#(and definitely not A-Cheng anymore)

[rinbylin]

圣人有情而无累

dihua + 情 | 莲花楼 mysterious lotus casebook

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

“I’m not Jealous, I just wish I was in Luka’s place”

Who’s gonna tell him

[symphonyofsilence]

The way in those 13/16 years Jiang Cheng & Lan Zhan were never again called Jiang Cheng & Lan Zhan. And didn't know if they ever will be again.

[19eyebrows]

What he knows

The night was chill and a cold breeze made the flame of his lighter dance against the dark. He took a deep inhale and then breathed out the deadly smoke. Maybe he should quit someday.

Qiu was leaning again the cool railing on the balcony of his boss's home, waiting for him to get ready as always. As he always had and always would.

But his thoughts weren't with He Cheng for once but with his younger brother He Tian. Earlier that night he had made sure that his boss wouldn't become an only child and He Tian came out of this alive and save of the prison. It hadn't been an easy job. Especially holding back the young boy who was the cause of all this fucked up teenage drama. Not intentionally, sure, but still.

He took another inhale. He clearly remembered the worried look in the boy's eyes as He Tian made his way through the scum with his bare hands. Just how he and He Cheng have taught him. The redhead's body was basically shaking with worry, panic and... was it disbelief? That his friend was able of such violence...

Friend... Qiu sneered at that word. Maybe that's what He Tian and the little redhead wanted everyone to believe but at least He Tian did a terrible job of it. It was clear as glass that there was more between them than simple friendship. The day he had come to school with his bike and the Mo kid just got all excited to get a ride, He Tian gazed at Qiu as if he wanted to gouge his eyes out. And just now he definitely seen them holding hands before the fight had started. He would bet his beloved bike for it that was exactly what they are doing now that every was over.

He Tian may be quite grown up already but in the end he was still just a stupid teenager. And like every stupid teenager, He Tian was open as a book. But even Qiu had to admit that he was surprised to what lengths He Tian would go for a mere crush. Qiu wouldn't say that he knew the Mo kid very well, he had only seen him occasionally but the boy seemed rather quiet. Definitely likeable. But nonetheless Qiu wasn't blind to the kid's affection towards He Tian. Especially after the recent events. He didn't know all details but seeing the boy's injuries and He Tian's rage towards the little rat, Qiu just put two and two together. It was about revenge, something Qiu knew about very well.

He would never tell He Tian but he definitely knew what the unbearable desire to protect the one you love felt like.

"We can leave."

A well-known voice jolted him out of his thoughts.

Qiu took a last inhale before he took out his cigarette.

"Of course"

[michaelshelleyenthusiast]

Ladybug and chat noir are a bisexual couple and I will die on this hill

[xueyuverse]

It's ironic to me that part of the fandom insists so much that Hua Cheng's personality revolves around Xie Lian when in fact MXTX created Hua Cheng first and then had to make Xie Lian his ideal type. Like, the truth is that Xie Lian was molded for Hua Cheng. I find this contradiction very funny, I'm sorry.

But they were indeed created for each other.

Hua Cheng has a strong personality, he is firm in his ideals and beliefs, assertive in his opinions, cold in his justice and someone who does not bend the rules just to fit in, he creates a third way instead of adapting to a world that hates him and was cruel to him.

His ideal type would have to be someone as confident as him, who not only does not bend the rules, but also does not get corrupted by difficulties, someone benevolent enough to see people like him with kindness, because only someone faithful in his beliefs would be able to be so different from everything that the world says is right — because the right thing is for you to annihilate people like Hua Cheng, whether they are innocent or not, just because of a supposed curse that they did not ask for.

This meta is based on this excerpt from the afterword that MXTX put in TGCF ↓

When it comes to character designs, the Shou’s were decided on first for the first two novels, but I was torn over the Gong’s for a long time, and needed a run-in period. Hua Cheng, however, was an exception. Inspiration struck and there he was; inspiration struck again, and I blinded one of his eyes.

[...]

It was actually the Shou, Xie Lian, who tortured me for up to half a year’s time. When the novel started serializing, I was still torn over him for a long time.

[...]

But the most important thing is, by my instincts, someone like Hua Cheng will most definitely love someone like this. So, after a good half a year’s worth of qualms, in the end I still typesetted him: It’s you!

Speaking more about this postscript, I found it interesting how for MXTX, Xie Lian was the most difficult character she has ever played. People tend to think that Xie Lian only has two personality traits: (false, for many) kindness and idiocy. The idiocy may even be right lol, but when you stop to think about it, Xie Lian is a really difficult character to create and, mainly, to develop.

For all the layers he has, he could easily be a snobbish prince, a vengeful and bitter ex-prince, a fallen prince who rises again to reconquer his kingdom and reclaim his throne or a spotless saint who is always intelligent and wise and is above things like sadness, anger, lust, etc.

We know that Xie Lian is none of these things, he was not made for these plots. But if he is none of these things, then what could he be? Honestly, I find it very difficult for anyone to come to the conclusion that your protagonist is a "loser" who failed and has no ambition to rebuild his kingdom and become the new king. It's bold to make your protagonist a poor and extremely unlucky nomad, especially with the princely background that you gave him, we can see from the amount of stories out there about protagonists who lost their kingdoms and then have a path of reconquest that it's difficult not to be tempted to follow that path.

Of course, Xie Lian is a god, something greater than a prince or king, but he is a poor god, known as "the joke of the three kingdoms", he has no wealth and for 800 years he only had 1 believer that he didn't even know existed and he is also known as the "god of plague" and "immortal scrap collector", unconventional titles in the literary world lol

He must experience youthful ignorance, overestimation of his own abilities, have been laughable, been foolish, made mistakes, despaired, felt hatred, gone crazy. But he can’t run, and he can’t hide; everything is what it is. All this was killing me. Not just within the text, but outside the text too. My mediation was useless, and I’ve no energy anymore either, so in order not to be affected, I stopped looking at comments altogether. Since I always habitually vaccinate myself before a serialization begins, speculating on all the worst possible scenarios and preparing myself mentally, by the time serialization started I had already expected how all the negative comments would go down. But after much hesitation, I still thought, why not try all different kinds of characters? I haven’t tried writing a main character like this before.

— MXTX

[qiu-yan]

haterisms beneath the cut

this hater poll brought to you by....a series of Bad Mcfucking Takes i had to read with my own eyeballs. seriously did we read the same book or not.

explanations:

"jiang cheng killed wei wuxian": jiang cheng did not kill wei wuxian in any version of the story. in mdzs wei wuxian died from backlash and in cql wei wuxin chose to let go of lan wangji after jiang cheng stabbed the cliff face. you can argue till the cows come home about how responsible jiang cheng is for wei wuxian's demise, but "jiang cheng killed wei wuxian" is just factually incorrect.

"jiang cheng abuses jin ling": jiang cheng does not abuse jin ling. first, the narration goes out of its way to establish that jiang cheng does not hit jin ling, specifically in a setting where hitting children is normalized and expected. in fact, wei wuxian says that jin ling is bratty specifically because he's never been hit. second, jin ling is also clearly comfortable talking back to jiang cheng and needling him in a way jiang cheng definitely was not with his own parents. even when jiang cheng is actively losing it when he captures wei wuxian in qinghe, jin ling remains completely unruffled - which speaks to how much jin ling takes for granted that he is safe with jiang cheng.

"jiang cheng could have easily helped the wen remnants, he just didn't": antis love to act like yunmeng jiang could have easily taken in the wemnants and jiang cheng simply chose not to because he was a hater/super jelly/various synonyms for ontologically evil. which is not the fucking case. learn to read. yunmeng jiang's own position post sunshot was very weak - they were a great sect in name only and were excluded from the alliance tying the three other great sects together - and jiang cheng could not politically afford to protect wei wuxian after wei wuxian alienated lanling jin. that's why jiang cheng says "if you insist on doing this, i can't protect you," and why wei wuxian then tells jiang cheng to let him go. because they both understand this. come on

"jiang cheng forced jiang yanli to marry jin zixuan": jiang yanli as a character makes so many sacrifices for her family and her brothers. her relationship with zixuan is like the one thing she chooses for herself. she loves him!! the tragedy in wei wuxian killing jin zixuan is that yanli genuinely loved zixuan!! ngl i think antis argue this purely to try to exonerate wei wuxian: if jiang yanli didn't love jin zixuan then wei wuxian donutting him isn't a problem anymore, apparently. this is the result of people thinking of jiang yanli as purely a thing for wei wuxian, rather than a human being in her own right.

"jiang cheng should have protected wei wuxian from yu ziyuan": this one is annoying because jiang cheng was also a child. when a child is abused, it is the fault of the abuser, not the fault of another child who is also subject to the whims of the abuser. come on.

[emkini]

Realized I don't post art much here anymore. Have cowboys hualian in which Xie Lian can't find any work because farmers are instantly struck with the simultaneous fears that a) he's going to seduce their wives or b) he's going to seduce them and Hua Cheng is the local demon who no one has ever survived seeing and who definitely doesn't have every single sheriff in the country indebted to him

[mtkay13]

My version of the wardrobe template! yay!! I had a LOT of fun doing this and feel like I could elaborate a bit more on each of those.

It's already linked up here, but here's once again a > link to the post.< Anyway! More about these designs below!

So first, for WKX's template! - Chapter 2: Grey robes I had already made my design of those for the full TYK lineup I made a while back. I really, really like those, and took inspiration from some of the robes SHL!WKX wears in the show for the shapes. - Chapter 69: dark robes with dark red belt I expected to like that style for him, but not that much! I had seen a tutorial on how asymetrical hanfus were worn by archers in the past and that inspired me, purely on a fashion level of course. I like how intimidating he looks with those and enjoy the touches of blue in the inner layer of the robes. - Chapter 75: dark red robes The GVM robes! which I also designed a while back when researching for the illustrations of the Mt Fengya battle scenes that I wanted to make. I reworked them just a little bit and got rid of some details that I didn't like anymore. I tremendously pleated skirts for WKX so I went at it once again. I also used shifts in hues to make it look like it could have been drenched in blood. - Extra 5: deep red robes For the reminder (since apparently some people are not aware of extra 5's existance), this extra is set 5 years post-canon. I wanted WKX to wear something that looked comfortable for traveling but also practical and fashionable. The teal jacket is of course another nod at SHL since the red and teal combo was an absolute banger. Let's say I didn't want WKX to just sport an all-red look. Furthermore, the teal really works to adorn the red hues. - My personal favourite I actually don't really know whether those are my actual personal favourites, but I've come to LOVE WKX dressed in red and white thanks to @kwehxing's designs. I think it really suits him and on top of that it avoids the question "is this Hua Cheng" LMAO--okay jokes aside, I combined most of the shapes that I really like for WKX (wider shoulders, wide sleeves, and long robes with pleated inner robes) and I find him very elegant like this. Now, for ZZS! - Chapter 1: sapphire blue scholar robes Those had already been designed before as well! They're my go to generic TC!ZZS robes, haha. I was a bit extra with the blue colour here, but oh well. I'm quite obsessed with the silver brocade cynching his waist, haha. - Chapter 2: stolen farmer robes A classic as well as far as I'm concerned--of course, inspired by his hobo fit in SHL because it was quite efficient. I'm forever fond of my scruffy hobo!Xu and his toes poking from his sandals. - Chapter 18: luxurious robes from the Gao family Those were a new design! Which I had a lot of fun coming up with. Putting ZZS in a different colour scheme was also really nice. For those who don't remember, ZZS feels quite ridiculous when he sees himself in a mirror wearing those fancy robes while being so emaciated and still sporting his hobo mask. I wanted to give this "out of place" feeling; and also work on a very "wuxia" style for the robes, since this is jianghu and they were provided by Gao Chong. - Extra 5: black robes I'm incredibly fond of this design. I worked quite a bit on it, since I wasn't sure of where I wanted to go. My main guidelines were: practical and cool. I really like ZZS having a lot of room to move so ideally not too much fabric in the way, and I think he also needs arm braces to be rid of annoying sleeves. Of course, him looking much healthier and having a dynamic ponytail really works to "complete the look", and I find that he looks really cool there haha. - My personal favourite This one has been refined over the months, but it's definitely, overall, my favourite look for him in terms of shapes and construction. I like that the robes are short, I like the more fashionable jacket. I'm especially into the "pants tucked into the boots" silhouette, as well as the little ribbons keeping them tight around the ankles. I'd say that this leg shape + short robes + a bun (or sometimes a ponytail) is THE ZZS design combo for me, haha. It looks practical and fun and adventurous, just how I like it.

To conclude the whole post, I had more fun doing this than I even expected, and needless to say that I'm very excited to see other versions of them following this template. It was a good opportunity to try and project what the characters look like throughout the book, and a fun design exercise as well. I actually don't really like doing character design usually, but for characters I'm obsessed with, it's of course a much nicer experience. Anyway, thank you for reading!

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

"If so can I do a gn s/o who's very protective of them hcs n a scenario plsss"- requester

Protective

Hua Cheng x gn!reader x Xie Lian

So I don't if you want like a normal protective reader or like a crazy one sooo I went with the normal one, thank you for waiting so long and I hope you like it

Ignore grammar mistakes

Might be short

____________________________________

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng are very happy. Of course they are and they're even more happy when they gain a third lover in the relationship.

You!

Xie Lian is selfless and Hua Cheng is a devotee.

You are also very devoted to your lovers.

You and Hua Cheng are similar, both of you are protective.

Over each other and definitely over Xie Lian

Even though Xie Lian is perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

Xie Lian spends a lot of his time trying to calm you two down or telling you guys it isn't a big deal.

Hua Cheng is obedient. He listens and he'll settle down if that's what his gege wants

Not you though, nah if someone has a personal problem against Xie Lian or Hua Cheng they have a problem with you.

You usually have a good temper, and are very patient.

You're completely different when it comes to other people though.

Xie Lian is very kind and people try to take advantage of that, Hua Cheng is so focused on you two that he doesn't know when someone is clearly picking on him. That's alright you'll take care of it.

Loose temper and quick to fight

You definitely get in a lot of fights in the heavens more than anywhere else

It's not like there's any consequences!

Except Xie lian makes some 😔

Had to get you on a leash before the heavens got upset.

You just throw hands with anyone

Soooo now you can't anymore. Now you just resort to arguing with people and hurting them with your silver tongue

You love them very much and it's not your fault you want to protect them

At the end of the day they love you very much and they know someone will always be there to protect them.

🦊🪷

It was supposed to be a good day, strolling around ghost city. Nothing bad can happen there since Hua Cheng literally owns it. So the three of you are very comfortable in taking strolls. In ghost city it's also rare for you to get into a fight so Xie Lian and Hua Cheng prefer to hang out here.

So a pretty normal, good day. Or not! The three of you were strolling and the city is crowded with people and stalls so sometimes you bump into other people by accident. Only sometimes though! Someone passed by and purposefully shoved against Hua Cheng, and even sent your lover a nasty look! but he's more focused on Xie Lian. The person has walked between them both so he isn't even concerned about himself.

It's not hard to tell it's a heavenly official who took the opportunity they could to try and pick on an all powerful calamity. They aren't getting by you though. No way! "Hey you! Yeah you! the official in the mask which is doing an awful job at hiding your nasty face, come here!"

The official has never meant to get caught, it's not good to be revealed in the middle of ghost city but you grab him by the hair and drag him back over to the three of you. "Say you're sorry. How dare you try to pick on Crimson Rain"

Honestly it wasn't that big of a deal but heavenly officials are always looking down on your lovers it isn't fair! The man quickly mutters out pleas and apologies so you let him go

When you turn back to your lovers, Xie Liam has his hands on his hips though and you flush, looking at the floor. You hadn't meant to lose your temper so fast. "Sorry" you rub the back of your neck but your embarrassment is quickly shaken away when you look at Hua Cheng.

Hua Cheng is blushing, his eye wide and blinking at you. Hua Cheng is only enabling you really, how dare he look so cute. He can't help it though. No one has ever chosen to protect him and especially over such little things. It feels nice. He's too cute so you grab him by the face and give him a kiss.

Xie Lian shakes his head and sighs. All of you go back to paradise manor and you're definitely getting in trouble.

____________________________________

It was hella short but 🙏 I hope it's good anyway.

[eatmyass-x]

Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying do not speak.

It’s been years since either of them has even tried to reach out to the other and Jiang Cheng has absolutely no intention of changing that. Or at least he had no intention until tonight, in this seedy club, where he’s just seen Wei Ying’s—

Where he’s just seen Lan Zhan, second heir of Lan Enterprise and the man Wei Ying walked away from the Jiangs for, cosying up with someone that is decidedly not Wei Ying.

Jiang Cheng sees red.

He hadn’t even wanted to come here, to this less than reputable part of the city in this less than reputable club. But his mother has been insistent that a good businessman needs to do more than just spend time in the office. ‘Networking’ she’d called it, but he can think of several far less flattering words for it right now as he sits at this suspiciously sticky table with the Jin cousins and their Wen… business partners.

His only solace is that Jin Zixuan looks just as reluctant to be here as Jiang Cheng himself feels, but he shows it much more openly. Jiang Cheng’s perpetual Resting Bitch Face™️, as Wei Ying liked to call it when they were younger, is a good cover for when he actually is feeling pissed off or uncomfortable or any other emotion really. Jin Zixuan however looks positively queasy. He wonders if it’s the thick plumes of cigar smoke, the writhing bodies on the floor below them, or the scantily clad boys in Wen Chao’s lap that have his brother-in-law looking so nauseous.

Jiang Cheng quickly looks away when one of the boys starts giving Wen Chao a lap dance, sees Jin Zixun grinning at the scene like it’s him getting the lap dance and looks away even quicker. That leaves him with no choice but to look at Zhao Zhuliu, who is already looking at him.

Zhao Zhuliu is a stoic looking man, probably handsome in his younger days but Jiang Cheng refuses to think about that. Because the first, and only, thing the man has said so far is to look Jiang Cheng up and down when he first arrived and tell him just how much he looks like his mother. By this point in his life Jiang Cheng’s had this said to him enough times that he doesn’t let it get to him anymore. But Zhao Zhuliu has not looked away from him since. Jiang Cheng isn’t sure he’s seen him blink once. He feels like he’s being undressed by the man’s eyes, and the setting certainly doesn’t help.

And his mother, a woman notorious for her scathing tongue and inability to praise anyone, had spoken suspiciously highly of Zhao Zhuliu. That, combined with Zhao Zhuliu’s penetrative glance… Well, Jiang Cheng refuses to even think about what any of it might mean.

Which leaves him with his gaze wandering around the smoky club. They are on the upper floor in the VIP section, with a view down at the dance floor where all manners of debauchery are occurring. But the lights are dim so he can pretend it’s all just shapes and colours rather than people grinding on one another.

That is until he spots a familiar face.

At first he thinks he must be mistaken. What business does a Lan heir have in a club like this? They don’t need to make seedy connections with seedy people like Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan do. The Lans are as strait laced and law abiding as they come.

But then the strobe light travels across the dance floor again, lighting his whole face up and yes, that is definitely Lan Zhan. He’s a whole head taller than literally anyone else in the entire club so it’s impossible to miss him now that Jiang Cheng’s caught sight of him. It’s disconcerting enough to see him here but when Jiang Cheng looks closer his heart starts racing in his chest.

Lan Zhan is not alone. He is over by the bar with someone clinging to him like a limpet. A woman. Jiang Cheng rubs his eyes just to be sure he’s not seeing things but no, when the darkness recedes from his eyes, the pair are still at the bar, bodies so close they look like they’ve been surgically attached to one another.

The woman is wearing a scandalously short skirt and an even tinier crop top and Lan Zhan has one hand underneath either item of clothing. Jiang Cheng feels sick. Lan Zhan is supposed to be Wei Ying’s— whatever he is. Sure, they haven’t spoken to each other in years and didn’t always see eye to eye even when they were on speaking terms, but he cannot just sit by and watch as Wei Ying gets cheated on. He has to do something. He knows without a doubt that Wei Ying would do the same for him.

He makes something up about needing some fresh air to excuse himself. Wen Chao’s grin is lecherous, as if Jiang Cheng is leaving the table for some nefarious purpose. For a split second Jiang Cheng imagines himself with a lapful of dancers and his blood pressure rockets so high he has to grab the railings on the stairs with both hands to stop himself from keeling over.

He loses a precious few minutes righting himself, and by the time he gets to the dance floor he’s lost sight of Lan Zhan. There are far too many strange characters in this club tonight. He gets swept up in a crowd of leather, glitter, and way too much makeup. He tries to push his way through to the bar but ends up sandwiched between a shirtless guy with more tattoos than skin, and an extremely pretty, extremely pierced young woman. They seem to be in cahoots of some kind, surrounding Jiang Cheng and dancing on him together.

Jiang Cheng is frozen from the shock of it all. Or he thinks he’s frozen, but when he looks down his body is swaying to the beat of the music, gently guided by the tattooed arms around his waist. He is shocked, appalled even, but there’s a pesky little voice in his head — one that sound suspiciously like Wei Ying — telling him to ‘Just let it happen, Jiang Cheng. Loosen up!’

That last bit is also whispered into his ear by the girl with the piercings. Or maybe it’s the guy whispering in his ear from behind, he can’t tell anymore. He feels almost drunk, even though he’d only taken two small sips of whiskey the whole night. Maybe he’ll listen to the pesky not-Wei Ying voice in his head and let himself get lost amongst these sweaty bodies tonight. What’s the worst that could happen?

It’s at that exact moment that he sees Lan Zhan again, now with his back to the wall beside the bar. His tongue is down that same woman’s throat, their hands in all kinds of untoward places. Jiang Cheng can’t believe he’d almost let himself forget his reason for being down here in the first place.

He extricates himself from between the still dancing couple and tries not to think too hard about the joint looks of disappointment they give him. They make a very attractive pair, even if they do look like they’ve walked straight out of one of his mother’s worst nightmares. He shrugs off the last of their touches and pushes his way through the crowd towards the direction he’d spotted Lan Zhan.

When he reaches the bar the woman is nowhere to be found, probably already off to get her hands on the next handsome stranger she can find. But Lan Zhan is still there, leant against the wall with his eyes closed, breathing heavily. He looks like his whole world has just been thoroughly rocked and Jiang Cheng feels sick for many, many reasons.

“You piece of shit!” Jiang Cheng shouts.

Lan Zhan’s eyes open. “Jiang Cheng.” He looks at Jiang Cheng like he’s just seen something distasteful.

Jiang Cheng crosses the remaining distance between them. “How dare you cheat on Wei Ying!”

Lan Zhan blinks. “What?”

Jiang Cheng feels absolutely furious. “So you’re gonna lie to my face?” He grabs the man by his collar and shakes him hard. “I saw you with my own eyes!”

Lan Zhan grips Jiang Cheng’s arms and pushes him away from himself. “Have you perhaps… taken some kind of substance?”

“You bastard!” He shoves Lan Zhan hard into the wall. “Wei Ying left us all, he left everything for you! And this is how you repay him? You cheat on him with some, some fucking whore in broad daylight?” He realises just a second too late that there is no daylight, but he can’t back down now. “You don’t deserve him, you piece of—!”

“You think,” Lan Zhan frowns like he cannot believe what he’s hearing, “that I am cheating on Wei Ying? The love of my life?”

As he speaks his face is still covered in that fucking floozy’s bright red lipstick. Jiang Cheng feels murderous. “Do you think I’m fucking stupid?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Cheng punches him square in the face.

Someone nearby screams. He hardly gets a moment to bask in satisfaction before Lan Zhan straightens up and punches him right back. His fist hits Jiang Cheng directly in the nose and the pain that shoots through him is positively eye-watering. Jiang Cheng can barely see through it but he jumps at Lan Zhan with a growl, even as he feels the blood from his nose begin to spill into his mouth.

He gets both his hands around Lan Zhan’s throat. The screams and yells around them are getting louder, but he has no intention of letting go until he sees the light dim from behind those creepy, golden eyes. But a straight punch in his stomach from Lan Zhan has him doubling over in pain, leaving him with no choice but to loosen his grip and clutch painfully at his own abdomen.

He stumbles for a moment and then tries to go straight back for Lan Zhan’s throat, only to be stopped by someone getting in between them. Jiang Cheng realises that it’s the woman who Lan Zhan had been swapping spit with not long ago.

He grabs her by the shoulders and shoves her away. “Move, you fucking—!”

“Jiang Cheng!”

Jiang Cheng stops. Stops and really looks.

It’s Wei Ying.

“What the fuck?!”

It’s at that very moment that the club security decides to intervene. Jiang Cheng gets grabbed by two bouncers about twice his height and dragged out of the club like he’s a child throwing a tantrum. They toss him onto the cold pavement outside, no care for his clearly very expensive clothing. He skids along the rough concrete, ass cheeks burning at the impact until he comes to a stop. His trousers are bound to be ruined beyond repair.

Lan Zhan on the other hand still looks as dignified as ever as he’s escorted out of the club. Jiang Cheng wants to kick him in the shins and trip him up, but he only just manages to hold himself back. Wei Ying is cackling at the top of his lungs, kicking his legs in the air as one of the bouncers carries him out of the club over the shoulder and deposits him outside with the rest of them. The door is slammed shut on their faces.

Wei Ying is still laughing as he straightens up, teetering on his ridiculous platform heels and adjusting his appallingly short skirt. He walks over to Lan Zhan and kisses him on the cheek. “Are you alright, love?” He gently strokes the corner of Lan Zhan’s mouth where Jiang Cheng notices with some pride that a bruise is already blooming.

A long moment passes where it seems like the two of them have an entire prolonged conversation without any words, just looking into one another's eyes. Then Lan Zhan nods and says, “I will bring the car. Wait for me here?”

Wei Ying kisses him right on the bruise and says a soft, “Thank you.”

Lan Zhan walks away, but not without squeezing Wei Ying’s hand and shooting Jiang Cheng a look that can only be described as threatening. Jiang Cheng sneers back at him.

Wei Ying comes over and sits beside Jiang Cheng on the curb. It takes him a ridiculous amount of time to get settled with his constricting skirt and dangerously tall boots. Jiang Cheng doesn’t offer to help him once. Wei Ying has to sit with his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle. He looks like one of Jiang Yanli’s barbie dolls.

They sit there in silence for a while. Muffled music from the club leaks out onto the street. The neon sign above the entrance of the club paints them both in a strange purple light. Jiang Cheng pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket but doesn’t take one out. He spins it in his hand several times before finally opening the pack and offering it out to Wei Ying.

Wei Ying looks down at it surprised. “Oh! Thanks, but I—” He reaches out for one but his hand falters. “—I’ve actually quit. Lan Zhan doesn’t—”

Jiang Cheng scoffs. “Of course.” He pulls one out for himself and then snaps the box shut.

“He cares about me, Jiang Cheng. Doesn’t want me dying an early death.” He laughs lightly at that for some reason. “You should try to quit too. You know it’s not good for you.”

Jiang Cheng lights up the cigarette and takes a long, deep drag. He doesn’t tell Wei Ying that he has actually been trying to quit recently and this is his first smoke in a while. It’d feel a little bit like admitting defeat in the face of Wei Ying and Lan Zhan’s whole… deal.

He gestures at Wei Ying’s body with his lit cigarette. “You a fucking girl now?” It comes out much harsher than he intends it to, taking on a completely different meaning. He winces internally but can’t take it back now.

“Hmm?” Wei Ying looks down at himself, like he’s forgotten the very glaring details of how he’s dressed. “Oh. No, it’s not—” He laughs, thankfully taking it lightly. “It’s not like that. It’s just… me, you know?”

Jiang Cheng decidedly does not know, but for once he decides not to argue. The less he knows the better. There is silence again while Jiang Cheng breathes in smoke. The cigarette is slightly stale but he’s committed to the bit now, he has to see it through till the end.

He feels Wei Ying nudge his side. “So you do care about me, huh?”

“What?”

“Swooping in to defend my honour like that,” Wei Ying grins. “You must care about me, just a little bit.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t get what the joke is in all of that. “Are you stupid?”

“Well, yeah.” Wei Ying’s grin flickers as he looks down at the pavement. “Just a little bit…”

For fuck sake, Jiang Cheng is definitely not going about this the right way. He flicks ash off the end of his cigarette and watches it get blown away by the wind. “Wouldn’t have had to ‘defend your honour’ if you weren’t being shameless in seedy club corners.”

“It’s not seedy, Jiang Cheng. It’s just gay, that’s all. Nothing seedy about it,” Wei Ying tells him. “What were you doing in there?”

Jiang Cheng frowns, first at Wei Ying and then up at the entrance of the club. He hadn't even realised it was a gay club. “Had to meet with Wen Chao for business. Mom’s orders.”

“Ah, that explains it,” Wei Ying grimaces like he knows a little something of Wen Chao’s preferences. Jiang Cheng tries not to think about Wei Ying being cornered by the Wen and Zhao pair in a dark club like this. “Be careful, he likes pretty boys.”

“I can look after myself,” Jiang Cheng bristles, but he doesn’t bother fighting the pretty boy allegations. He sees more and more of his mother in the mirror every day. It’s disconcerting to say the least.

“Well clearly.” Wei Ying points at Jiang Cheng’s still bloody nose with a laugh. It hasn’t been kissed better like Lan Zhan’s cheek, Jiang Cheng thinks bitterly. Wei Ying’s laughter gets louder. “I can’t believe you thought Lan Zhan was cheating on me! With a woman!”

Jiang Cheng scowls. “Fucking hell, don’t get too cocky.”

“No, no, I just mean Lan Zhan is gay. Like, very, extremely gay.” He throws his head back with a cackle. “A woman!”

Mistaking Wei Ying for a woman wasn’t as embarrassing as this mistake feels for some reason. He’s grateful for the purple lights hiding the redness of his face. “Sexuality is fluid, isn’t it?”

Wei Ying stops laughing abruptly and whips around to face him. “Who the fuck have you been hanging around with?”

Jiang Cheng chews at his lip, staring hard at the cars parked on the opposite side of the road. “…Nie Huaisang.”

“I see.” And Jiang Cheng does not like the tone of his voice. Wei Ying is looking at him like he’s seeing Jiang Cheng in a whole new light. It makes him feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. After a long moment, Wei Ying says, “It’s not just that though.”

“What?” Jiang Cheng hears the alarm in his own voice.

“Lan Zhan. He…” Wei Ying picks at the edge of his skirt. Jiang Cheng breathes a sigh of relief at the change of topic, and then immediately takes it back when he sees the movement of Wei Ying’s hands. He really hopes Wei Ying doesn’t accidentally move his skirt any further up. It already sits horrifyingly far up on his thigh as it is. “He wouldn’t do that. He really loves me, A-Cheng. Heaven knows why, I certainly don’t deserve it but—”

“Shut the fuck up.” Wei Ying looks at him in alarm. Jiang Cheng is quick to continue, “He doesn’t deserve you.”

“Oh.” Wei Ying blinks in the same owlish way Lan Zhan had blinked at Jiang Cheng’s accusation in the club. It just pisses Jiang Cheng off even more. “I know you’ve never liked him much, but—” Jiang Cheng scoffs at that but Wei Ying pays it no heed. “He’s so good, A-Cheng. There aren’t enough words in any language to tell you just how good he is.” He smiles down at his hands, fiddling with his empty ring finger. “He’s the best thing to ever happen to me since being taken in by Uncle Jiang.”

That makes Jiang Cheng stop short. He hadn’t expected Wei Ying to say anything of the sort. Still he can’t help but intone bitterly, “And look how that turned out.”

Wei Ying drags in a deep shuddering breath and maybe Jiang Cheng feels bad, maybe he doesn’t. It doesn’t matter either way.

“Argh!” He feels a sudden, blistering pain in his hand, where his cigarette has burnt down right to the stub and is burning into his fingers. He quickly flings it onto the ground and shakes his still burning hand, trying to ease the pain. “Fuck!”

“You know I didn’t leave the family for him,” Wei Ying says, sparing only a cursory glance at Jiang Cheng’s fingers. “If anything, I tried to leave Lan Zhan for you all. Several times.” He chews on his bottom lip, eyes downcast. “But it still wasn’t enough for Madam Yu.”

Jiang Cheng stops fussing over his fingers and tucks his hand away. He recalls that terrible night when Wei Ying walked out of their house for good after everyone found out about his relationship with Lan Zhan. He’d disgraced the Jiangs and chosen the stupid Lan boy over them. That’s what Jiang Cheng’s mother always said.

He didn’t know Wei Ying had tried to leave Lan Zhan for them. He gets the feeling there are a lot of things he doesn’t know. He’d gone to therapy for the first time at his sister’s suggestion a few months back. The therapist had looked at him with far too knowing eyes and asked, “And what impact do you think your relationship with your mother has had on other important relationships in your life?”

His mind had immediately supplied the image of Wei Ying, head tossed back in laughter, ponytail swaying with the movement. Like the Ghost of Christmas Past, come back to haunt him. Jiang Cheng doesn’t even celebrate Christmas.

He’d given some blatant non-answer in reply to the therapist’s question, tried not to pay too much attention to the responding scribble of her pen on her stupid little notepad, and then never gone back to see her, or any other therapist, ever again.

Jiang Cheng gets the feeling that there are a lot of things he doesn’t know, that he is yet to find out. He sees the therapist in his mind’s eye now, looking at him with those stupid, knowing eyes. He never quite got around to deleting the number to her office off his phone. Jiang Yanli would certainly be happy if Jiang Cheng just so happened to hit the call button.

“What does A-jie think of him?” he asks. He’s not meant to know that Wei Ying and her keep in touch, but he’s known for a while now. Jiang Yanli is a terrible liar.

Wei Ying looks like a deer caught in the headlights. “Who, Lan Zhan?” Jiang Cheng nods but Wei Ying still hesitates. And then very quietly he admits, “Jiejie loves him.”

Jiang Cheng sits with that for a moment, letting it sink in. He’s not sure if he’s surprised or not and the flickering streetlights certainly don’t provide an answer. Eventually he gives Wei Ying a noncommittal hum.

Wei Ying continues, “They get on really well too. It’s strange but they’re actually quite similar.” He gets a disbelieving look from Jiang Cheng at that. “I’m serious,” Wei Ying says. “Quiet, selfless, full of love.” He sighs. “Great at cooking, and—”

“Terrible taste in men,” Jiang Cheng adds to the list.

Wei Ying stops and grins at him widely. “Oh, the absolute worst taste in men.”

“Horrific taste in men, if you ask me.” Jiang Cheng grins back just as wide.

And maybe.

Maybe things will be alright after all.

[chuusins]

hi!! from that request by poly!hualians. please forgive me if I spoiled the plot for you!!😭😭😭 besides, I understand you! you can just write about a f!reader with prosthetic hands and poly!hualiens that make the reader comfortable!!

by the way, I'm really glad that you started getting more requests!!

hihi it's ok!! i've already spoiled a lot of it for myself i just wasn't sure about the baiwuxiang fight since i haven't read it yet and wasn't sure about it <3

..im also sorry this took forever for me to answer, i was busy with school n some other things and i completely forgot about my requests and when i remember i just said "i'll do it tomorrow, im tired right now" or "im not sure what to write for that" 😭 so i might take a bit longer to answer my other requests.

( I have to be honest I don't know a whole bunch about prosthetics so I had to look up a few things, and if I got anything wrong please let me know so I can keep it in mind for the next time I might get a request like this. )

warnings ; none rlly just fluff hopefully + poly (and reader is female but no pronouns or gender mentioned.)

- I personally believe Hua Cheng has seen a lot of prosthetic limbs before, since in the Gamblers Den people tend to offer up their limbs and they may get prosthetics to replace them? (sometimes???)

- Xie Lian I think would be a bit different. He has been involved in a few wars during his 800 years (that I know of..), but I don't think he would've seen that many prosthetics.

- You were a bit uncomfortable with your prosthetic hands, since to you it felt "weird" to not have normal hands (anymore, or maybe you were unfortunately born with out hands? i'll let you decide).

- Xie Lian likes to play around with your prosthetic hands whenever he's bored, because they kind of interest him a bit because I imagine he's never been able to touch or mess around with a prosthetic before.

- Hua Cheng doesn't really mess around with your prosthetics unlike Xie Lian, but I think he would offer to add some changes to your prosthetics or make them better (he would also clean them and make sure they're in good condition for you).

- They both definitely try to make you feel better about having prosthetics- they'll comfort you about it and may make a little joke or two if it helps you feel better.

- Both of them are just amazing to have by your side <3

just a little smth is i've been getting into honkai star rail and the ladies are just gorgeous and i might write for a few of them since the hsr is just filled with dan heng (nothing against him he just traumatized me with the beginning ☹️ why was he so close)

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

I can definitely understand why some people don’t like to call the new season 5 lovesquare dynamic a “reversal”. However, I don’t think that the other popular term “lovesquare completion” is much better. In fact, I’d like to challenge the term.

In saying that Ladybug realizing her feelings for Chat Noir and Adrien realizing his feelings Marinette is a completion of the square, negates so much of the lovesquare dynamics we’ve been privy to thus far.

People dislike the term “lovesquare reversal” because it ignores the love that Marinette very clearly still has for Adrien and that Chat Noir still has for Ladybug. I think that it’s completely fair to not want to use that term. After all, it is not nearly expansive enough to explain the new dynamic of the lovesquare.

But the alternative term, “completing the square” is just as restrictive. Completing the square implies that prior to this season, the square wasn’t complete. It implies that Adrien hasn’t subconsciously harbored feelings for Marinette, it implies that Ladybug hasn’t been secretly in love with Chat Noir. The show for the past 4 seasons has made it quite clear that is not the case. Ladybug and Adrien are very clearly in love with both identities, regardless of whether or not they’d admit it to themselves.

The Lovesquare has been complete from day 1. From the moment Adrien and Marinette became friends in the rain, from the day Ladybug and Chat Noir became partners, the lovesquare has been complete. The only factor that season 5 has introduced is that now Ladybug has accepted that she loves Chat Noir, now Adrien has recognized that he loves Marinette. Of course, this change in consciousness is not a reversal since the love they harbor for Adrien and Ladybug hasn’t gone away, they are just choosing to focus of their newly uncovered love. 

In summation, this lovely mess of a shipping situation doesn’t really fit the criteria of either terminology and I propose that someone (probably not me) finds a term that can accurately identify what this post season 5 relationship between all identities is.

[muninnhuginn]

In Defence of Qiao Ling

I've been musing on several threads relating to Qiao Ling in the last few weeks and have seen a few posts going around that have pushed me to actually try and put all my Qiao Ling thoughts into words and in one place.

Despite the title, I don't fully agree with the show's handling of Qiao Ling, but I do think she has been provided with a clear ongoing arc and so that's what I'm going to be focusing on here.

This got quite long so most of it is under the cut, but shout-out to @lizzieonka and @oceaniche for their previous posts on Qiao Ling, which definitely ended up inspiring some parts of this.

So, let's start with: what do we actually know about Qiao Ling?

Qiao Ling's Background

She's first introduced as the "landlady", for all it quickly becomes apparent that her relationship with Cheng Xiaoshi isn't quite that simple. Her family "took Cheng Xiaoshi in" but there's always been some distance and that's reinforced by the whole "rent" deal. (The fact that Cheng Xiaoshi is still adamant his parents will return likely also factors in to this.) Still, Qiao Ling herself clearly sees Cheng Xiaoshi as her younger brother and is willing to stake her claim on him as family to near-strangers (we've seen it both when she met Lu Guang and Li Tianxi).

Qiao Ling's social life is clearly contrasted with that of Cheng Xiaoshi. Where Cheng Xiaoshi's first "proper" friend was Lu Guang, Qiao Ling has her own circle of friends and is fairly sociable in general (she literally found a client by befriending a stranger when she came to learn martial arts). Xu Shanshan, for instance, is very much Qiao Ling's friend despite hanging out with the collective group at uni. Qiao Ling also spoke of Cheng Xiaoshi's childhood as something that happened to him specifically, implying that she herself was spared the bullying (which makes sense considering the fact that she wasn't the one with missing parents) and so had a more "normal" upbringing. Whether she spoke up back then or stayed quiet isn't fully clarified (not speaking up against adults is one thing but what about classmates?), but Cheng Xiaoshi doesn't seem to hold it against her either way.

Nowadays, Qiao Ling's role in managing the photo shop's side-business has her interacting directly with most clients. She's the most customer-facing of the three, relaying information between clients and shiguang. This is despite her not actually knowing the full details behind shiguang's diving process until season two, which in retrospect makes it more impressive. Qiao Ling taking on the managerial role (and what is also implied to be social media advertising) also has the (unintended?) effect of obscuring shiguang's roles in the business from the public, as it's Qiao Ling who earns the nickname of "witch". It took until Xiao Li saw Cheng Xiaoshi in the CCTV footage during the Doudou case for anyone to see through this.

Key Character Moments

In terms of Qiao Ling's key moments, we have four main ones.

In Doudou arc, Qiao Ling admits she saw Doudou being taken three years ago;

In season two, at the hospital, Qiao Ling asks for some trust and to not be shut out anymore;

Qiao Ling bonding with Li Tianxi and using their shared aspects to bring her out of her shell so she would help the investigation;

The revelation that Qiao Ling did, in fact, receive some form of Lu Guang's memories from Tianxi and her dismissal of their implications.

The main thread behind all of these scenes is that they are about information and what you choose to do with it.

My thoughts are two-fold here. First, how these scenes connect with Qiao Ling's arc specifically, and secondly, how they connect with the broader themes of the series.

Qiao Ling's Arc

Doudou

Let's begin with Doudou arc. In this arc, Qiao Ling reveals that she saw the kidnapping of a child several years ago. She hadn't told anyone about this for three years and likely would have continued to have kept it to herself if not for Doudou's father approaching the photo studio. In this arc, there is the following exchange:

Qiao Ling's main regret is that she didn't do something or say something as she saw Doudou being taken away. That her inaction may have ensured that Doudou's kidnapper was able to get away with him. And she specifically says "I didn't even have the courage to step forward and provide any information." (Tangent: Funnily enough, Lu Guang is the "star of courage" in the Star Warriors later in the episode, not Qiao Ling. Qiao Ling is "star of wisdom" who is meant to "light the way". Still fitting, but in a less straightforward way.)

Now, to me, this is clearly setting up an arc, not resolving one. Qiao Ling wouldn't have offered the information if not for the circumstances. And it tells us that for all Qiao Ling has friends and is sociable, she still holds certain cards close to her chest. She doesn't want to confront the past so instead she will hold her guilt tight and not say a word. Though, as this exchange shows, she does want to have that courage. And I'll get onto this later, but this ties in very clearly with the information she later holds regarding Lu Guang.

Hospital confrontation

Throughout this entire scene, even before it becomes a "confrontation" Qiao Ling is clearly feeling guilty. She runs after Cheng Xiaoshi when he tries to leave to help the police so that she can *do something*, make up for it the best she can. Guilt and avoidance are key traits for her and they both manifest here. They're still holding her back.

And, of course, there's her statement to Cheng Xiaoshi: "You're always trying to protect me. I really appreciate it. But what I need more is your trust." Qiao Ling knows what it's like to be locked out of the loop. She didn't know the specifics of diving for months (possibly years?) and it didn't really seem to bother her (or at least she didn't give the impression it bothered her when "Xu Shanshan" asked her about it). But she has her limits. And being locked out when the situation is actively dangerous? That's clearly past those limits.

Li Tianxi

Grouping together the final two scenes, because the first Li Tianxi scene is more a demonstration of character traits as well as digging in those sibling parallels between LTC-LTX and CXS-QL. Anyway, the first scene adds more evidence to the idea that Qiao Ling is more sociable and a people person. That she could could get Li Tianxi to open up by taking a more understanding approach and showing that she gets it to some extent. She's in the same boat.

Which means when we get to the final scene, this is what ties it all together. Qiao Ling has inherited the memories Li Tianxi saw from Lu Guang. She has seen Cheng Xiaoshi's "death". She has information now. But her first instinct is to dismiss it. To avoid it and refuse to confront it because the implications are too much.

But, see, she's been in this situation before with Doudou. She's had information and done nothing with it and regretted. She wanted to have the courage to do better. This is her goal.

And the implications of these memories? Do they mean Cheng Xiaoshi is in danger? Wasn't danger her red line in the sand? Didn't she tell him that "protecting" people and "trusting" them aren't mutually exclusive?

And finally, Lu Guang isn't Li Tianxi, but isn't the scenario here at least somewhat similar? Isn't Qiao Ling in the same boat as him here, wanting to keep Cheng Xiaoshi safe? Hasn't Qiao Ling shown she can connect with people through their shared experiences?

Qiao Ling isn't a confrontational character. She's avoidant. She will wallow in her guilt and not let on until it gets too much. But she wants to do better and isn't this her chance to do something? Say something? To not just be a passive observer and be left with regrets? I don't think it will be immediate by any means, but I think for her arc to conclude properly, she will have to conclude for herself that she needs to be open with the information she has and share it. If she's pushed into it, then it's just Doudou again. But if she chooses to share the information, then that's the pay-off set up back in season one.

Broader Themes in the Show

Broader themes regarding information and withholding of it. We see time and again in this series, that characters withhold information from others.

Liu Xiao and Lu Guang with Li Tianchen and Cheng Xiaoshi respectively, both holding more information than their "partner". Refusing to share it so that they can control them. Their reasons may differ, but the dynamics mirror each other in that respect. Unhealthy dynamic number one.

Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi, never addressing what Li Tianchen is doing with their powers. It allows Li Tianchen to pretend to himself that he is protecting Li Tianxi and carrying out justice. Li Tianxi is heavily implied in her telling of their backstory to know more than she lets on with regards to Li Tianchen's actions. But the refusal of both siblings to broach the topic eventually leads to Li Tianchen going where Li Tianxi cannot follow in his pursuit of vengeance and puts Li Tianxi in the very danger Li Tianchen wanted to avoid. Unhealthy dynamic number two. (There are more than this but I'm just sticking to these to keep this from getting any longer)

To go back to the hospital confrontation, when Qiao Ling says: "You're always trying to protect me. I really appreciate it. But what I need more is your trust." When she says this? It's a direct hit against the idea that protection should involve keeping people out. And in this case, Cheng Xiaoshi does start to let her in. They do manage to have healthy communication here now that Qiao Ling has been let in on the dives and is allowed to do something to help. She doesn't want to be passive.

She knows what it's like to be locked out, to be "protected" without having her own agency respected. But now, as of end of season two, she's on the other side. She has the information and Cheng Xiaoshi is locked out.

When Qiao Ling was assigned as the "Star of Wisdom, to light the way" in the Doudou arc, that's because it's her role in the show overall. Lu Guang certainly isn't going to push forward with healthy communication; he's too committed to his path for that. Cheng Xiaoshi meanwhile doesn't have the information needed to even start a confrontation. Qiao Ling is the only one in the position to lead the way with her knowledge. To provide the route to healthy communication once more.

She is the catalyst.

[nuvolisa]

Land where I land

It’s unusual for Jim to call him at the Police Station for anything. Even during the worst of cases, the officer has always tried to not get him involved or to come to him once everything was settled.

So, when he calls late at night, Bruce knows that something isn’t right. No villain attacks, no escapee from Arkham, no robberies, and no bomb threats: does Jason need to get bailed out of jail again?

Jim Gordon’s voice is somewhat sarcastic as he speaks over his desk’s phone. “You’ll find out when you see it.”

Bruce is not looking forward to it.

It’s late, too late for any sane and law-abiding citizen to be out at such an hour. What could’ve possibly happened to cause such a mess that he needed to get involved? Couldn’t Jim just have used the Batsignal if things were that bad?

Instead, when he enters the building, the old commissioner is snickering. Bruce is definitely not good with emotions, but he thinks he’s making fun of him. He doesn’t find it funny.

“What's going on?”

Bruce Wayne is confused, confused as to why the officer is so cheerful, confused about why he would call him here in the first place. Did he find his job that amusing?

“We’ve found this girl… well, let’s just say that she basically landed right on the back of an officer, and seemed to be confused, likely she’s an immigrant.”

Bruce was stunned.

“You called me here… for a kid who’s lost?”

James Gordon places a hand on top of his shoulder. “Do you know any French?”

This was going to be a long night.

There is a woman in the interrogation room, talking to what looks like a girl not older than fifteen, at least from her height. From behind the glass, he can’t see very well.

“Sophie, come out for now,” says Jim on the interphone, and the CPS worker obliges, waving tenderly at the girl she’s been interrogating.

Sophie Dallway comes to the other side of the interrogation room and fixes her skirt. Bruce notices that she must’ve dressed up in a hurry, but he understands: it’s quite late in the night.

“Did she tell us something?” asks Jim with a small amused smile under his mustache. Bruce’s on the verge of exploding.

“Not much, to be honest. She keeps telling the same story, she has no idea how she got here and what happened. She insists on letting her go, that she’ll find a way.”

“We can’t do that,”

“I told her that, she just started shaking.”

Jim looks down. “Good,” he says, sarcastically. Then he turns around to face Bruce, “Your turn now.”

“What?”

“Go in there and talk to her, Wayne.”

“But why?”

Jim shoves him out of the room with a half-hearted pat on the back. “You’ll guess soon enough.”

The interrogation room is surprisingly dark. The small yellow lamp hasn’t been changed since probably the 1960s and the empty metal chair doesn’t help to give a welcoming environment to a child. He can barely make out her silhouette, but he trusts Jim, he has to.

He opens up the folder on the metal, icy-cold table, and starts reading. “So, your name is…”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” she completes the sentence for him, hesitantly.

Bruce is already lost, he doesn’t know what to say anymore. “You’re from Paris, is that correct?”

"Yes," she replies softly, "but I don't know how I ended up here in... Gotham, is it?" Her voice is tinged with confusion and a hint of fear, well hidden behind her thick, native French accent. He doesn’t fail to notice the urgency in her hand movements.

He scans the document one more time. Everything she has said to the CPS worker seems rather unfamiliar, he can’t for the life of him understand why he’s been involved in this case. He closes the folder and looks up sternly.

At that moment, it finally clicks. The teen is here, sitting in front of him, and she has two dark black pigtails that look almost blue under the light. Her eyes are two perfect sapphires with the tint of a calm sea. Her lips are in the shape of his mother’s, small and heart-shaped, and don’t hide the small pointy canines that Damian has. Despite the dark and gloomy atmosphere, the girl brightens the room, even with the terror easily readable in her pupils.

Bruce feels like fainting.

Marinette is rambling about needing to go back to Paris, but her words don’t fully reach his ears, it’s all rumbling background noise. The only thing he can hear is his racing heart, threatening to dig a hole and come out of his chest.

“Who are your parents?” he asks, with a stoic face, interrupting her quite abruptly. Bruce immediately notices his faux pas: he can’t let this overwhelm him, he can’t afford to be emotional anymore.

“Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng,” she answers, her eyes low on the ground. “They’re bakers…” she whispers. Bruce manages to catch it. The names are unknown to him.

“Do you have a number we can call?” he asks, but she shakes her head.

“No, I have their numbers saved on my phone, which is… back in Paris.”

This feels like a joke. He wants to turn around and ask Jim if it was Clark’s idea, but he realizes that whatever this ordeal is about, this poor girl, who looks so much like a carbon copy of himself, is disoriented and scared.

Bruce has a sympathetic look in his eyes. “Do you remember what happened right before you got here?”

Her voice is soft, it reminds him of someone.“I was in my room, getting up for school when I just… there was a blue light and I was here.”

He notices immediately that she is lying: her eyes look at her right, and she instinctively starts touching her face, her earrings, her neck. But why would she? Wouldn’t it be better for her to give the entire truth so that they can just send her home?

“That’s… peculiar,” he comments, trying to indicate that he doesn’t believe her. Not that he doesn’t believe she has just popped out of nowhere, which would be nothing compared to the sheer amount of strange things that happen in Gotham, but that she’s not telling the whole truth.

Her smile contorts into an embarrassed expression. “I know but… I can’t tell you much more.”

“Why?”

Marinette awkwardly fixes her posture. He can’t believe that such a petite girl, who wears pink ribbons and a pastel t-shirt for school, looks actually so much like him. “We… can’t really talk about what’s happening in Paris. Mayor’s decree. Technically, it’s the former mayor’s decree, but it’s still valid.”

That’s concerning, to say the least. He turns around to gesture to Jim that this is something they have to discuss. But what could possibly be happening in Paris that needs to be hidden from the rest of the world?

“I understand your fear, Marinette. But why is there an information block in there in the first place?”

The girl freezes. “I can… I can’t tell you,” she murmurs. His heart contorts at seeing the expression on her face, the same of a small puppy who has been abandoned. The irony of it doesn’t go unnoticed.

“You can. You’re not in Paris right now, so any decree doesn’t affect you. I’ll make sure to protect you, don’t worry,” he says, trying his best to reassure her. Bruce is very good at faking confidence and charisma; but at real compassion and genuine affection? He’s hopeless.

Marinette still looks like she is being tortured, like she has seen a ghost. Yet, she starts explaining what exactly happened in the last two years. He understands her hesitance: magical jewelry, possessed people, domestic terrorism. This city is in dire need of help, and he knows what he will be talking about at the next Justice League meeting.

As he hears the girl explain and analyze the villain in detail, every doubt clears from his mind. That is certainly his daughter. If her overall look wasn’t enough, the way she describes accurately every move and every action taken by the villains to terrorize her city would convince anyone that this is his long-lost kid. From the way Hawkmoth lured in citizens using complex schemes, to the way Mariposa’s attacks are far more well-organized and diligently planned.

His mind starts wandering as the girl keeps on telling Paris’s story. Her skin is pale and reveals on her arms burn marks, old cuts, and bruises. She’s incredibly small and thin despite being the daughter of a baker, and it makes a lot of questions pop up in his head. She doesn’t have the body of a hero, but she sure has the mind of one.

The papers that the CPS worker gave him tell him that she’s fifteen. He tries to think who the mother of this girl could be. It was too early for both Talia and Selina, and the timeline doesn’t match with Vicky Vale either. He looks at her once more, and it hits him like a brick.

It couldn’t be. But also, it is the only possibility. He doesn’t want to believe his own mind, but logically he already knows who it is. Zatanna Zatara. It is impossible to ignore now: she looks exactly like her. A drop of sweat runs down his spine. Why didn’t she ever tell him?

Come to think of it, he hasn’t heard from the woman for fifteen years. His head hurt. Does that mean that Marinette has… No, it’s best to think about this later.

“Sir, are you okay?” she asks, seeing that he doesn’t seem responsive to her story. The sweet tone of her voice makes him feel another gut of pain in his chest.

He shakes his head. At that moment he realizes he hasn’t even told her his name. He wants nothing more than to dig a hole, crawl in it and die. He thankfully can’t hear Jim Gordon laughing his ass off in the other room, or else he would try to jump out of a window, no gear on.

“Yes, sorry. Call me Bruce, by the way. There’s no need for such formalities, I’m here to help.” He offers her a smile that looks so forced it could make her vomit.

She doesn’t look any better. “Can you help me go home, Bruce?” she pleads, eyes filled with tears and determination. Her voice, however, betrays her.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he replies. He needs to get out of here and fast. Bruce doesn’t know whether to strangle Jim Gordon or kiss him.

The contents of his stomach threaten to come out, and he quickly comes out of the room, trying to keep up his usual stoic demeanor. As he reaches Jim’s office, his eyes look bloodshot, and he has to consciously stop himself from trembling.

The old man is smiling smugly from his desk, and as he looks up from the paperwork he’s throwing around, he says: “So?”

Bruce tries his best to not scream, not yell at him ‘What the actual fuck, Jim?’, not throw the entire paper bin on the ground. His voice isn’t as cold as usual.

“Can we get a DNA test done?”

Jim’s laugh echoes in his ears, and it feels like mockery. Bruce desperately wishes he slept that night.

Sophie Dallway downs her coffee and makes her way to the room, a tad bit more awake than she was before. She looks at the necessary paperwork, and this looks like a complicated case, judging by how much she has to sign.

But as she pushes open the door, she’s met with silence. No one is there, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is gone. Bruce has already lost any trace of his daughter, mere minutes after meeting her.

Whole series here!

[wangxianficrecs]

💙 The River Brought You Here by ChilianXianzi

💙 The River Brought You Here

by ChilianXianzi

Not rated, 11k, Wangxian

Summary: When she found the boy by the side of the river, Zhou Jia knew that anyone who'd come for him is not to be trusted. Not with the dark purple fingerprints around his throat, the veritable map of lashes old and new upon his back. It's almost a blessing, she thinks, that the boy remembers none of the life that had treated him so cruelly. That he's free to just be A-Ying, in this small harbour town that he embraces so readily as his home. The day someone does come for him, she had not expected it to be the war hero Hanguang-Jun - Saying A-Ying name with such fervent hope before it turns into anguish as A-Ying fails to recognize him. Kay's comments: Permanent injury side-effects, my beloved. But for real, I am so weak for when injuries actually come with consequences, even though I know that the genre invites playing off injuries and offering magic cures. Anyways, this story! One of my all-time favourites that I re-read again and again. In which, after Wei Wuxian got strangled by Jiang Cheng after the Fall of Lotus Pier, it leads to permanent side-effect, meaning Wei Wuxian suffers from amnesia and seizures. So, he doesn't find his way back to Lotus Pier and instead gets invited by a village and gets to live the cottagecore life he doesn't remember having dreamt off. Of course, eventually, Lan Wangji also makes an appearance. Excerpt: The boy's name is Wei Ying. It's the only thing he remembers once he wakes up, his grasp of the world and how it turns intact yet with no memory of his own marks upon it. The first time he tries hard enough to remember, Wei Ying collapses into the wooden floors of Meixue's clinic, eyes rolled back in his head and muscles jumping wildly beneath Zhou Jia's frantic hands before Meixue's needles stills his limbs and turns him pliant. They don't try to make Wei Ying remember anymore, after that. Simply ply him with food and reprimands as he goes through his recovery with a stubborness that reminds her of herself when she was younger. "He's definitely as terrible a patient as you are," Meixue points out as she yet again apprehends Wei Ying wandering off from his bed - Trying to help Meixue's apprentice and the youths that frequents the clinic with one chore or another.

pov outsider, canon divergence, post-fall of lotus pier, amnesia, memory loss, past abuse, strangulation, major character injury, seizures, families of choice, lan wangji/wei wuxian get a happy ending, rogue cultivator wei wuxian, genius wei wuxian, recovery, angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort

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