#Jiang Cheng... ficlet?

[robininthelabyrinth]

Soo, funny story, turns out celestial mountains can move? So JC finds BSSR and instead of receiving his brother's core and tragedy ensuing, he gets his core fixed, has an illuminating weekend with his brother's extended family, and maybe comes back with backup.

ao3

Untamed

"All right, you all know your parts," Wei Wuxian said, pacing back and forth in a tight circle. "We've got everything we need for the transfer. We're ready."

"We are exactly as ready as we were the last time you said that," Wen Qing said waspishly. Despite her harsh tone, due was clearly nervous, alternating between fiddling with her tools and fingering the veiled hat Wei Wuxian had given her to hide her true identity - the story Wei Wuxian had spun to throw Jiang Cheng off the scent of what was really going to happen would only work if he sincerely believed that she was the fabled Baoshan Sanren. "He won't know a thing. Stop fretting."

"I'm not fretting -"

"Why isn't he here yet?" Wen Ning wondered. "It's not that long a path up the mountain. Even if he was blindfolded, shouldn't he be here already?"

Wei Wuxian started, then exchanged worried glances with Wen Qing. They hurried to the overlook point of the cliff, but no matter how they looked, they couldn't see a single trace of Jiang Cheng, not even his shadow.

-

"Uuuuuh no you're not," the lady said when Jiang Cheng told her he was Wei Wuxian. "You don't - you don't have the right face for it, okay? Cangse Sanren was a bit more - her face - there was this indefinable sort of - listen, I'm not possessed with an overwhelming desire to smack you right now so you can’t be him."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jiang Cheng found himself having to swallow down a snort of agreement - Wei Wuxian really did have that indefinable sort of quality.

"I could take after my father?" he suggested, though he'd mostly given it up as hopeless already.

Sure enough, the lady let out a bark of laughter - it sounded oddly like a bird's call - and said, "No way. Not that much! Anyway, why does it matter who you are?"

At that point, because Jiang Cheng was exhausted and hurting and blindfolded and still managed to see all his barely-resurrected hopes dying in front of him regardless, he burst into tears.

"Oh no," Baoshan Sanren said, sounding distinctly alarmed in a way that - if Jiang Cheng wasn't currently in the middle of humiliating himself - would have made him laugh because of how similar it was to Wei Wuxian being confronted by an emotion. "No, no, no, don't- please - I hate crying - just tell me what the matter is - someone help he's still crying -"

Eventually Jiang Cheng managed to squeeze the whole stupid story out, aided by the kind hands and helpful (or not so helpful) translations being offered by Baoshan Sanren's disciples.

"You can help him, right?" the littlest one asked, tugging on Jiang Cheng's sleeve defensively. He was twelve or thirteen or something - the others called him Xiao-shidi, so that was either his surname or a nickname - but he was a sweetheart that reminded Jiang Cheng of his sister. "Shifu, you'll help him, won't you?"

"I'm talented but no one can make golden cores out of nothing," Baoshan Sanren protested, but the little Xiao started crying, too. "No! No tears! Stop that -"

"But it's just so sad," he wailed, and then one of the other disciples, a girl who had a manner of speaking that suggested Wei Wuxian only tougher by far, gave a loud and thoughtful sniff.

"Don't you dare," Baoshan Sanren hissed. "Don't give me that, you're not even upset! You don't cry over anything, you little beast. You're just trying to bully your shifu!"

"Is it working?" the girl asked, sounding amused. "I could squeeze out some for the cause."

"It's all right, you don't have to," Jiang Cheng said, hating how his voice was still all watery and breaking even though he was finding this pretty funny. "If there's nothing she can do, there's no point, just leave her alone -"

"That's worse," Baoshan Sanren wailed. "No! Not the self-sacrificing routine!”

It wasn’t a routine!

“That’s the problem! I can handle everything but sincerity - ahhh, I hate this. All right, all right, you win, you brats. I'll fix him."

"But you said -" Jiang Cheng started to say.

"I know what I said," she cut him off, grumbling. "And I can't grow one from nothing. But – and I’m going to tell you in advance, this will be unpleasant – I can go get yours from the moment before you lost it and give it back to you."

"What? How does that work? I don't understand..."

"Time doesn't work right on the mountain. It's always the same time, even when it's not; that's why no one can come back after they've left," the girl said, sounding arrogant and carefree in a most familiar way, and Jiang Cheng's grief-fuzzed brain made a connection there that was so appalling that it couldn't possibly be true. "You up for some pain and agony if it gets you your core back, my friend?"

"Y-yeah? I mean, yes. Anything."

"All right," Baoshan Sanren said. Her raspy voice had turned into even more of a croak: it was like listening to a crow try to speak. Also, Jiang Cheng couldn't see, having not removed the useless blindfold, but he had the strangest feeling that she was smaller than before - he'd already assumed she was a wizened old thing, but for a moment she seemed no larger than a especially plump chicken. "Hold on tight, boy - here we go!"

-

"I greatly appreciate all your efforts on behalf of the Sunshot Campaign," Nie Mingjue said, and Wei Wuxian wondered if his greatest strength as the grand commander of the unified forces of the cultivation world wasn’t his saber or his command but his ability to sound completely sincere. "Murdering Wen-dogs by the score, going after critical targets, providing intelligence, even getting Mistress Wen and her brother to defect...but have you considered giving it a rest?"

Wei Wuxian choked.

It wasn't that he was surprised by the request - he'd heard it whispered for a while that he was doing too much, too fast, too viciously. He'd hunted down Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu and harried them into the Burial Mounds, using the power there to tear them to pieces despite their army - if it hadn't been for Wen Qing helping him, he might have torn himself apart in the process. It wasn't healthy for someone with a golden core to use resentful energy the way he did, she had explained. She at one point told him that she was essentially using a bucket to scoop it out of his meridians like a boat that had taken on water.

Yet he kept using it - hunting squads, battalions of Wen, supporting the other sects from the shadows, months of effort - and never mind the worried expressions on Wen Qing's face, on Wen Ning's face, even Lan Wangji, who had just turned up at their camp one day and refused to leave...no, Wei Wuxian wasn't surprised by the request.

He just hadn't expected it to be phrased like that.

"I can't," he said, recovering a moment later. "As long as there are Wen-dogs out there - from the other side, I mean - the Jiang sect hasn't been avenged."

"I know that," Nie Mingjue said with...admirable restraint, actually. Wei Wuxian cringed a little as he remembered that Nie Mingjue was involved in this war for the purpose of avenging his father's death at Wen Ruohan’s hands. "But that's not your job. It's time to stop playing lone wolf and return to the sect that raised you. If nothing else, Jiang Wanyin could use a right hand man."

Wei Wuxian stared. He'd searched furiously for Jiang Cheng without success, days and nights stretching out endlessly only for hope to fade and be replaced by a frantic need for revenge; it had been that desperation, mixed with guilt over losing her prospective patient, that had convinced Wen Qing to officially defect. And now Nie Mingjue was saying - what? That he, Wei Wuxian, was the one missing in action? 

That he knew where Jiang Cheng was?

"...he's been recruiting to resurrect the Jiang sect for the last month down by Qingjiao. Did you not know?"

Wei Wuxian hadn't. Jiang Cheng was - fine? All right? How could he have gotten to Qingjiao in the state he'd been in?

And...recruiting? How could someone without a golden core recruit? Nie Mingjue didn't seem to know about the loss, or he would have mentioned it, surely - everyone would be talking about it - had Jiang Cheng found some other way? But how? And why hadn't he come to find Wei Wuxian?

Well, in fairness, Wei Wuxian wasn't making himself easy to find, traveling in secret with only his few companions. But still...

"He really does need support," Nie Mingjue said. "He has Mistress Jiang, but she's not the martial type, and that little sworn brother he picked up from who-knows-where might be a brilliant talent and a hero for the ages in the making, but Baoshan Sanren's disciple or not, the kid is still only half-grown -"

"Baoshan Sanren's what?!"

"Jiang Wanyin's little sworn brother. His name is Xiao Xingchen, and he's twelve. Maybe fourteen. Far too young, in my opinion -"

"I'm sorry," Wei Wuxian interrupted. "I have to go now. Right now."

-

"About time you showed up," Jiang Cheng said, though his snide words were belied by the wide grin on his face and the way he pulled Wei Wuxian into a fierce hug. "I heard you've been doing wonders in the three months and a day I was gone, and in the month since I’ve been back...you got those Wen to defect, invented a new type of cultivation...what's this I hear about you and Lan Wangji sharing a camp, huh? I thought he hated you."

"Uh, no, turns out that was a misunderstanding," Wei Wuxian - who was currently sharing a lot more than a camp with Lan Wangji once that misunderstanding had been cleared up after Wen Qing had lost patience with what she termed their 'ridiculous mutual pining' - said blankly. It was probably just his imagination, but he fancied that he could feel the golden core under Jiang Cheng's skin, shining bright, as familiar as his own. If he hadn't known what he knew, he would never have thought... "What happened? How did you...?"

"Baoshan Sanren fixed it! Just like you said...though you went to such lengths, with the blindfold and pretending to be you and all that. Apparently it wasn’t necessary at all!"

"Uh, right. My…mistake."

Jiang Cheng pulled him into another hug, nice and tight, and whispered into his ear, "You had better not have been planning to transfer me yours, you bastard."

Wei Wuxian blanched. How had he figured it out..?

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Jiang Cheng said, releasing him and rolling his eyes. "You're a lot like your mother, you know?"

"My mother? What are you talking about?"

Jiang Cheng's crooked grin was the most wonderful thing Wei Wuxian had ever seen. 

"It's a long story," he said. "Probably as long as yours, for explaining everything you've been up to for the past few months...but we'll have time to talk it over. Baoshan Sanren is big fan of talking things over, almost to the point of ridiculousness, but I think she has a point, even if none of her disciples agree. It's made me feel better these past few months, anyway, talking about what happened, whether with the Wen sect or even just frustrations I had growing up..."

He laughed at Wei Wuxian's dumbfounded expression.

"Like I said," he said. "Long story. Come meet little Xiao, will you? We're going to need to work together and put in all our efforts to keep him out of trouble -"

"He's a brat, then?"

"No, worse: he's an idealist. You'll understand when you meet him."

Wei Wuxian let himself be dragged along by Jiang Cheng's eagerness, and he was about halfway across the new Jiang sect camp before it suddenly struck him that this was really happening. That Jiang Cheng was back, alive and healthy beyond Wei Wuxian's wildest dreams, whole once more in both mind and body - that they were side by side once more, finally back on track to fulfill his childish promise of them being the Twin Heroes to match the Twin Jades - that his lies had somehow transmuted to truth, and it was all resolved without sacrifice...

The first smile in what felt like months stole across Wei Wuxian's face. 

"All right," he said, laughing and slapping Jiang Cheng on the back as hard as he could. "Show me this new little brother of yours - I can't wait to spoil him rotten!"

"Tease him to death, you mean!"

"No, no, I can be good! Wen Qing has this little cousin, an orphan, I've been helping out with him - I have child-rearing skills -"

"I don't believe a word of it. Is it Mistress Wen or Second Master Lan that does all the work?"

"...Wen Ning, mostly, but that's not the point..."

Life, Wei Wuxian thought to himself, was good once more.

[corduroyserpent]

“May this humble one ask a question?” Zhuzhi-lang cups one of Jiang Cheng’s bare calves with a hand covered in deep green scales. He’s half submerged in the lake, but the clear water does little to hide the way his long curling tail weaves between pink lotus blossoms. 

Jiang Cheng sits at the edge of the pier—hair down, legs dangling over the side. There’s a rare softness to him in this moment, a contrast to his stern brows and the sharp tongue Zhuzhi-lang knows lies in wait. 

“Depends on what it is,” Jiang Cheng says with more than a hint of defensiveness. 

Zhuzhi-lang takes this as permission. “Your requirements for a partner…are those non-negotiable?”

Jiang Cheng’s expression rapidly darkens. “Who told you about that?”

“Jin-gongzi.” 

“That brat!” Jiang Cheng shifts as if he might get up but Zhuzhi-lang’s hold on his leg stays firm. 

“Jiang-zongzhu, please answer my question.”

“Why does it matter?” Jiang Cheng huffs, rolling his eyes. His cheeks are flushed. “You meet all of them.” 

Zhuzhi-lang blinks. “I… No, I don’t.”

“What? Yes, you do.”

“I’m not naturally beautiful,” Zhuzhi-lang points out matter-of-factly. “If that affects our–”

Jiang Cheng cuts him off with a gruff, “You meet all of the requirements.”

[ailelie]

Burial Mounds weren't what they once were, but still only idiots dared to travel through them without copious protections. Jiang Cheng did not usually count himself among the idiots, but he had to admit his current actions were questionable.

He was in the Burial Mounds. Alone. Unplanned. And furious.

Fury was an old friend these days, though he was no longer fond of it. He did not want to be angry with Wei Wuxian any longer. Not when his brother was alive again. Not when he finally had an inkling why he'd lost his brother in the first place.

He stood where the Wen Remnants had once lived, wishing again for the dead to stand before him. Why, he wanted to ask, to demand an explanation. Why did you do it?

Then he heard the howl. Followed by a scream.

Abandoning all sense and desperate for a fight, he raced toward the sounds.

When he saw the beast, he knew to his bones he would not survive it.

He fought anyway.

When the beast was dead and Jiang Cheng was dying, a child dressed like a clerk approached him. Through the haze of pain, he thought their eyes were stars.

"Apologies for the beast, but it was necessary. You saved me in this lesser form, and thus I can provide a reward. Your family is nothing but headaches, you should know. One imbalance after another. I fix the scales and you tip them again."

"Who?" Jiang Cheng asked. The word ended in a bloody cough.

"Oh. Right." The child or man, maybe, touched Jiang Cheng's forehead and the pain eased. "You did well stopping Wen Rouhan, but destroying all the Wen was a headache. And do not get me started with everything related to the Yin iron. Utter migraines. Your brother's death and return? I should let the worms consume you all."

"Who are you?" Jiang Cheng demanded. The man's babble was too quick and strange to follow.

The man, no, the child smiled at him. Had it always been a child?

The child pressed a hand against Jiang Cheng's chest. "You will return to the past," the child said, his words now clear and ringing with truth. "The simplest way to fix this mess is to try again. You may choose one person to accompany you. The first time you met will be the time to which you return."

"That is impossible," Jiang Cheng said, hope flaring to life in his chest.

"No," the child said, "only difficult. Who do you choose? Anyone who was alive then, but is dead now. I will return their soul with yours."

His first thought was Yanli, but that would mean returning to infancy. His parents would be the same.

"Can I change anything?" he asked.

"Yes. I would rather the wild imbalances not repeat."

Hope bubbled into excitement. He could stop his siblings from dying. He could maybe even keep everyone's cores where they belonged. He could perhaps even save his parents.

He needed someone smart, but straightforward, with motivations he understood. Someone who owed him.

"Wen Qing," he said. Jealously, he wanted to ask her why she had performed the surgery all those years ago. He could not demand such answers from a Wen Qing who had not done it.

"So be it." The child gathered Jiang Cheng into a hug and pressed his forehead against Jiang Cheng's abdomen.

Fire exploded in each of Jiang Cheng's dantians. He screamed. Silence cocooned him.

He blinked and he was in the Cloud Recesses. Wen Chao was speaking and Wen Qing was by him. Her eyes met his and narrowed.

The ceremony continued, but he registered none of it. As soon as it was done, he hurried to find Wen Qing. They met each other on the path; she had apparently been seeking him just as urgently.

"What did you do?" she demanded.

"Me? What about you? His Core?"

"I was dead!" she hissed.

"Yes," he agreed. "You and countless others. Wasted."

"How dare you!"

"But they aren't dead now," Jiang Cheng continued, ignoring her ire. Around them people gave them wide berth, but stared with curious eyes. "We've started over."

"How?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I was dying and a child offered me a chance to fix imbalances. I could bring one other soul with me."

"And you chose me." She looked distinctly unimpressed.

He growled. "You understand what's at stake. Your people are alive now. Your brother is alive. My family lives, too. Do you not want to keep them that way?"

"And how do you propose we do that? Our families are at war."

"Not yet," he countered. A wild idea seized him. "Marry me."

"What?"

He laughed; the sound was mangled with betrayal, anger, desire, and hope. Part of him hated her. More of him still desired her. He could not trust her, but he had chosen her as the only person in the world now who understood him and who he could trust.

"Marry me," he repeated. "If the future repeats, I will have standing to save your family." He had no comb to offer her anymore, so he took the comb from his own hair, letting it fall loose. A lotus curled over the comb's golden spine. "Will you help me?"

"A-Ning lives."

"Everyone we care about." He held out the comb.

She accepted it. Wen Qing traced her fingers over the lotus. "How are we going to explain this?"

He thought for a moment. Strangely, it was a memory of Wei Wuxian that gave him the answer. "We're soulmates."

She laughed. "You've made us so, I guess."

That resonated. He liked the idea of choosing fate over being at its whim. "Thank you, Qing'er."

Her eyes narrowed again at the stolen intimacy. "Of course, A-Cheng," she responded, meeting his impertinence with her own. "I should tell my brother the happy news."

"And I'll tell my siblings." He bowed, and they separated.

He still did not have his answers. Betrayal and hurt still twisted like snakes in his chest. But, he had time now.

He quickened his steps. He had a sister to embrace, and a brother to cuff and then also embrace. He did not want another moment to pass without seeing them.

[foxyyaoguai]

LingCheng //

JL loves his uncle very much, but JC’s displays of affection are scarce 🥺 The only thing JC always does for him is kiss it better when he gets hurt.

Sometimes JC thinks his nephew is very clumsy, because he gets hurt A LOT! But he always places a kiss whereever JL points to and then JL smiles and says that it’s all good now.

As JL grows up, JC tries to stop, but every time he refuses to kiss it better JL’s eyes get all round and glassy, and JC grumbles and kisses him after all.

The older JL gets, the more he wants…. So he comes up with a plan. Coincidentally, the places that hurt are closer and closer to his neck … and to his face…. And to the corner of his mouth…. And before JC knows what’s happening it’s already too late 🤭

We all know which body part is going to hurt next.

[hhimring]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, reference to canonical character deaths, Bonding Summary:

Their attitudes are very different but, after all, they fight on the same side.

The style is intended to be that of an in-universe story-telling or dramatic performance. May well refer to post-canon events, although the plot is in any case meant to be symbolical, really.

Link to the prompt post the drabble responds to at the Dreamwidth  community (chenquing_100).

[veliseraptor]

I wish you would write a fic meme... You know that moment in CQL/MDZS post-time skip where Jiang Cheng is using Fairy to confirm that it's WWX and he freaks out and screams for either Lan Zhan or Shijie depending on which version? I would love to see you write a version of that where he calls out for Jiang Cheng instead, given his old childhood promise to protect him from dogs. Jiang Cheng bringing in a dog and WWX screams at him to protect him from dogs because that's his childhood instinct? I just think that would highlight the kind of crunchy fucked-up-but-the-love-is-still-there relationship dynamic you're so damned good at writing.

oooh, this is fun. I do not know that I could get more than a drabble/ficlet out of it, but it would be a crunchy ficlet, especially from jiang cheng's pov. must consider further

i wish you would write a fic where…

[pod-together]

Pod-Together Day 10 Reveals 2024

The Monster in the Mirror (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)) written by grovestep, performed by gracicah Summary: In which Catra struggles with her sense of self and is thrown into turmoil on her 21st birthday.

A Magic Hat (One Piece (Anime & Manga)) written by Aibhilin, performed by stereden Summary: A magic hat. That’s the only explanation for the whole lunacy he’s experiencing right now. Nonetheless, it makes his life much, much easier as well as promising to make it much, much more comfortable and he takes full on advantage of it. In short: Sabo stumbles upon a magic hat and decides to make that everybody else's problem.

Trust to Mend [text, audio] (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling) written by BinteMuhammad, cardoon, mangotart_reads, and SerenaEW, performed by mangotart_reads and SerenaEW Summary: >>His path is blocked by a figure so tall >>He smacks into the wall. What if said wall is not as immovable as Harry believed it to be? A fluffy Severitus ficlet/poem.

A Friend Indeed (Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Merlin (TV)) written by InterstellarBlue, performed by pass_the_salt Summary: Rodney is offworld on a mission with, of all people, Jonas Quinn, Major Lorne, and three Marines who aren't actually on Lorne's gate team, for bureaucratic military reasons he doesn't want to bother to understand. Not that it matters, because they are in search of Atlantis's holy grail: a source of more ZPMs. They just have to get through several obstacles first.

beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh (Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston, Red White & Royal Blue (2023)) written by LK_42, performed by esbielle Summary: Alex Claremont-Diaz meets Prince Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor at the 2016 Rio Olympics after the Men’s Diving Final. Alex is thrilled and Henry is amazed. Why is this meeting so different? It’s a diving AU!

Why Don't You Kiss Her? (Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)) written by NineofHearts, performed by horchatapods Summary: The boys and Julie have been friends since they were fifteen. Julie and Luke met in chemistry class when they were seated next to each other. Their friend groups started meshing and hanging out together in school and sometimes out of school. Julie and Luke are those friends who always “happen” to peel off together when they’re hanging as a group. Luke decides it’s time to make a move.

[Visual Novel] Gusu Summer Camp: A Dating Sim (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī (Cartoon)) written by nonplussed, performed by kisahawklin, KeriArentikai, semperfiona, and sunkitten_shash Summary: Will Jiang Cheng find a date for the lantern lighting festival at the end of Gusu Summer Camp, or will he break Nie Huaisang's and Wei Wuxian's legs first? Play this fully voiced MDZS visual novel to find out! Average playtime: 30-60mins

Lake Kane (Stranger Things (TV 2016), Firewatch (Video Game)) written by SSLeif, performed by Rambling_Company and elle-dubs Summary: It’s the summer of 1985, and construction of the New Mall expected in Hawkins has been delayed. Steve Harrington, newly graduated, newly cut-off, needs a summer job. Hargrove is still in town, so Steve’s absolutely not going to lifeguard this year. Eddie Munson gets caught that one-too-many’th-a-time, and Hopper makes it clear he needs to find some gainful employment, ideally elsewhere, and Hop does not want to see Too Much of him this summer, Or Else. Robin Buckley needs a summer job, ideally something that lets her do college prep work at the same time… And the forest service is having trouble retaining fire lookouts in this one… mysterious… stretch of woods. . A Stranger Things/Firewatch AU

Access Denied (9-1-1 (TV)) written by SweetPollyOliver and kitsunerei88, performed by SweetPollyOliver, blackglass, horchata, mistbornhero, kitsunerei88, 42donotpanic, AmyNChan, Avanie, dairaliz, KDHeart, MeggieJolly, Rhea314, and theyarnmaidstale Summary: When a faulty software update affects essential services throughout Los Angeles, LAFD work overtime to respond to the resulting emergencies.

[sitboi]

wangxian laundry >:)

You know, my head has been so terminally full of Jiang Cheng that I literally forgot how to characterize Wei Wuxian....so have some silly...somewhat..crack...and my apologies

---------

Lan Wangji is frowning down at a missive when Wei Wuxian returns from the rabbit fields. They haven’t been back at the Cloud Recesses for long, definitely not long enough for any letters of importance to start arriving, so he’s immediately curious at what could be putting that adorable wrinkle between his husband’s eyebrows. 

“Lan Zhan,” he says softly, situating himself as close as he can to Wangji’s side and pressing his thumb below his forehead ribbon to smooth the tension, “what’s making you frown?” 

“A bill.” Lan Wangji states flatly, and Wei Wuxian can feel his own face screw up as he drops his hand and looks at the paper Wangji holds. 

“A bill?” He echoes, squinting at the neat, yet somewhat cramped, writing.  

The paper isn’t very wide, but it certainly makes up for that in length, curling down over Lan Wangji’s wrist and detailing rows upon rows of numerical charges. He whistles through his teeth when he spots the final tally.

“Wow, that’s more than a week’s stay at a fancy inn. Whose is it and what on earth did they do to incur it?” Wei Wuxian laughs.

Lan Wangji finally looks away from the charges and frowns down at Wei Wuxian seriously.

“Ours.” He says, and if Wei Wuxian didn’t know better, he’d say his perfect facade waivers for a single second. 

“Ours!?” Wei Wuxian shrieks, knocking into the table as he flails in shock. The ‘that’s more money than we even have!’ goes unsaid.

“Ours.” Lan Wangji repeats, steadying the wobbling table easily with his empty hand. 

Wei Wuxian blinks in shock, “What did we do!?” 

“Nothing.” Wangji still seems calm, but Wei Wuxian can tell that his voice is slightly tight, like it pains him to say what he’s about to say. “At least not more than we normally do. It’s a bill for laundry.” 

“Oh.” 

Oh. He truly—and somewhat unfortunately—doesn’t need more of an explanation for that. It’s just not something he’s ever thought too much about when handing sheets off to servants, or leaving things rumpled in places they probably shouldn’t…

“Oh god.” He says, and he feels his cheeks heat slightly at the thought of someone scrubbing out the mess they made just this morning. “Well, that’s uh…how are we even supposed to pay that?!”

Lan Wangji actually manages a shrug, “I’m not sure we’re meant to. Perhaps it’s meant as more of a warning.” 

Wei Wuxian blinks again, “Then what happens if we make it worse?” 

Lan Wangji’s eyes flash with something far less frustrated, but just as serious, and Wei Wuxian only has a second to realize the implication of his question before he’s unceremoniously shoved to the floor. 

“Perhaps we can find out.”

-----

Leave me One Word & One Pairing for a ficlet!

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Afterglow

Part 2 to this because it's an incredibly sexy concept and you all know it

Obligatory warnings: this ficlet isn't nice to JC and LWJ isn't either!!

Wei Wuxian curls up against his husband, sated and pleasantly sore. He feels a placid sort of tiredness seep through his body, still basking into the afterglow of a long bout of passionate sex.

His eyes catch onto Lan Wangji's right hand, where Zidian gleams silver into the moonlight, on his middle finger. Wei Wuxian stares at it, remembers how Lan Wangji came to take it for himself, and the uproar it caused.

How Jiang Cheng brought fifty disciples and a near declaration of war at the gates of the Cloud Recesses, asking for his spiritual weapon back, and how Lan Wangji had so simply asked him to just take it if he wanted it so much instead.

How Zidian rejected its former master, writhing against his hold and dispersing his spiritual energy, shocking his hands and drawing blood until it burned through skin and nerve endings.

How Lan Wangji turned his back on the pathetic display of cries and shouts and insults, winning a battle that had never even started.

"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji's gentle voice pulls him out of his thoughts. "Would you like me to take it off?"

"Ah, no, it's fine... I was just thinking... why did you do it, back then?"

"He wanted to hurt you." Comes the simple, natural answer, a forehead kiss sealing it. "I wanted to make sure he never could."

"It was..."

"It was deserved."

Wei Wuxian runs a tentative finger over the ring. It responds with a gentle, playful zap, like a little kiss of its own. Lan Wangji had tamed it, turned it into an extension of himself, devoted and loving Wei Ying the same way he did.

"Since we're cultivation partners... do you think I could use it too?"

"Do you want to?"

Wei Wuxian opens his mouth to respond but no words come out. He can still feel the phantom pain of Zidian on his back sometimes, even in a new body, even a lifetime later. He doesn't normally hesitate, but the thought of having to wield that weapon makes his heart shrink with a lot of contradictory emotions.

Lan Wangji understands without being told anything and pulls the blanket further up Wei Wuxian's back, kissing him softly. "You don't need to."

Wei Wuxian burrows into the blankets and his husband. "It's better if I don't."

[annerb-fic]

For the writer goal asks: 🥸 🍄 🥵 🛳

(skipping the ones I already answered somewhere else)

🍄 Are there any fandoms you've never written for but want to try?

Oh, boy. Yes, there are lots of other fandoms I have read a lot in but never gave it a try myself. I think I've mentioned it before, but I have a Princess Leia fic half imagined on my hard drive that I would love to finish, though I'm not sure there is any fandom as intimidating as that one when it comes to the sheer amount of lore and media, most of which I have not consumed. I also would love to write some Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers in the Marvel verse. (Again, not nearly as complicated as Star Wars, but still. There's a lot.) I also would love to try my hand at anything in the Pride&Prejudice realm, including the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. (Are people still watching those? They are AMAZING!)

You know, I did a "Five New Fandoms in 2011" challenge. I had been primarily writing in Stargate at that point, but for the challenge I wrote a Pirates of the Caribbean story, a Last of the Mohicans story, and even an SG-1/Gilmore girls crossover ficlet. And then I started writing this little thing for the Harry Potter fandom that ended up being The Changeling.

Doing a Five New Fandoms in X year is always a fun idea!

🥵 Any plans to write steamy or spicy content this year?

Ha! Not sure. It depends on where break upon your shore (The Untamed, wangzxian) decides to go. That is one of those fics I started as a low-stress, just write each chapter as an experiment kind of fic, just like I did with half awake and almost there (Harry Potter, hinny) and String Theory (Stargate SG-1, Sam/Jack). I can be a bit of an over-invested story plotter with my big projects sometimes, and so it's nice to have a fic that I don't let myself stress over or overly plan or judge. Just plop it out there as it comes.

So, break upon your shore already has been a bit steamy and I wouldn't be surprised if it decided to be even moreso, if I can manage to get back to it!

🛳 Are there any new ships you want to write for? (Platonic, romantic, or anything in between.)

No new ships have really reached out for me at this point. But that doesn't mean one isn't waiting in the wings to pounce on me! I always have my Jiang Yanli & Lan Wangji friendship agenda. And I do also have one idea for a Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian fic that explores their relationship as not-brothers but also not-not brothers.

Thanks!

[spriteofmushrooms]

2024 Tumblr Top 10

Tagged by @add1ctedt0you! Not as pretty as your post.

1. 445 notes - Aug 9 2024

When people's opinions are too annoying to bear, I placate myself with the knowledge that they would agree with whoever the...

2. 225 notes - Nov 18 2024

It's all "get a hobby" "go outside" until you spend thirteen years chasing rumors of your shixiong and killing people who aren't him.

3. 188 notes - Apr 10 2024

[ficlet]

Q: Still thinking of the JC RPF tropes and the Lan sect being enamored with "SLJ emoting vivaciously." (especially LWJ being furious about his twin pride kink)

4. 187 notes - Apr 27 2024

[ficlet]

As Nie Huaisang poured their tea, Jiang Cheng rubbed his thumb against the carved wooden box in his lap and tried not to fret...

5. 169 notes - Jun 20 2024

NHS is so funny. My da-ge? And your da-ge? *pulls out family portraits he made of tiny NHS surrounded by his loving 3zun brothers surrounded by hearts* This one, right here, in the green? Xichen-ge I didn't hear that pained little nod, could you please verbally confirm?

6. 153 notes - Mar 2 2024

Obsessed with the fact that there were three months between Jiang Yanli's and Wei Wuxian's death.

7. 142 notes - Sep 24 2024

Thinking once again about Jin Guangyao, the perfect host who remembers every guest's favorite dish, the conscientious friend who...

8. 115 notes - Nov 13 2024

North & South (2004) is free to stream on Tubi, which means it's my job to make you watch it. Margaret Hale lives in the south...

9. 115 notes - Nov 10 2024

Probably a good time to get a VPN that doesn't store data, huh.

10. 113 notes - Mar 27 2024

[ficlet]

Q: Pls… pls elaborate 👁️👁️ so I can change my answer (in spirit) from crying a few days ago to crying right now!

Created by TumblrTop (which doesn't require giving your login information)

@mediocretosubpar-soup @mokobebe @yutaan @aftersector in case any of you are interested!

[corduroyserpent]

“Tell me why I have...” Jiang Cheng digs his phone out of his pocket and shoves it under Zhuzhi-lang's nose. “...twelve voice messages from your uncle.”

Zhuzhi-lang blinks innocently. “You know he doesn't like to text.”

“Zhuzhi.”

“I told him we're engaged.”

“No.” Jiang Cheng scowls, remembering the silky passive-aggression of ten of those messages. The other two were about Tianlang-jun's wife; he's a creature of habit. “You told him I proposed without a ring.”

“Which is true.”

“Because you said you didn't want one! And now he thinks I'm some asshole who—”

“I didn't say I don't want a ring.” Zhuzhi-lang sets his tablet aside. He's playing one of those games with too many colors and never-ending levels. Jiang Cheng has never been any good at those. “I said you didn't have to get me one.”

Jiang Cheng curls the fingers of his free hand in frustration. “What's the difference?”

“Rings aren't traditional in demonic culture. It isn't a requirement,” Zhuzhi-lang explains as he untwists from one of the backbreaking configurations he dares to claim is a normal way of sitting on the couch. He's slightly taller than Jiang Cheng but at this moment when he stands, head bowed shyly, they're at eye level. “But I'm not marrying another demon.”

“Some people would beg to differ,” Jiang Cheng grumbles as he puts his phone away in order to work a silver ring engraved with a swirling snake off his finger.

“I'm marrying you.” Zhuzhi-lang averts his eyes, cheeks flushing. “So it would be nice to mark the occasion in a—”

Jiang Cheng grabs Zhuzhi-lang's hand and unceremoniously slides the ring on. It's a perfect fit. Of course it is. He's only had the damn thing for months!

“There.” A muscle in Jiang Cheng's jaw tenses, then relaxes as he watches a surprised smile light up Zhuzhi-lang's face. “Now, you better not tell me you wanted a diamond.”

[xieliansbignaturals]

My last day or so on blorbo.social:

Hua Cheng art

Cute Hualian ficlet

A couple nice Hualian arts bridged from Bluesky

Jiang Yanli with a harem

Is Millions Knives canonically a brocon? (vote here)

[foxyyaoguai]

I want Bichen and Zidian to bond over all the times they have been used in inappropriate ways. 🥹

Just imagine the two becoming besties, even though their owners can’t stand each other.

They can help each other out in fights — Zidian wrapping around Bichen and infusing it with electricity? Zidian swinging Bichen to become extra long and extra deadly?

When no one is looking, they sneak away, become entangled, inseparable. They have seen too much. They wanna have some fun themselves for a change.

Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng can bond over never being able to find their weapons.

[roseclaw]

New sangcheng ficlet!

Title: New Perspective

Rating: G

Word Count: 646

Summary: Jiang Cheng has always had 20/20 vision… until he doesn't anymore.

Tags: Modern AU, Fluff, Silver Fox JC

[jaggededges123]

okay so in honor of the end of the anonymous period happening tomorrow, here are the gifts (not the ones i wrote, i will share those tomorrow after creator reveals) i received for battleship this year, in reverse order in which they appear on my gifts page:

My Tower Is Next Door Neighbors With A Lonely Tentacle Monster Who Lives In A Volcano, an original piece of artwork rated G.

couldn't whisper, an eighthcest ficlet (540 words) rated M.

right to the core, an eighthcest fic (1.1k) rated T and tagged underage.

Attack of the Sexy Mermaid, an original f/f fic (1.1k) rated E and tagged underage.

blood of my blood, an eighthcest ficlet (501 words) rated M and tagged cntw.

Jiang Cheng Is So Very Fucked, a lingcheng fic (1.6k) rated E and tagged underage.

The Road, a qijiu fic (1.6k) rated T.

[Art] Visiting, a chaos & zagreus artwork rated G.

[podfic] if my blood is your blood, a campal podfic (30 minutes) rated E.

volume off, a quinquecest ficlet (462 words) rated M and tagged cntw.

(not so) unrequited, a lmy/qqq ficlet (528 words) rated G.

one last ode to our goodbyes, an original m/m fic (3.5k) rated E.

sunset rock, a lmy/qqq artwork rated T.

with hands that are dying and resurrected, an obikin fic (14.6k) rated E.

Please check out the ones that interest you! I loved all of them so very much and they deserve all the love they can get 🥰