter call // @h3artf3ltint3nt

HUAISANG GROANED AND SLUMPED OVER on his horse. Though that placed him at risk of unbalancing, it was the only way to illustrate how he was melting under the noonday sun. His fan had gone from ornamental to practical as he struggled for the last hour to cool himself. ❝The summer day's as long as the green shade's cool; the pavilion casts its shadow into the pool. The gentle breeze ripples the water crystal clear; the trellis of roses spreads fragrance far and near.❞ Despite his wilted state, his recitation of the poem was flawless.

❝A-Xin, why can't we be somewhere like that? Why do we have to be on this dusty, burning hot road?❞ He looked up at her, still half-bent over the horse, with one of his patently pathetic looks. ❝Can't we at least stop under a shady tree for a while? It must be lunchtime, right? If I don't eat soon, my stomach's going to start eating itself.❞

That was definitely the only reason he wanted to stop. It definitely wasn't because they were on their way to a night hunt hosted by another sect or that he'd rather eat all of his paintings than attend. It wasn't like him at all to delay their arrival so he'd have to spend less time there, and he would have to protest any insinuation to the contrary.

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The audio drama by far has my favorite art of Huaisang, but the hip length hair in the donghua . . . iconic

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( baldur's gate 3 // accepting ) WISH [ @redemnation ] WROTE: ❝We're overdue some good fortune.❞

THE STONE WAS INCONSPICUOUS. TO the untrained eye, it seemed no more than a fine river rock: smooth, flat, light in the hand, excellent for skimming over the water. One versed in magic, however, could see the radiance of magic enveloping it, the tell-tale silver blue of a dweomer. That dweomer danced with each syllable Wish spoke, telling him his message was received.

The reply came not a moment later. Though the sending stones allowed for only verbal communication, the expressive nature of the voice left little room for misunderstanding. Right now, it was deeply sympathetic. ❝We really are — yet Lady Tymora never delivers on time.❞ The voice sighed. It was good at that. ❝Once again it's up to us to make our own fortune.❞

❝Speaking of, there's another cache waiting for you. Look under the broken bridge north of Moonhaven — or what used to be Moonhaven.❞ Then interest crept in alongside the sympathy. After all, he'd fulfilled his half of the bargain, and now it was Wish's turn. The voice would supply the party with useful caches and any information at its disposal; in return, they would supply the voice with anything they learned about the Cult of the Absolute. And so, ❝I don't suppose there's anything of interest left there? Ah only — please don't tell me about that awful hag again. I just ate.❞

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I'm gonna go make sure my thread tracker is up to date. In the meanwhile, Imma slide over my meme tag. I'll also consider this post a starter call. This goes for all verses, including DND/BG3 and DA!

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I will forever be in love with how deeply entrenched Huaisang is in the art world. One of those little headcanons of mine that started paying dividends. Yes, it's because he loves and supports the arts, but it starts to get deeper than that. For one, it solidifies his image as a good-for-nothing who cares more about paintings than politics — at least until he chooses to drop that persona. For two, Huaisang's bread and butter is soft power. By gaining a chokehold on the art world, he also gains a chokehold on the people creating propaganda and creating the pieces of history that will survive. Paintings, sculptures, plays, you start extending into biographies and histories as well. There's enough exploitable overlap between artists and academics. His influence can make or break a person's reputation. He can ensure their place in history or obliterate it — and he can determine whether that place is favorable to them. He also knows when other people are trying to play the propaganda game and what angle they're taking. He is very subtle about all this. He never leaves a trail back to himself, and he has incredible patience. But, all those foppish interests of his turn into a trail of treats leading the flock of sheep where he wants them.

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Oh y'know I forgot to mention (because it wasn't pertinent at the time) that there are other ways to interact with Huaisang in his DND and DA verses outside of main events. These are lil things from his canon verse that carry over well.

You WILL see him at social events all throughout his life. He's from a prominent family and becomes head of said family in time. Social events are unavoidable. Parties, hunts, races, etc. He not only plays guest but host as well.

He's a huge patron of the arts, always has been. Paintings, poetry, sculpture, pottery, literature — you name it. He's a huge collector, too, especially where paintings, fans, porcelain, and calligraphy are concerned. You'll see him at galleries, salons, poetry readings, concerts, plays, etc.

^ Related, he starts hosting his own such events in time and becomes the patron of multiple artists. His salons in particular are not an event an artist can afford to miss. If you want to make it in the art world, you need to find a way in. He is very well connected in this sphere, and anyone worth knowing will be there.

He raises pigeons! Not only homing pigeons but roller pigeons and show pigeons. He's well known in those circles for his incomparable birds. You'll see him at pigeon races up until about his mid-twenties. He stops racing pigeons then, but he still enters birds into pigeon shows. He never misses one.

He doesn't spend all day at home either. He'll go shopping, go out to eat, go out for drinks, you name it. When he's in his home city of whichever verse, he'll usually walk the streets — albeit with body guards — and doesn't confine himself to the nice parts of town. Not that hard to bump into. If he's abroad, he'll take a carriage or litter as appropriate and will tend to stay in the wealthier parts of town (unless he's in disguise), but it's still not impossible to run into him.

Huaisang has a ridiculous amount of disguises and fake identities. These are usually inconspicuous guises meant to make movement easier (i.e. a hunter, a woodcutter, a servant). They are very convincing. Good chance your character can run into him in disguise if that works for you.

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The hardest part of looking anything up is trynna remember which volume of the translation it's in

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The Jin Ling's uncle joke will never get old

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Every time I think about what Huaisang went through after Mingjue's death I'm like damn maybe I'd go off the rails too