#but since their technique is known to Really Mess The Cultivator Up

[randomidiocyncrazies]

Help I'm being held hostage by fem!Nie Mingjue AU

[translations-by-aiimee]

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chapter 8

Original Title:  二哈和他的白猫师尊

Genres: Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Xianxia, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 8 - This Venerable One Gets Punished

Mo Ran lay in bed like a dead fish for three days. Just as his wounds started to heal, he was summoned to Red Lotus Pavilion to do manual labour.

This was also part of his punishment. During the punishment period, Mo Ran couldn't go down the mountain, but he also couldn't just laze around. So he had to help out the sect and do some drudgery.

Generally speaking, these errands were things like: helping the cafeteria lady at Mengpo Hall wash the dishes, scrubbing the three hundred and sixty-five stone lions on the pillars of the Naihe Bridge, transcribing extremely boring archive files, and so on.

But what kind of place was Red Lotus Pavilion? It was the residence of that bastard Chu Wanning, known as the cursed place called Red Lotus Hell.

Few people in Life-Death Peak had been there, and everyone who had been there left with either their legs or their arms broken.

Therefore, in addition to Red Lotus Hell, Chu Wanning's bedroom had a more grounded nickname: Broken Leg Pavilion.

There was an inside joke circulating around the sect: "The Pavilion hides a beauty, and the beauty holds Tianwen. Enter the gate of broken legs, know the suffering of getting your legs broken. If you want your meridians broken, go to the Elder Yuheng."

There was once a female disciple who wasn't afraid of death. She was bold enough to lust after Elder Yuheng's beauty. Taking advantage of the dark night and high winds, she sneaked to the Southern Peak and climbed onto the eaves, intending to watch the Elder bathe and strip his clothes.

As you can imagine, the female warrior was beaten within an inch of death by Tianwen, crying for her father and calling her mother, and lay in bed for no less than a hundred days.

And Chu Wanning also declared that, if anyone else dared to commit another crime, he would carve out the eyes of the perpetrator himself.

Do you see? What complete nonsense! What puzzling behaviour! What a heinous man!

Within the sect, there used to be innocent silly girls who thought that, because they were women, Elder Yuheng would pity them and show compassion. They were always laughing and joking in front of him, trying to attract his attention. But ever since the elder whipped that one female hooligan, no one dared to hit on him anymore.

To Elder Yuheng, whether it was men or women, he didn't have the disposition of a gentleman. Other than a good-looking face, there was nothing redeeming about him - this was how Chu Wanning was viewed by the disciples of this sect.

The junior brother who had delivered the summons looked at Mo Ran with sympathy. He tried to stay quiet, but in the end, couldn't hold it back: "Brother Mo. . ."

"Hmm?"

". . . Elder Yuheng has such a bad temper. No one who went to the Red Lotus Water Pavilion came out able to stand. Maybe you could see if you could say your wounds haven't healed and beg Yuheng Elder to let you wash dishes instead?"

Mo Ran was very grateful for this junior brother's bodhisattva heart, but he didn't agree.

Beg Chu Wanning?

Forget it. He doesn't need to get beaten by Tianwen a second time.

So he strenuously put on his clothes, dragged his feet, and walked reluctantly to Life-Death Peak's southern peak.

Red Lotus Pavilion, Red Lotus Hell. There wasn't a single person in sight for a hundred li around Chu Wanning's residence.

No one wanted to go close to his residence. Chu Wanning's bad taste and uncertain personality made everyone in the sect stay far away from him.

Mo Ran was a bit nervous. He didn't know what Chu Wanning would make him do as punishment. His thoughts ran wild the whole trip to the southern peak. After passing through the dense bamboo groves, large swathes of beautiful red lotus came into view.

It was early morning, the sun rising from the east, reflecting a splendid shine on the horizon. The red lotus stalks in the pond stretched towards the flaming clouds in the sky, complementing each other; magnificent. At the edge of the pond, a curved zig-zag bridge led to the pavilion standing in serene silence. Behind it was a curtain of waterfalls streaming down the mountain, the fine crystal water droplets raining against the rocks at the bottom. The watery mist created by it evaporated into the air, light gleaming through the fog, creating a sense of enchanting tranquillity.

This is what Mo Ran thought about this:

Gross.

Wherever Chu Wanning lived, no matter how beautiful it was, would always be gross to him!

Just look at it, so arrogantly extravagant, a true waste of extravagance, in fact. The disciples’ dorms are all closely connected to each other and they don't take up much surface area. And then there's the mighty Elder Yuheng, who occupies a whole mountain by himself. He even dug three large ponds and filled them with lotus flowers. Although, these lotus flowers are special varieties and can be refined into immortal medicine, but—

This is getting off track, the place was not pleasing to the eye. He wished he could burn down Broken Leg Pavilion with his torch!

All he could ever do was silently criticize this place. Given that he was only sixteen* this year, he was no match for Chu Wanning. Mo Ran showed up outside Chu Wanning's residence regardless. He stood at the door, squinted his eyes, and put on a sickeningly sweet demure, pretending to be the ideal disciple.

*(T/N The original text flips between all these ages. Mo Ran is just guessing how old he is so that's why it keeps going to 14/15/16)

"Disciple Mo Ran here to greet his master."

"Yes, come in."

The room was chaotic and disorganized. The cold-blooded demon Chu Wanning was dressed in a white robe. The lapels were folded high and tightly, giving off an air of purity and abstinence. Today, he had his hair in a high ponytail, covered with a black metal hair ring. He sat on the ground fiddling with a bunch of mechanical parts, biting a pen he had in his mouth.

Casually glancing at Mo Ran, with the pen still in his mouth, he said vaguely: "Come here."

Mo Ran approached him.

It was no easy feat. Considering there were no benches or tables in this room, artwork and metal broken wood were scattered everywhere.

Mo Ran's brows twitched. He had never entered Chu Wanning's room in his previous life, and he had no idea that this well-dressed beautiful man lived in such a mess. . . He was at a loss for words.

"Master, what is this?"

"Night Wanderer."

"What?"

Chu Wanning was a little impatient, probably because it was inconvenient to speak with a pen in his mouth: "Night Wanderer."

Mo Ran silently glanced at the mess of parts on the ground.

His master was hailed as Shizun Chu, and it wasn't just out of vanity. Speaking honestly, Chu Wanning was a very powerful man. Whether it is his three god-grade weapons, his cultivation techniques, or his machine-building skills, he was clearly worthy of being defined by four words: "the peak of excellence". This was also the reason why he had such a bad temper and was so difficult to serve, but the major cultivation sects still tried to fight over him for those skill.

Regarding the "Night Wanderer", the reborn Mo Ran was well aware of it.

It was a kind of machine made by Chu Wanning, cheap to make but had strong combat power. It can guard the ordinary people in the lower cultivation world from ghosts and demons at night.

In his previous life, the well-made Night Wanderer had almost become a must-have machine for every household. The price of one was equivalent to a broom, and the effect was much easier to handle than the Grinning Door God.

After Chu Wanning died, those Night Wanderers still guarded the poor families who couldn't afford a high-level cultivator. This compassionate heart, coupled with Chu Wanning's affection for his disciples. . . hehe, it really makes Mo Ran despise him.

Mo Ran sat down and looked at the "Night Wanderer" which was just a bunch of parts at this time, and the past flashed through his mind. He couldn't help picking up one of the Night Wanderer's limbs and grasped it in his hand for a closer look.

Chu Wanning clipped a few components, finally freeing his hands. He took the pen out of his mouth and glared at Mo Ran: "That one was just finished with tung oil, don't touch it."

"Oh. . ." Mo Ran put down the machine. He put his fake smile back on still looking cute and completely harmless. He asked with a smile, "Shizun summoned me here, are you planning to let me help?"

Chu Wanning hummed: "Mm."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Clean up the house."

Mo Ran's smile froze. He looked around at the room that looked like it had been hit by an earthquake: ". . ."

Chu Wanning was a genius in immortal cultivation and an idiot in life.

After picking up the fifth broken teacup that had never been swept up, Mo Ran finally couldn't stand it: "Shizun, when was the last time you cleaned your house? My god, it's so messy!"

Chu Wanning was looking at his drawings, and didn't look up when Mo Ran spoke to him: "Almost a year."

Mo Ran: ". . ."

"Where do you usually sleep?"

"What?" There must be something wrong with the drawing. Chu Wanning was upset and looked even more impatient than usual. He rubbed his head and replied in a huff, "Of course it's the bed."

Mo Ran glanced at the bed. It was piled with all kinds of machines that had been mostly completed, as well as a bunch of tools such as saws, axes, files, and so on.

Seriously, how did this man sleep without cutting his own head off?

After working for most of the day, the sawdust on the floor had filled three dustpans, and the white towel that had wiped down the bookcase was ten times more black. By noon, he had only cleaned about half.

Fuck Chu Wanning, this person is really more poisonous than a leeching woman.

Cleaning a room didn't seem like much of a punishment, it didn't really seem like hard work, but who knew that it was such a ghastly place that hadn't been touched in a year? Not to mention that he was covered with wound. Even if he was healthy now, he could shorten his lifespan by half going through all of this!

"Shizun. . ."

"Hm?"

"Your pile of clothes. . ." They'd been stacked there for about three months.

Chu Wanning finally got one of Night Wanderer's arms attached. He rubbed his sore shoulder, looked up at the robes on the suitcase, and said coldly: "I wash them myself."

Mo Ran was relieved. Thank goodness. But he was still a little curious: "Really? Shizun can wash clothes?"

Chu Wanning glanced at him, and after a while, coldly said: "What's so hard about it? Throw them in water, soak them, take them out, and dry them."

". . ." After hearing this, he really didn't know any girl who would keep lusting after Chu Wanning. Mo Ran truly thought that it would break the hearts of dozen of women to find out how disgusting this man really was.

"It's getting late. You can accompany me to the dining hall and finish the rest when you get back."

There were people coming and going from Meng Po Hall, and the Life-Death Peak disciples were eating together. Chu Wanning grabbed a lacquered wooden tray, took a few dishes and sat in the corner silently.

From where he was, no one sat within twenty feet of him.

No one dared to sit too close to Elder Yuheng, for fear that he would get upset, and they would get a lashing from Tianwen. Chu Wanning himself actually knew about this, but he didn't mind. A cold beauty sat there, gently eating the food in the bowl.

But today wasn't like usual.

Mo Ran was brought by him, so naturally he had to follow him.

Others are afraid of him. So was Mo Ran, but he had already died once, so Chu Wanning was nothing in comparison.

Especially after the fear of first seeing him had subsided, the hatred of Chu Wanning from his previous life slowly emerged. So what if Chu Wanning was powerful? In his last life, he still died by his hands.

Mo Ran sat down in front of him, calmly chewing the sweet and sour pork ribs in the bowl. He crunched on the bones then spit them out into a pile.

Chu Wanning suddenly slammed down his chopsticks.

Mo Ran stopped for a moment.

". . . Can you stop eating with your mouth open?"

"I chew the bones, how am I supposed to do that with my mouth closed?"

"Then don't eat the bones."

"But I like to eat the bones."

"Eat around them."

The two quarreling voices grew louder and louder, and some disciples were already peeping at them.

Mo Ran fought the urge to throw the rice bowl over Chu Wanning's head. He pursed his lips, and after a while, he narrowed his eyes, and a sweet smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"Shizun, don't shout so loudly. Others might hear, won't they laugh at us?"

Chu Wanning has always been thin-skinned, and his voice really softened. He whispered: "Get out."

Mo Ran burst out laughing.

Chu Wanning: ". . ."

"Hey, Shizun, don't stare at me. Come on, let's eat. I'll try to be quiet."

Mo Ran had laughed enough and started playing nice again, the sound of his chewing much softer.

Chu Wanning gradually went back to gently eating. Seeing that Mo Ran was bring obedient, his face slightly relaxed, no longer looking so bitter and upset. He lowered his head, eating his green beans and tofu with grace.

After a long pause, Mo Ran started to do it again.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. In summary, seeing Chu Wanning in this life, he wanted to make a fool of himself and do whatever he could to make him angry.

So Chu Waning found that although Mo Ran did not chew loudly this time, he began to grab the ribs with his hands and eat them, sloppily eating with greasy hands and sauce-covered fingers.

Chu Wanning's blue forehead vein popped. Endure it.

He lowered his eyelashes. He didn't look at Mo Ran, and focused on his own meal.

Mo Ran didn't know if he had gotten too carefree or forgetful while eating, but he accidentally threw one of the gnawed bones into Chu Wanning's rice bowl.

Chu Wanning stared at the messy and hideous rib bone, and the surrounding air so condensed and frozen it was visible to the naked eye.

"Mo Ran. . . !!!"

"Shizun. . ." Mo Ran was quite frightened. He wasn't sure whether what he said sounded true or fake. "That. . . Uh, I didn't mean it."

Probably fake.

". . ."

"Don't be angry, I'll take it out for you."

He really stretched out his chopsticks, stuck them into Chu Wanning's bowl, and quickly picked out the bone.

Chu Wanning's face was pale, like he was about to vomit.

Mo Ran batted his eyelashes, and there was a pitiful grievance on his delicate face: "Shizun, do you dislike me?"

". . ."

"Shizun, I'm sorry."

It was just that.

Chu Wanning thought to himself: Why do you need to be restrained with the junior disciples?

He gave up the urge to summon Tianwen to hit Mo Ran. His appetite was gone, and he got up and said: "I'm full."

"What? Is that all you're going to eat? Shizun, you've barely touched your food."

Chu Wanning brushed him off: "I'm not hungry."

Mo Ran's heart felt like it was as joyful as a flower, and he still sweetly said: "Then I won't eat it anymore. We can go back to Red Lotus Hell - ehem, go back to Red Lotus Pavilion."

Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes: "We?" There was a mockery in his eyes, and then said, "Who is the other person you're talking about? Disciples and their Shizun have respectable relationships and you will address me in the proper manner."

Mo Ran carefully kept his expression, his eyes curled up with a smile, well-behaved, sensible and cute.

However, in his heart he was thinking: Respectful relationship? Proper manner?

Hehe, if Chu Wanning could know what happened in his previous life, he would know - in the end, Mo Weiyu was the only one deserving of respect in the world.

No matter how noble and arrogant Chu Waning was, he was still a piece of mud under his boot. Didn't he depend on Mo Ran's good will to survive?

Stepping quickly to keep up with his shizun's pace, Mo Ran still had a bright smile on his face.

If Shi Mei was the white moonlight in his heart, Chu Wanning was the broken fishbone stuck in his throat. He needed crush this thorn or swallow it, and it will corrode away in his stomach.

In short, during this new life, he could spare whoever he wanted.

But he would never spare Chu Wanning.

However, Chu Wanning didn't seem to want to spare him so easily.

Mo Ran stood in front of the library in Red Lotus Hell, looking at fifty rows of ten-story bookshelves, thinking that he must have heard wrong.

"Shizun, what did you say. . .?"

Chu Wanning replied lightly: "Dust all the books in here."

". . ."

"After dusting, catalogue them."

"..."

"I will check back tomorrow morning."

"!!!"

What!!! Was he supposed to stay overnight in Red Lotus Hell??

But he had planned to meet with Shi Mei, and even asked Shimei to change his medicine at night!!!

He opened his mouth to plead his case, but Chu Wanning didn't bother paying attention to him. With a wave of his wide sleeves, and turned to exit the library, and, incidentally, closed the door of the library in a haughty manner.

Mo Ran, who's date had been ruined, sat in his boiling hatred of Chu Wanning - he wanted to burn all Chu Wanning's books!!

No!

After thinking it over, he thought of something even worse. . .

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

[timextoxhajima]

ATEEZ as things and feelings

@haechanhues​ don’t mind me just doing it again cause i liked it uwu maybe i should just change to doing headcanons LMAOOOO

as i wrote this, i realised the members of ateez have really cultivated a specific image for themselves (eg. hongjoong as a fashionista, hwa as the mom, yunho has a big bear etc) and so i really hope that these are at least some part of their real identities and it’s not just kq forcing it down their throats ;(

HONGJOONG - BOUTIQUES AND EXPENSIVE CAFES 

there’s just something very sophisticated about joong, though he’s absolutely refined and clean-cut (despite that whole jack sparrow get up in their rhythm ta stage)

because he loves fashion and dressing himself up, he can’t tolerate how much you don’t care about the clothes you’re wearing! he knows EXACTLY what would make you look even better and what would totally boost your confidence and so he wouldn’t hesitate to drag you out to a boutique, whether it’s for thrifting or it’s one of those expensive ones like Dior

he’ll spoil you because he can, and because he wants to

he also has a knack for pretty settings, so that expensive cafe down the street that sells mediocre coffee but with a STUNNING exterior? he’ll bring you there just so you can be his photographer and he can be yours

you know when the coffee sucks but he still manages to contain his facial expressions and not hurl? yeah that’s joong being classy

the sophistication needed in everything simple and possibly disastrous

“i know the coffee sucks but look at our instagram now”

SEONGHWA - ROAD TRIPS AND HOME COOKED FOOD

honestly are you an atiny if you don’t agree with this

it’s been about a year since i started stanning ateez and my first impression of hwa is that he’s actually very timid and shy and awkward when it comes to firsts

on stage is a completely different story

so i’d assume he’s probably the same in private, ie he’s aggressive and dedicated when it comes to things he loves to do, but probably a little more timid and worrisome when it comes to people/things he’s not familiar with, but that doesn’t stop him from trying out new things and setting off on an adventure!

you’d be the one to surprise him with an impromptu trip, thinking that he’d be happy to escape but no he worries about clothes, packing, the weather, the itinerary-

it takes you a good amount of energy and convincing to tell him to calm down and that you’ve got every thing down, so he can just busk in the joy of being with you in a completely foreign land

he would also be the kind to try grocery shopping overseas then figure out how to make do with the ingredients

he’s home even when you’re not back in your house

“i made chicken soup with a mix of... whatever that was because the lady said it’s a local delight and that it should go well with chicken-”

YUNHO - OVERSIZED PULLOVERS AND CUDDLES

PLEASE this is self-explanatory no??????????????

a big, giant, fluffy, adorable bear! 

it’s literal - as big as his clothes are on you, he acts like them as well - making sure you’re comfortable and warm and you have your own space

i feel like yunho would be the kind that shows care and concern and sometimes he doesn’t really know when to stop, and so he figures out your boundaries just so that you would be comfortable around him

whenever you’re sad or depressed or you just had a shit day, he’ll always be there for you to hug or even vent your anger

sometimes you’d get frustrated with him because he’s too nice at work too and get trampled over and then all your feelings build up and there you have it, he’ll cradle you like a baby and tell you not to waste your feelings on things that don’t really matter

he’ll tell you he’s okay, as long as you’re okay

“please don’t cry, it’ll bloat your face tomorrow morning :(”

YEOSANG - PLAYING AROUND WITH TECH STUFF AND VIDEO GAMES

he’s not the most talkative person, no, but that’s exactly what draws people. he’s always listening, always watching, but never really saying anything, and lucky for you, he says everything when he’s engaged in something he likes

he’s known for his stellar concentration, so it’s no surprise when he’s able to figure out that new tech thing he got and figure it out within the first 10 minutes, thereafter, you take the chance to get him to talk about anything and everything you want him to

he takes awhile to warm up to people, sometimes very mechanical like the things he likes to play with, but when he does, his care is silent

he buys the Bluetooth keyboard you need cause your laptop keyboard is wonky

he buys the cute marvel themed mouse pad cause your current one is peeling

then when you got him that xbox, his competitiveness hopped out like doomsday and he’d trash you on a good day with a lack thereof of mercy when it comes to verbally trashing you

but on some shitty days when he can read your tiredness and frustration, he lets you win

“give me that mouse pad, it’s almost as messed up as you.”

SAN - ABANDONED PLACES AND LIGHTHOUSES

scary on first sight/impression, yet nothing but a place full of memories that was once full of life - that’s san for you

i think he’s very intimidating on stage, which is exactly how many abandoned places are marketed on the media - haunted, ghosts, murderers, weird plants and insects etc, but what about the history of those places before they went to shit?

there’s so much more to it than what you see

adventure, wander and thrill-seeking overwhelms you when he’s around. there’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of. 

lighthouses - where you find your way, and that you’ll never get lost

people tend to lose sight of what they love and want in life and san would probably be able to inspire you to get back on track, by the sheer force of his own passion and vision for himself

“run with me and we’ll see the light together!”

MINGI - MISMATCHED OUTINGS AND PLAYFUL TACKLING

ok when i say mismatched outings i mean it in the way that he’d dress up and ask you to dress up BUT you’d find yourself at a cheaper/more coffee-shop like eatery instead of a restaurant

he has fun admiring how pretty you are on the way there, but when he pulls you up to a coffee shop you’re like what? then why did i dress up so nicely for?

mingi knows that you depend on your appearance alot for confidence, so he really wants to see that pride when you’re out with him

lazy pajamas and messy hair are reserved for sleepovers and for days when you don’t really feel like doing much - and of course he’ll be there to comfort you when you need it

i think he’ll find absolute joy in pulling you close and wrapping his longass coat around you on the colder autumn/winter days, and then he’ll ruffle through your hair and you cant run because of his coat and arm wrapped around you

will definitely get judged by passerbys 

but like the mismatched outfits x location, he really doesn’t care. it’s the company he cares about. it’s the condition of his company he cares about. it’s the food he cares about. not the reputation, not the pure material of someone’s clothes

“i know i told you to dress pretty but must you outdo me all the time” /insert pouty face/

WOOYOUNG - EXPERIMENTAL COOKING AND PRANK CALLING

omg the noise pollution

‘let’s call yeosang’

‘what for?’

‘just ‘cause’

and you’ll do it on your phone because wooyoung knows yeosang won’t pick it up if it’s from his phone, and so when he does pick up and he hears you say ‘hello’ with the most amount of guilt in your voice, he tells wooyoung to fuck off and hangs up

seonghwa would be your next victim but hwa would stay on the line just so he wouldn’t have to worry about coming back to a burnt down kitchen - not because he thinks wooyoung can’t cook, but because wooyoung gets absolutely distracted with you around and would want to impress you with his culinary skills, which more often than not, backfires

pranks aside, all wooyoung wants to do is to make you laugh or smile and make the time spent with him the most fun and worthwhile

even if it meant getting into trouble with his members, he decides it’s worth the risk if it means he gets to see you happy and full from eating the food he prepares

like his experimental dishes, every joke and bs pun he says is new and never fails to amuse you - even if you don’t actually laugh

you see a new side to him with every passing day and he can be sensitive if he wants to, or completely clown himself if he wanted to as well

“don’t complain about the food! i bothered to cook for you and you complain about it?!”

JONGHO - APPLE PICKING AND PLAYFUL ARM WRESTLING

the one time you let him snap your apple into half cause your teeth hurt and now he snaps all your apples in half and it’s becoming more of a joke over anything else

finally decided to go to an apple orchard for the lols and amuse the people there with his apple breaking skills

you’re extra amused everytime he manages to do it (because how?????) and he adores seeing that on you - you’re honestly not easy to entertain so he’s a simp for when he’s the reason why you are

it came to a point where you got curious how strong he was because he hasn’t revealed one bit of skin ever since you’ve met him

it started out as you actually challenging him, but when you lost with two hands against his one hand, he started teaching you techniques on how to win instead

of course, he’s never let you beat him because he knows it’ll hurt your pride if he does

very, very quiet and subtle care - makes apple juice from the leftover apples he has at home and brings it to school for you

sometimes asks wooyoung to make dried apple chips for you but tells you he bought it cause he doesn’t want you to know he troubled someone

“are the apple chips too sweet? i can buy you another brand”

[bloody-bee-tea]

Vision

Jiang Cheng tries his best to appear unaffected, but going by how skittish his disciples are around him, he’s not quite managing it.

But Jiang Cheng can’t help it; it’s the first time since Lotus Pier burned and he rebuilt it, that another Sect Leader is coming to visit and Jing Cheng feels like he’s being tested.

He doesn’t like that feeling one bit.

Jiang Cheng straightens up, when the first disciple comes into view, because he’s going to excel whatever test this is, and if it’s going to kill him. 

“Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang calls out when they are still a good distance away, but Jiang Cheng can still see how Nie Mingjue rolls his eyes at his over-enthusiastic brother and a tiny part of Jiang Cheng relaxes. Their relationship is a bittersweet-familiar one and Jiang Cheng thinks if they are just here to check in on him, then he can do this.

“Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Cheng greets Nie Mingjue, bowing low, because even though they are both Sect Leaders now their status couldn’t be more different.

Yunmeng Jiang barely escaped extinction while Qinghe Nie came away as the victor of the Sunshot Campaign, despite the losses they had to endure.

“So formal, Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang complaints and his brother cuffs him over the head for his troubles.

“At least he remembers his manners,” Nie Mingjue says with a sigh and slightly shakes his head when Nie Huaisang makes puppy eyes at him over his fan.

“We’re old friends, there’s no need to be this formal,” Nie Huaisang whines and something in Jiang Cheng goes warm and pleased to hear that Nie Huaisang still considers them friends, even after everything that happened.

“Jiang-zongzhu, please excuse my brother,” Nie Mingjue tells him, overly formal and stiff, but there’s a teasing glint in his eyes and Nie Huaisang puffs out his cheeks in mock outrage.

Jiang Cheng has to bite back a laugh at that, and when Nie Huaisang whirls around to him, he at least pretends to be serious.

“Let me show you to your rooms, you must be exhausted after the travel,” Jiang Cheng says, remembering his manners and starts to lead the Nie delegation towards the guest quarters.

They haven’t been one of his priorities during rebuilding Lotus Pier, but when Nie Mingjue’s formal request of a visit reached him, Jiang Cheng had done his utmost best to get them ready.

He does not want anyone to complain about his hosting skills; besides hurting his pride it would seriously damage the image of his Sect and truth be told, they can’t take much more.

They are barely scraping by as it is.

“It almost looks the same,” Nie Mingjue says suddenly when they are halfway there and Jiang Cheng stiffens. “I heard everything burned down?”

“It did,” Jiang Cheng presses out and he tries to see Lotus Pier with Nie Mingjue’s eyes, but all he can see are the smouldering remains of what used to be his home.

No matter how he rebuilds it, in his mind it will always be the new Lotus Pier. And no matter how he tries to make it look the same, there are subtle differences. Enough of them to make him wonder what his parents would say of it; what his sister and Wei Wuxian would say of it.

Jiang Cheng thinks at least his mother would scold him for not remembering his home correctly and doing such a piss-poor job.

“You did a great job rebuilding it,” Nie Mingjue tells him and Jiang Cheng works his jaw.

“Thank you,” he gets out.

“Did you do a lot of the construction work?” 

“Of course I did,” Jiang Cheng stiffly says. 

Mostly because there was no one else around who remembered how Lotus Pier used to look like, but also because Jiang Cheng would never only order his disciples around. If he isn’t willing to do something, how can he ask the same of his people?

“Would you like to compare notes later? I did a fair share of construction in Qinghe myself and there are not many Sect Leaders I can talk to about this. Jin Guangshan is not known to get his hands dirty like that,” Nie Mingjue says, and Jiang Cheng can feel the rage bubble up inside him again.

How dare Nie Mingjue say this; how dare he imply that Jiang Cheng’s work isn’t up to par, that he’s lowering himself to do the dirty work. It’s hitting a very vulnerable part of Jiang Cheng, because his father used to say the same whenever Jiang Cheng was quick to help people rebuild after a flood or another disaster.

His mother only ever watched him with piercing eyes, but his father was of the firm believe that they had disciples for this exact reason.

And to hear these similar words out of Nie Mingjue’s mouth now makes his blood boil with anger.

But Jiang Cheng can’t afford to offend Nie Mingjue and Qinghe Nie, so he forces a smile on his face.

“Sure,” he says, aiming for a light tone, but going by the small frown on Nie Mingjue’s face he doesn’t quite manage to do that.

“Jiang-xiong, are you alright?” Nie Huaisang asks, flicking his fan open and moving it in a nervous gesture.

“Of course I am,” Jiang Cheng gives back, because he can’t afford to be anything else.

Not with reconstruction still going on and especially not with Jin Ling being at Lotus Pier at the moment.

Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang share a look at that, one that makes Jiang Cheng’s skin crawl, but he clenches his jaw and simply shows them to their quarters. 

He can’t afford to make a mess of the situation, so he swallows all of his rude remarks down and bids them a farewell once he’s sure they are situated.

Jiang Cheng flees and then spends the rest of the afternoon trying to get himself back together. He appointed his most trusted disciple to keep an eye on the Nie delegation, in case they need something and so he spends his time pretending that he’s not vibrating out of his skin with nervousness about this visit.

The first day passes without another incident, and on the second da Jiang Cheng almost feels like himself again. He spends breakfast with the Nie’s, entirely unremarkable except for Nie Huaisang’s incessant shatter and Nie Mingjue’s fond eyerolls, and then he leaves for the training grounds.

He might have to entertain guests, but he’s still the Sect Leader and since they are still in the process of building up again, there are not enough disciples who could reliably teach the new ones. 

It’s just one of the many things Jiang Cheng has to oversee himself, so he’s standing at the side-lines, watching his disciples in their training fights.

There are a lot of different styles, since he simply picked up any willing cultivator he could find and while it looks chaotic, it certainly has its merits.

At least the Yunmeng Jiang will always be unpredictable, Jiang Cheng thinks when he watches one of the kids he picked up on the street go for the hair of her opponent.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” Nie Mingjue suddenly says from beside him and Jiang Cheng stiffens.

“Sect Leader Jiang was my father,” he gives back, because it still feels wrong to be addressed like this.

“Jiang Wanyin, then?” Nie Mingjue asks his eyes never leaving the training disciples. 

“Yes,” Jiang Cheng agrees and he sees Nie Mingjue nod from the corner of his eyes.

“Nie Mingjue, then,” Nie Mingjue tells him and while it feels so wrong to address Nie Mingjue this casually, Jiang Cheng nods as well.

He keeps his gaze trained on his disciples, hoping that Nie Mingjue will get bored and leave, even though he should offer some entertainment to him, but Nie Mingjue stays where he is.

“They have an interesting fighting style,” Nie Mingjue eventually says, almost offhandedly and Jiang Cheng tenses again. 

He has a snappish reply on his tongue, but then his attention is brought back to one of the disciples who make a grievous mistake with the sword and Jiang Cheng is walking up to him, before he can consciously decide to do so.

The disciple tenses in apparent fear, seemingly ready to accept Jiang Cheng’s scolding, and he does scold. A lot. And then he shows the disciple how it’s done right and from that point on it just goes downhill because everyone keeps asking him about this technique and that form and before he knows it Jiang Cheng was roped into giving a lesson.

And all the while Nie Mingjue stayed at the side-lines, silently watching them.

“Apologies,” Jiang Cheng says when he finally manages to get away from his disciples. 

“No need,” Nie Mingjue easily says. “You’re good with them.”

Jiang Cheng snorts bitterly at that, because he knows that more than half of them are deathly afraid of him, like the old disciples were of his mother, and the other half barely has the respect for him that he deserves, but there is nothing he can do about it. 

It is what it is, he just doesn’t need Nie Mingjue to rub it in even more.

“Let me show you around Lotus Pier,” Jiang Cheng says instead of saying something biting, something that he will regret later, and as if on cue Nie Huaisang materializes next to them.

“I would love to see everything!” he exclaims, not so subtly elbowing Nie Mingjue into the side and Jiang Cheng frowns as he wonders what’s that all about.

“Yes, that would be—nice,” Nie Mingjue says and the delay is noticeable enough that Jiang Cheng can tell that he does not care to see Lotus Pier at all.

Still, he has appearances to hold up, so he dutifully shows them around and with Nie Huaisang’s excitement it’s almost not awkward at all.

“I’m sorry we’re taking up so much of your time,” Nie Mingjue says when Nie Huaisang ran yet again to another stall and Jiang Cheng shrugs awkwardly.

He wants to ask why exactly they are here, but he really does not want to hear that this is an inspection and so in the end he stays silent for so long that answering would be awkward.

So instead he points out one of his own favourite stalls and it seems to be enough for Nie Mingjue to relax, because his shoulders slump and Jiang Cheng hadn’t even realized that he was so tense.

It seems that even if this is an inspection Nie Mingjue is also in great need of some relaxing downtime himself and even though they just came out of near extinction, even though they are barely scraping by, the Yunmeng Jiang always knew how to have fun.

“Come,” Jiang Cheng tells them out of the blue and leads Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue towards one of the outer piers. 

They can hear laughter and yelling before they even get close and both Nie’s seem rather intrigued by that. 

When they finally come into view of the people playing in the water, they stop and Jiang Cheng gives them some time to catch up on the game rules before he speaks again.

“You’re free to join them if you want,” he says and while Nie Huaisang’s eyes go wide Nie Mingjue smiles at him before he reaches for his belt, clearly content to let his clothes drop right where they stand, like the other disciples as well.

Jiang Cheng did not calculate for that at all and he hurriedly averts his eyes from the new stripe of skin that Nie Mingjue reveals.

“Do you have many games like this?” he asks as he gets off his shoes and Jiang Cheng tenses again.

He wonders what it is about Nie Mingjue that always so easily hits him where it hurts; to imply that they do nothing but play is a blow Jiang Cheng is not sure how to deal with. It brings back memories of Wei Wuxian, whining at him to join them in their game, and of his mother’s cutting voice berating him that an heir shouldn’t spent his time with useless play like this.

But before Jiang Cheng can figure out how to reply to Nie Mingjue, Nie Mingjue already jumped into the water, clearly ready to get right in on the fun, and Jiang Cheng is left with Nie Huaisang on the pier.

“Da-ge doesn’t get enough fun,” Nie Huaisang says from behind his fan. “Being Sect Leader is so demanding and it’s good that he gets to enjoy himself a little here.”

Jiang Cheng bites back on the words that being a Sect Leader is not supposed to be fun, and instead he only awkwardly shrugs, making Nie Huaisang frown at him again.

“Why don’t you join them as well?” Nie Huaisang asks with a curious glance and Jiang Cheng scoffs.

“Not all of us have the time to play around like this,” he bites out and when he sees Nie Huaisang flinch Jiang Cheng turns away from him.

“Feel free to roam Lotus Pier as you see fit, there will be people around to answer your questions,” Jiang Cheng tells him, head held high and then he simply marches off.

He’s aching with the want to join his disciples in the water; he misses playing around like that. But he knows that the moment he would start to shed his clothes people would stop, would stare, would freeze in fright and it’s not untrue what he told Nie Huaisang; he does have too much to do to simply slack off like this.

When evening finally falls, Jiang Cheng is bend low over paper work. His eyes are burning and his back is aching, but he can’t stop yet. There are still piles upon piles on his table and if Jiang Cheng doesn’t make a dent in them soon then he might as well drown under them.

“Sect Leader,” one of his disciples suddenly speaks up from the door and Jiang Cheng turns bleary eyes on her.

“What?” he snaps and then immediately winces.

It’s no wonder everyone here is afraid of him.

“It’s young master Jin,” she says apologetically, but Jiang Cheng is already on his feet.

“What’s wrong with him?” he asks, the worry already settling in his gut.

“He’s been screaming for the last half hour. I think he misses you,” she says with a small smile and something warm replaces the worry.

At least Jin Ling is too little to fear him yet.

“I’ll be right there,” he promises, and hurries to finish up the letter he was working on before he makes his way over to Jin Ling’s room.

True to her word, he’s screaming at the top of his lungs, and now that he hears this Jiang Cheng can’t help but to worry again. What if it’s something more serious? He rushes inside the room and immediately snatches Jin Ling out of the arms of his disciple.

“It’s okay now,” Jiang Cheng says, more to Jin Ling than to her. “I have him now.”

“Alright,” she says with a bow of her head and immediately leaves him to it.

“What’s wrong, little one?” Jiang Cheng softly asks when Jin Ling continues to scream but he seems to react to his voice, because the cries get a little bit softer. “I’m here now, there’s no need for you to make such a fuss, brat,” Jiang Cheng whispers, his voice fond, and Jin Ling really stops crying.

He blinks up at Jiang Cheng with his big eyes and then simply snuggles deeper into his embrace.

“There you go, it’s not that bad after all, is it?” Jiang Cheng says, mostly so that he has something to say, because his voice does seem to relax Jin Ling.

Jiang Cheng continues to whisper nonsense to him, until he’s sure that Jin Ling feel asleep and only then does he dare to put him down in his crib.

Jiang Cheng holds his breath once he lets go of Jin Ling, but the boy blessedly slumbers on and Jiang Cheng lets out a soft sigh.

He would never say that it’s a chore too look after his sister’s son, but it is time consuming; and Jiang Cheng doesn’t have much of that even without caring for an infant.

Jiang Cheng knows that he should get back to his paper work immediately, that he shouldn’t stay and linger and simply stare at Jin Ling, but it’s another handful of minutes before he can tear himself away from him.

When he steps outside of Jin Ling’s room, Jiang Cheng immediately tenses when he sees Nie Mingjue leaning against the wall.

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng snaps, but he’s still mindful of the sleeping Jin Ling and Nie Mingjue shrugs.

“I came to find you, but your disciple told me to go here,” Nie Mingjue easily says and Jiang Cheng vows to have words with that disciple.

“You’re good with him,” Nie Mingjue says with a nod towards Jin Ling’s room and Jiang Cheng clenches his jaw.

He knows he’s not good with Jin Ling, barely knows enough about kids to not kill him immediately and he still hears the whispers from Jinlingtai, how he’s bad for the kid, how he’ll corrupt him, how Jin Ling will turn out as angry and cold as him and it’s all too much for Jiang Cheng to take right now.

“Fight me,” he presses out through clenched teeth and when he sees the way Nie Mingjue lights up at that, the anger turns into cold rage.

He brings them to one of the more remote training fields and then he just waits until Nie Mingjue has Baxia ready. Jiang Cheng doesn’t hesitate to bring out Zidian as well as Sandu and then they are off.

It’s a vicious fight and the first time since the war that Jiang Cheng doesn’t hold back. Nie Mingjue has no problems parrying Sandu, but he seems at a loss with Zidian and Jiang Cheng takes shameless advantage of that, though he does keep the electricity running through it to a bare minimum.

He doesn’t want to kill or permanently injure Nie Mingjue after all.

Still, Nie Mingjue is a force to be reckoned with, and while it’s clear that he too is struggling, there’s a smile on his face that only enrages Jiang Cheng further.

Their fight goes on for longer than Jiang Cheng expected, Zidian singing and Sandu clashing with Baxia, but in the end Nie Mingjue tackles him to the ground.

When Jiang Cheng’s back hits the ground, his breath leaves him in a rush and his vision turns black for a moment, before stars appear everywhere.

Jiang Cheng blinks up at the sky, trying to get his lungs to work properly again, but it still takes him an embarrassingly long time.

In the end Nie Mingjue seems to tire of waiting for him to compose himself and he holds out a hand to him.

“You’re a good fighter,” Nie Mingjue says, just as Jiang Cheng is about to reach for his hand. “And you wield Zidian almost better than Sandu,” he tacks on, and Jiang Cheng goes cold.

He wouldn’t have minded this much, before—his mother never did after all—but after what happened with Wei Wuxian, after everyone came after him for not using his sword like he should, it leaves a bad taste in his mouth now.

“What do you know,” Jiang Cheng snaps and slaps Nie Mingjue’s hand away, getting up out of his own strength.

“Jiang Wanyin?” Nie Mingjue asks with a frown and Jiang Cheng squares his shoulders before he faces him again.

“Don’t tell me I fight well when I just lost and don’t ever imply that I am favouring Zidian over Sandu ever again,” he hisses out and when he sees Nie Mingjue’s surprised look on his face, Jiang Cheng quickly turns away.

“Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue calls after him, and the informality stops Jiang Cheng in his steps. “I haven’t had a fight like this in a while. Not many people can hold out against me for as long as you did. Of course you fight well. And I didn’t mean anything with my comment about Zidian; it’s a spiritual tool and you wield it well. That’s all,” Nie Mingjue explains, almost awkwardly, and Jiang Cheng wants to leave, he really does, but he’s rooted to the spot.

“Is that the problem?” Nie Mingjue asks and it sounds like he came closer, though Jiang Cheng didn’t hear any footsteps. “Have I offended you all this time without knowing?” Nie Mingjue wants to know and Jiang Cheng lets out a hard breath.

“I’m not lowering to do the dirty work when I help with rebuilding,” Jiang Cheng says bitterly, even though he knows that’s what everyone thinks.

“Of course not,” Nie Mingjue immediately says. “And that wasn’t what I meant. I really do help with construction every now and then, if my time allows for it. It’s hard work, but also rewarding. I really hoped to compare notes with you. It’s not like Jin Guangshan would ever lift a finger to help any of his disciples like that so I don’t usually have someone to talk to about this.”

Jiang Cheng gives a short nod at that, and then he figures he might as well lay it all out. It’s almost easy, now that he doesn’t have to face Nie Mingjue.

“And when you say my disciples have an interesting fighting style?”

“It’s just that. Interesting. The Yunmeng Style is very clearly still there, but they are not as rigid as before. It’s good to see them fall back to the things some of them clearly learned on the streets. It won’t make that much difference against a monster, but if they ever have to fight another cultivator or something with sentience, it will give them the upper hand. It’s a good thing.”

“The game?” Jiang Cheng whispers, now thoroughly embarrassed by how low he thought of Nie Mingjue and how easily believed he was just here to insult him.

“We have a few with balls, but none in the water. I never saw such a game and I was simply curious if there were more. I’d like to try them all, the last one was fun,” Nie Mingjue says with a chuckle even though he thoroughly lost that game, as Jiang Cheng learned.

“And Jin Ling?” Jiang Cheng asks.

“I just meant that you’re good with him,” Nie Mingjue gives back and Jiang Cheng can almost imagine him shrugging. “He clearly loves you if he settles down by just hearing your voice and you didn’t get impatient once. You clearly love him as well.”

Jiang Cheng takes a shuddering breath when Nie Mingjue falls silent and he finally turns around to him.

“What do you want from me? Why are you here?” he asks, because for all that it has been a few days he still doesn’t know why Nie Mingjue is here.

“I thought I made that clear in my letter,” Nie Mingjue says with a frown that only gets deeper when he sees Jiang Cheng’s confused look. “I’m here to see if we’re compatible. If a courtship between us might work out.”

“You’re what?” Jiang Cheng blurts out and before the frown on Nie Mingjue’s face can get any deeper Nie Huaisang appears at his side.

“This might be my fault,” he admits, tipping his fan against his mouth and seemingly not at all bothered when both Nie Mingjue and Jiang Cheng turn incredulous eyes on him.

“Explain,” Nie Mingjue grumbles and Nie Huaisang gives him a winning smile.

“I stole that page of the letter,” Nie Huaisang says with an easy shrug and Jiang Cheng is so confused he doesn’t even know what to say to that.

“Why would you do that?” Nie Mingjue asks as he pinches the bridge of his nose, but he doesn’t seem angry and Nie Huaisang seems to know that very well.

“Because I know Jiang-xiong and if you had written anything about a courtship he would have clamped right up and then you’d get nowhere,” Nie Huaisang cries out and Jiang Cheng goes red in the face, because Nie Huaisang might not be wrong.

“Huaisang!” Nie Mingjue yells at him, but Nie Huaisang only hides behind his fan and blinks his big eyes at Nie Mingjue.

“I’m sorry?” Nie Huaisang asks, but Nie Mingjue shakes his head.

“No, you’re not,” he heaves out with a sigh. “Go scram before I make you practice your sabre,” Nie Mingjue threatens but when Nie Huaisang laughs Jiang Cheng knows that it’s an empty thread.

“Alright, da-ge,” Nie Huaisang says and promptly dashes away leaving Nie Mingjue and Jiang Cheng in uncomfortable silence.

“I’m sorry about him,” Nie Mingjue eventually says, but Jiang Cheng shakes his head, because there’s only one thought in his mind.

“Courtship?” he asks, because he cannot wrap his mind around this as all and he was not prepared to see Nie Mingjue blush like that.

“See, this is why I wrote it down,” Nie Mingjue grumbles. “It’s easier when it’s written down.”

“Mingjue, courtship?” Jiang Cheng asks again, because it still doesn’t make any sense at all and Nie Mingjue sighs again.

“Yes, Wanyin, a courtship.”

“Between us?”

“Do you see anyone else? Did I go visit anyone else?” Nie Mingjue asks and Jiang Cheng simply sits down on the ground again, because of all the reasons why Nie Mingjue could have come, this possibility didn’t enter Jiang Cheng’s head even once.

“You must be joking,” Jiang Cheng whispers and then tenses when Nie Mingjue simply sits down next to him.

“I assure you, I’m not,” he says.

“But then you surely must have changed your mind by now,” Jiang Cheng tries next, because there is no way in hell that Nie Mingjue, esteemed fighter and Sect Leader, would still want to court him after he saw what a mess Jiang Cheng is.

“Between praising your fighting, your way with Jin Ling, your disciples and your construction work, where do you think I changed my mind?” Nie Mingjue shoots back and Jiang Cheng goes still.

“Were you just giving me meaningless compliments?” he asks and that thought suddenly hurts more than he expected.

But if Nie Mingjue had an ulterior goal in mind then of course he’d praise Jiang Cheng. And of course they would all be hollow and empty words.

“Do you know me to be like that?” Nie Mingjue wants to know. “If I don’t like you, then I’ll say so. If I do like you, then I’ll say that as well.”

“You don’t like Jin Guangshan and you never said that to him,” Jiang Cheng gives back, his mind still spinning.

“Oh, rest assured, he knows I loath him. No need to say it out loud,” Nie Mingjue easily gives back but then he falls silent. “Huaisang was right, wasn’t he. You’re totally clamping up on me.”

Jiang Cheng flushes again at that.

“I mean, who wouldn’t? Courtship? With me?”

“With who else? You’re a hero of the Sunshot Campaign. You rebuild your Sect, you’re parenting your sister’s son and you’re not cowering before anyone. There’s much to admire about you, Wanyin.”

“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng breathes out as he hides his face in his hands.

“I will if you give me an answer, Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue says and the way he says Jiang Cheng’s name sends a shiver down his back.

“Can we—how long are you going to stay?” Jiang Cheng asks instead of giving him a concrete answer but Nie Mingjue doesn’t seem to mind that much.

“I can squeeze in a few more days,” Nie Mingjue says with a shrug. “Why?”

“I think—I’d like you to stay for a while longer now that I know why you’re here,” Jiang Cheng gives back.

He can’t quite agree to a courtship just yet, but he thinks he’d like to spent more time with Nie Mingjue, especially now that he knows what he wants from him.

“Sure,” Nie Mingjue easily replies and he doesn’t seem to mind Jiang Cheng’s lack of an answer much.

Nie Mingjue doesn’t behave any different in the next few days either, but at least now Jiang Cheng knows to simply accept the things Nie Mingjue says without searching for a hidden meaning behind his words and since Jiang Cheng knows that this is not an inspection but something completely different he can actually enjoy spending his time with Nie Mingjue.

So much so that when Nie Mingjue eventually has to depart, Jiang Cheng has a courtship gift ready for him.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

[badmoonyellow]

HP HEADCANON: PARIS UNIVERSITY

𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝓯𝓪𝓬𝓾𝓵𝓽𝓮𝓼 ✯ 𝓊𝓃𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈

(click here for contents)

There are five different facultés (abr. fac) in Paris, each one called by a number and the name of a famous wizard/witch or a district in Paris. Each fac has its specificities and various pathways that should please most of the young students trying to find what they want to do with their life after they graduate

Paris I — Babel: Modern languages, dead languages, magical languages, magicology, magical literature, theoretical studies of magical and non-magical art

Paris II — Ruggieri: Astrology, astronomy, divination, theology, psychology, philosophy and sociology

Paris III — Nicolas et Pernelle Flamel: Alchemy, occult sciences, arithmancy and mathematics, magical and non-magical medicine, biology

Paris IV — Cluny: Botanics, care of magical creatures, potions, magical geology and crystal healing, elementary magic

Paris V — Kardec: Necromancy, spiritism, divination, transfiguration, illusionism and oneiric magic, hypnosis and psychology

French students either use the number or the name of the uni to refer to it, never both. Ex: “I did my masters at Paris IV”, “I was a teacher at Cluny for two years” or “Flamel has the best course for arithmancy”

Paris universities are known for being selective but welcome students from every social class: there are no tuition fees except for social security which is calculated on the income of the student or their household if they still live with their parents. The more you earn, the more you pay but it is capped to 20 galleons per student (roughly 450€). If you’re doing a joint honour degree in two different fac, you won’t have to pay twice.

Be careful with this because French bureaucracy is kind of a mess, especially when it comes to uni life. Most people working for the administration have a precise timetable they like to stick to and won’t be kind to you if you raise your voice, even if you’ve been waiting for 2h at their door because the only free time you had is during their lunch break. But sometimes, the right owl sent to the right person will be enough, so don’t hesitate to communicate!

Depending on which fac you’re attending, you’ll probably meet a lot of different people but since we’re French (a.k.a. judgmental), each fac has a typical profile of students:

Students from Babel are considered clever and cultivated but most people think they just don’t really know what they want to do with their life yet. They enjoy uni life in Paris and spend time hanging out with a great deal of foreign students from every part of the world, learning and researching for academic purpose. They create more or less harmful spells and like to talk in latin or ancient greek on a daily basis. They make inside jokes about politics and are the first ones to go on strike any time they don’t agree with the government’s decisions. Very diplomatic and charismatic but also kinda conceited since Babel was the first actual French magical faculté in the Sorbonne (this title is also claimed by the Perrault Institute). They love to debate about any topic of the wizarding world and for the most part, they know a lot about the non-magical world too since they study languages spoken by muggles as well.

Students from Ruggieri are more discreet and contemplative. They are passionate and having your astral chart drawn up by one of them feels like becoming an open book, even though knowing about astrology doesn’t always mean being intuitive. They aren’t known for being empathetic though, and they have a tendency to despise divination techniques that aren’t based on what’s written in the stars (students from Kardec can tell). They love mythology, mind games and poetry. They often go to the countryside beyond Paris’ suburbs to escape light pollution and if you’re lucky, they might invite you to their next nocturnal picnic in Seine-et-Marne.

Students from Flamel are hard-working and competitive since medicine studies (and other courses taught in this university) follow the numerus clausus method. You have more chances to see a Flamel student at the BAM (Bibliothèque Académique de Magie, en. Academic Library for Magic) than attending any of the cool parties young French witches and wizards organise throughout the year. Actually, since the BAM is physically part of Paris I, this has created a long-time resentment among students who all claim priority to access the Library. Flamel students are ambitious and passionate by their field but suffer from a great deal of pressure since failing one exam can be  eliminatory. They also have the worst writing ever.

Students from Cluny are seen as the weird hippies of the academic wizarding world. Always down for going on a trip or testing new things. Their shared interest in elementary magic makes them very welcoming and warm since they tend to focus on how a group is stronger than an individual and how you can always seek for help in others (“others” sometimes meaning plants, animals or rocks). They are very genuine and you won’t know for sure if they are really down-to-earth or if they constantly keep their head in the clouds. They love going outdoors and escape the city from time to time but they can also spend hours (days) underground cultivating fungi. Laugh now if you want to, but they get the best kind of psychedelics and liquors for your next party and they won’t bring any if you make fun of them. Also, they throw their own parties in cool speakeasies all over the Mines. Keep your ears open if you want to get the password!

Students from Kardec are actually the real anarchists of the academic landscape, even though Babel tries to steal their far-left thunder. Non-conformists, skeptical and teasing, they love throwing some unpopular opinion in a debate and watch how it takes. You’ll see them at protests and art events since they hang out a lot with students from the ENSBAMO and the Académie de Musique. They generally have no filter whatsoever and are also trying to figure out what they want to do with their life but even though they seem a bit puzzling at times, they’re really sweet. They might know their way around the Mines better than students from Cluny and believe me when I tell you this: they throw the best Halloween party every year — apparently being located in a cemetery helps a lot.

Of course, these are reputations, not distinctive character traits and every student is different from the other so don’t worry: you’ll fit right in wherever you want to go!

[robininthelabyrinth]

Okay everything about NMJ in no. 24 hurt but I'm also broken up about that room being used on children???? Like I would never let A-Yuan go back there if that room was anything he'd ever have to face, that's so messed up, poor LWJ and LXC. Please let the aftermath of NHS's war be a treaty requiring therapy and less torture of children 😭

The way I see it, the Lan sect introduces their children to it very gradually - a few seconds, then a minute, then a few minutes - over the course of years, so they grow up with it, thinking of it as normal. As a cultivation technique, it’s probably really useful, since they can focus exclusively on themselves without any outside interference.

but putting someone who isn’t familiar with it in there for a whole night? against their will? especially someone whose qi is already disturbed from the altered Song of Clarity?

Lan Xichen should have known better. He would have, if he’d been thinking, instead of listening to JGY and letting him do the thinking for him.

[ibijau]

Worst engagement AU // on AO3

Nie Huaisang experiments in Qinghe before returning to Gusu

Nie Huaisang is only in Qinghe for a little short of a month and a half, but it’s the most intense few weeks of his life. It was already a surprise when his brother simply agreed to let him try and see if he turned out to be good at, well, anything. But then, Nie Mingjue got enthusiastic about the idea, opening both the armoury and the library for him in hopes of finding a weapon he might be more comfortable with than his sabre.

It’s exhausting to be made to get up at dawn and try out so many weapons and styles of fighting, but it’s not a bad kind of tiredness. Even though Nie Huaisang encounters little success with swords, spears, daggers, poles or even, when Nie Mingjue started running of ideas, fans, he still feels a certain thrill at being allowed to experiment.

In the end it’s Nie Zonghui who figures out something that does work. He’s one of their cousins, a little older than Nie Mingjue by a few years, and probably his closest friend aside from Lan Xichen, so he knows both brothers well. From anyone else, the suggestion to make Nie Huaisang try unarmed combat would have felt like a joke. In fact, even like this, Nie Huaisang laughs to his face.

“With arms like mine, if I try to punch somebody I’ll just break a bone,” he points out. “Isn’t it something for people who are big and strong?”

“Not if you learn the right style,” Nie Zonghui replies. “There are several schools of martial art that turn weakness into a strength. And you’d have the element of surprise on your side. My mother’s cousin studied in a temple and showed me a few things, I can teach you that.”

Instantly, Nie Huaisang finds himself thinking of that incident with Jin Zixun. It had been so satisfying to take him by surprise and get to kick him, even if he had been quickly been overcome by his little gang.

“Is it possible to fight several people at once without weapons?”

“If you get good enough,” Nie Zonghui says.

“You want to try that?” Nie Mingjue asks, looking a little unconvinced. Everyone in Qinghe Nie knows how to defend themselves should they somehow be separated from their sabre, but it’s mostly treated as a last resort, with a focus on getting their hands on a new blade as quickly as possible.

“It can’t harm,” Nie Huaisang decides after some hesitation. “I’ll probably be bad at it.”

They try, and he is, in fact, bad at it.

But it’s a different kind of bad. Usually, Nie Huaisangs gets frustrated because he can never seem to get the right grip on whatever weapon he’s handed, or they’re too heavy, or too light, or too big for his hands. But without a weapon to distract him, he’s free to focus only on his body’s movements and that’s a little easier.

They’ve been experimenting for two weeks already, but that morning is the first time Nie Huaisang is disappointed when the call for lunch rings. He’s tired and sweaty and aching, but he grins when Nie Zonghui tells him that he did well. Nie Mingjue takes one look at his little brother and shakes his head.

“Of course you’d have to be weird,” he sighs. “A cultivator without a spiritual weapon, that’s… Whatever. Fine. Do you want to keep trying that?”

“I think I do. Would you let me?”

“As long as you continue to practice the sabre as well,” Nie Mingjue demands. “I’ll see if we have manuals you could use, and if that’s what works for you, I’ll see about getting you a teacher when you return from Gusu. Until then, Zonghui can take care of you, since that’s his idea.”

Nie Zonghui doesn’t seem bothered by the order, and promises to do his best to help. Nie Huaisang feels excited in a way he’s never been, not about fighting and cultivation anyway. If this works… and he wants it to work, because it feels right to rely on nothing but himself. Weapons can be lost or broken, but his body isn’t going anywhere.

-

It’s not all about fighting and training, though. Nie Huaisang upholds his part of the deal, so Nie Mingjue does the same and allows him to do as he pleases in the afternoons. The first few days, Nie Huaisang doesn’t do much, overwhelmed by the possibilities. But that’s wasting precious time, so he gets to business and starts asking the other juniors what they and their relatives do for fun.

Since this is Qinghe Nie, a lot of the answers are disappointing. ‘Extra training’ isn’t helpful and neither is ‘go night hunting’, but these are the most common ideas he’s given. 

Regular hunting of animals is suggested a few times, so when he hears that a group of juniors are going out to shoot pheasants, he joins along. He likes the stalking part of it, and the chance to see birds and a variety of animals, but he has little skill with a bow, so actually shooting the pheasants is just frustrating.

Fishing comes up as well, and that works both very well and not so great. Nie Huaisang has never given it much thought, but he turns out to be quite patient and doesn’t mind waiting a long while for something to bite. In fact, it has a meditative quality that he really likes. But for this too he has gone with a group of juniors, and he quickly realises that they don’t see fishing the way he does. For them, it’s mostly a good excuse to escape the Unclean Realm for a few hours and mess around in a body of water. Nie Huaisang has strong suspicions that if he weren’t there, they might get up to mischief and even get drunk, but of course some things cannot be done in front of the sect’s second master. If he goes fishing again it’ll have to be alone, or with people who don’t worry he might rat them out to Nie Mingjue.

Two other people mention that they paint, much like him. He steals them away for an entire afternoon, and they have a long chat about techniques, brushes, and how to best prepare their ink. Nie Huaisang is very flustered when he gets told in no uncertain terms that his work is very good, but he doesn’t put too much stock into it. Again, he’s the sect second master, nobody can tell him he’s bad at it. But it was fun to talk with others, and it confirms that painting is something he really loves and wants to improve on.

Someone plays board games, so Nie Huaisang tries a few with the sect's elders who are only too happy to teach him. Mahjong has rules too complicated for him to really enjoy in such a short time though he suspects he might like to try again, and he particularly likes Go right off the bat.

Another person plays music, but Nie Huaisang doesn’t feel like giving that a chance. If Lan Xichen heard about it, he might have an opinion on the matter and Nie Huaisang isn’t interested in hearing it.

A young woman shyly admits that she writes poetry, and that she knows a few others do as well, both men and women. Nie Huaisang has never given much thought to writing before but since he enjoys reading, he figures it might be worth a try, if he can find the right subject.

One boy, an older junior, tells about his uncle who paints fans, and shows one to Nie Huaisang. It is, to put it mildly, a revelation. He’s always kind of liked fans, because they give him something to do with his hands when he’s in public at banquets and conferences. He also likes painting, obviously. The idea of combining the two blows his mind, and he obtains from Nie Mingjue a full day off so that this disciple can take him to meet his uncle. Nie Huaisang comes back with a list of recommendations for the materials he’ll need, some serious advice, and the title of a treaty that details how the art of fan making works.

Perhaps more importantly, the disciple’s uncle told him that the paintings he brought along are, truly, just as good as others have said. For the first time, Nie Huaisang can’t find any way to dismiss the compliment.

-

When his golden core finally forms, four weeks in, Nie Mingjue allows him an entire day in Qinghe to celebrate, in company of the two juniors who will go to the Cloud Recesses with him. It’s a bonding experience, and also a chance for them to show how well behaved they will be.

They certainly start well behaved, going through the market, checking the food and merchandise. Nie Huaisang buys paper and some brushes, eager to try and paint some fans. He doesn’t intend to work too hard when he’s in the Cloud Recesses again, since that brought so little results the first time, so he’s going to have plenty of free time. It’s the perfect chance to practice all those ideas he’s been gathering from everyone.

While he’s busy checking some trinkets at a stall, the two boys who were with him disappear. Nie Huaisang only barely catches a glimpse of them going into a building. It stings a little, being left behind like that, and it does not bode well for the year to come. Just some weeks ago, Nie Huaisang would have waited around miserably without saying anything. This isn’t who he wants to be anymore, though, so he gathers all the courage he has and follows them into that building.

It’s a shop.

It’s a prints shop.

It’s a special prints shop.

It’s a little overwhelming to see so many pictures of naked people on display. Nie Huaisang doesn’t know where to look, because it’s just. It’s everywhere.

He already knew that those types of prints existed, of course. He’s heard other juniors talk about them, and he knows some of the bolder boys own a few. When they were all in the same cabin in the Cloud Recesses, there’s been a few times when he came in to find the other Nie disciples hurriedly hiding things behind their back while glaring at him for disturbing them. He’s never actually seen such a print, because the others weren’t offering to share with him, and he wouldn’t have known where to get his own.

He certainly knows now.

The two other juniors beg him to keep quiet about this, and each buy him a print in exchange for his silence. Nie Huaisang accepts, and buys a few better ones with his own money.

It’s going to be a fun year in the Cloud Recesses.

-

There are less guest disciples than last year, Nie Huaisang figures as he looks around the classroom where they have been asked to gather for their first day of lessons, which is good. On the other hand the guest disciples who are here are a lot more important than the ones last year, and that’s a little distressing.

This is the year he was supposed to come if his father hadn’t died, just like every young master of any importance, all of them gathered together so they can learn not just how to follow the supposed wisdom of Gusu Lan, but more importantly how to behave with those others who will someday rule the cultivation world alongside them.

Nie Huaisang hears that even the sons of Wen Ruohan have been invited, which he can easily believe. It’d be foolish to snub them. Wen Ruohan, of course, refused. His sons don’t need to make friends with the other young masters.

But Nie Huaisang desperately does. He refuses to go through another year alone. Certainly there’s Lan Wangji whose kindness took him by surprise and whose advice he’s clinging to, but… Nie Huaisang doesn’t think his future brother-in-law would easily handle the amount of company he needs. Lan Wangji is comfortable in his loneliness, while Nie Huaisang is starting to realise he isn’t. He’s never been too popular even at home, but once he started on his experiment of finding something to be good at, he’s found himself talking to a lot of people who haven’t appeared to mind his conversation. He suspects it’s mostly because everyone jumped at the chance for a break from practice, but it was still nice to chat and work with others. 

No way he’s spending the next few months with nobody to talk to. And sure this time he kind of gets along with the other Nie disciples who have come along, thanks to that shared secret of the print shop, but the rank difference is still there, making it awkward at times. 

That means Nie Huaisang needs to approach the other young masters and, somehow, make them believe that they might enjoy time spent with him. 

Although he intends to try his luck with the young master of small sects, Nie Huaisang decides that it’s with those of the other Great Sect that he needs to interact first, since there, rank difference won’t matter. It’s a little scary, though. On the one hand, there’s Jin Zixuan who is… well, Nie Huaisang still bitterly remembers his interactions with his cousin Jin Zixun, so that’s a bad start. And everyone says that Jin Zixuan thinks a little too highly of himself, that he doesn’t like people of inferior cultivation, so… that’s going to be a challenge.

On the other hand, there’s…

As he’s thinking of them, the Jiang delegation arrives, the last group to join them even though Nie Huaisang heard they arrived in the Cloud Recesses early the day before. They’re lucky that Lan Qiren hasn’t joined them yet, or they’d be in trouble. Not that they’d mind, he thinks. There’s an air to Jiang Wanyin and that kid with him… Wei Wuxian? Wei something, for sure. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that Jiang Wanyin and Wei gongzi look like they’re quite used to getting in trouble.

Instantly, Nie Huaisang finds himself fascinated by them. They both carry themselves with the sort of effortless confidence he’s more used to seeing in young adults than on kids his age. They look cocky and proud, but not in the mean way that someone like Jin Zixun does. They look like they’re ready to make friends everywhere they go and indeed, rather than to go sit as he should, Wei gongzi starts greeting the young masters of smaller sects while Jiang Wanyin follows, mildly irritated but not making any efforts to stop him. 

Yet when they reach the level of Jin Zixuan, tension instantly rises in the air. It’s a little odd, because there’s an alliance between Lanling Jin and Yunmeng Jiang, but of course Nie Huaisang knows better than most that political agreements between adults do not always translate into friendship between children. It certainly doesn’t here. Jin Zixuan looks ready to unsheathe his sword if the other two dare speak to him, which Wei gongzi seems to know because he smirks, and…

Before he knows it, Nie Huaisang hops on his feet, strides toward them, and bows to Jiang Wanying, catching everyone’s attention.

“You must be Jiang gongzi!” he says in a voice made a little too high by how nervous he is. “I am Nie Huaisang, of Qinghe Nie. I have heard so much about you, it is an honour to meet you at last.”

“Nie gongzi,” Jiang Wanyin says, bowing as well though a little less deeply. “The honour is shared.”

“You’re too kind, too kind! Jiang gongzi, there is some empty space near us, won’t you sit with us? We can chat a bit while we wait for master Lan to join us. I don’t know what’s keeping him, he’s usually very punctual. Please, please, come sit!”

For a moment, Jiang Wanyin hesitates. He glances at Wei gongzi, then at Jin Zixuan who still has his hand on the handle of his sword.

“Thank you for the offer, Nie gongzi. We will sit with you.”

They follow him and though Wei gongzi looks rather disappointed that he didn’t get to tease Jin Zixuan, he doesn’t seem in a bad mood either. Maybe it wouldn’t have come down to a fight, Nie Huaisang realises, suddenly feeling very foolish for his intervention. Those three know each other, maybe he interrupted a game of fake aggressivity that they play together? But no, Jiang Wanyin looks a little relieved, so there might have been a real risk.

“Have you ever come to the Cloud Recesses before?” Nie Huaisang asks, figuring that he needs to make a little conversation now that he so boldly asked for their company.

“No, it’s our first time,” Jiang Wanyin explains. “Have you?”

“I was already a student last year, but I failed.”

Jiang Wanyin doesn’t look too surprised, which makes sense. Failure is rare enough, and Nie Huaisang caused such a scene that everyone must have told about it once they got home. It’s going to take a while to make people forget about that. His cheeks start heating up just thinking back on it.

“Oh, that’s good,” Wei gongzi says with a grin. “You can show us all the fun spots.”

“Fun? Here? I doubt it,” Nie Huaisang mutters, a little more bitterly than he ought to. “I’m sure the Lotus Piers is much more fun than here, isn’t it?”

At this, both Jiang Wanyin and Wei gongzi agree quickly enough, and start explaining how good life is over in Yunmeng. It all sounds impossibly dreamy and Nie Huaisang finds himself thinking that, if Nie Mingjue is still worried about his safety at the end of the year, he might ask to be sent to Yunmeng next. 

He’s still fantasising about that when finally Lan Qiren arrives, nephews in tow. Nie Huaisang tries to smile at Lan Wangji who ignores him in favour of glaring at Wei Wuxian (he had remembered the name right, in the end). Sadly this means that Lan Xichen, for some reason, thinks that Nie Huaisang’s smile is for him, and while he looks a little puzzled, he gives his fiancé a small nod of acknowledgement. Nie Huaisang immediately looks away, annoyed that he might have accidentally given the idea that he wants anything to do with Lan Xichen.

Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian grins and points at Lan Wangji who is still glaring at him.

“Hey, that’s the guy I fought with last night!”

Nie Huaisang gasps, torn between horror and amusement.

It promises to be an interesting year.

[aquadrazi]

Find Someone to Carry You

Chapter 23

………Qinghe………

Nie Huaisang and Jin Zixuan were in the study, going over the most recent letters from the spies.  As far as they could tell, Xue Yang WAS in fact, in Yi City, and no one has been able to locate Jin Zixun’s hiding place, as of yet.

Nie Huaisang was looking at a map, with the locations of unusual and unexplained demonic activity was reported and frowned.  “You know, I think that pack of Juniors might be on the same trail as us.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me.  Didn’t you say that they found Mo Xuanyu in an array designed by Wei Wuxian?”  Jin Zixuan joined him at the map.

“Yes, and Mo Xuanyu was apparently part of Jin Guangshan’s demonic cultivation experiments, before he was kicked out of Koi Tower.”

“Do you think that somebody WANTED Young Master Mo to be found?”  Jin Zixuan mused.

“Not only that, but I’m wondering if that person wasn’t the one who gave him the idea of attempting the Sacrifice Summon in the first place.”  Nie Huaisang added.  “Now I want to know if that person knew it wouldn’t work, or if they were hoping it would.”

“So either the person knew Wei Wuxian was alive, and wanted the Hanguang-Jun to find out as well…”

“Or the person wanted to bring Wei Ying back and have him found by Lan Wangji.”  Nie Huaisang finished the thought.

“It sounds like either way, someone was trying to get Lan Zhan involved in events in the larger cultivation world again.”  Yanli said as she entered with a bowl of soup.

“I don’t know what Jin Guangyao would gain from getting Lan Wangji’s attention.  It seems his life is better with the Second Jade of Lan out of the way, sulking on the backside of a mountain.”  Nie Huaisang just could not shake the idea that there might be more than one key player that he was missing.

“So maybe it wasn’t him.  Maybe it’s someone else, trying to mess with Jin Guangyao, and using Lan Zhan as a tool.”  Yanli offered as she rationed out the soup into bowls for them.

“Xue Yang maybe?”  Nie Huaisang wondered.

“A-Sang, please sit down and eat.  We can continue to discuss this with full stomachs.”  Yanli scolded.

“I should dispatch someone to Yi City.”  Nie Huaisang decided as he accepted the bowl Yanli was offering him.

Wei Ying was reading the dual cultivation techniques Lan Zhan had left, the ones that he said he would be interested in trying.  His entire face was red.  He felt like he was being instructed on how to produce good porn, by a Lan professor.

“Applying pressure to this spot had been known to result in a positive response.”

Who WROTE this?!

Leave it to the Lans to make even forbidden dual cultivation acts boring.

Wei Ying had been a mess of nerves ever since Lan Zhan had announced that they should start to attempt to grow him a new golden core.  How was this even supposed to work?  He’d never even SEEN Lan Zhan naked.  Is he just going to stay clothed the whole time?  That felt too much like what Wei Ying had been forced to endure in the past.  No, he was going to put his foot down.  If Lan Zhan wanted to do these things to him, he got to do things to Lan Zhan too.

No, Wei Ying decided.  Lan Zhan was going first.  He wanted that man naked and writhing in pleasure first, before he was allowed to do any of the things that were described in these texts to Wei Ying.  It was only fair.  He pulled out the list of things that Lan Zhan had written down when they had their previous discussion and began to plan out what he would need to as A-Sang for.

A-Sang was being particularly difficult to locate.  If Wei Ying didn’t know any better, he would think that A-Sang KNEW about his plan, and was avoiding him on purpose.  He was so preoccupied that he didn’t even realize that anyone else was in the courtyard until he heard a yelp and the sound of rustling fabric.

“A-Xian, we didn’t expect you to be wandering about.”  Yanli said, a little breathlessly.

Wei Ying turned and realized that he had CLEARLY interrupted his Shijie and Jin Zixuan, doing…something…

He quickly covered his eyes and whined “Nope, nope nope nope”

Yanli laughed.  “Oh A-Xian, you’re old enough to know better.  We ARE married-“

“Lah lah lah lah lah” Wei Ying childishly yelled over whatever it was his Shijie was going to say as he ran as quickly as he could to be ANYWHERE but there.  Why is EVERYTHING about sex lately?  What he wouldn’t give for a good undead corpse right about now.

He really should have been watching where he was going, because he bumped right into Lan Zhan.  He squeaked and turned to run the other direction.

“Is Wei Ying 3 years old again?”  Lan Zhan asked as he was running off.

“YEP!”  He yelled over his shoulder.

Wow, Lan Zhan sure is a quick learner.

Wei Ying was finally safe from people and he continued his quest to find A-Sang.  Luckily he’d written down what he needed, so he could just hand the page to A-Sang and run away in shame.

He honestly didn’t know where he was at this point.  He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten here either.  He had just been trying to get away from his Shijie and Lan Zhan, so he didn’t pay attention.  He turned a corner and his body froze when he smelled an aroma that he recognized.

No.

Not again.

Not here.

I was supposed to be safe here.

Help.

Someone help me.

Please.

Lan Zhan heard the wail and shot towards it.  He’d heard it enough to know that it was Wei Ying.  He had Bichen unsheathed as he rounded the corner and found him.

Wei Ying was cowering against a wall, wailing and rocking back and forth.  There was a man, looking startled, standing off to the side, watching Wei Ying.  Lan Zhan let out a growl and got his attention.

“Honorable Hanguang-Jun!”  He greeted quickly with a bow.  “I apologize for the disturbance, but I do not know what set him off.”

Lan Zhan didn’t believe it.  Not for a second.  He pointed Bichen towards the man, threateningly.

Nie Huaisang arrived and quickly ran to Wei Ying’s side.  He bent his head down to listen to what Wei Ying was muttering in between wails.

“GUARDS!!!”  Nie Huaisang yelled, louder and more commanding that Lan Zhan had ever heard him.  Before Lan Zhan could blink they were surrounded by Nie Guards.

“Please escort He Shao to the Conversation Room.”  Nie Huaisang ordered, darkly.

“Sect Leader Nie I protest!  This is completely uncalled for.  I did NOTHING to this, this…”

“This…what?”  Nie Huaisang asked as he turned and stood up, cocking his head to the side.  “Say it.  Say what you were going to.”

“Whore.”  He Shao spat.  “I did nothing to the whore.  I don’t know why he’s so upset.”

Nie Huaisang had to physically stand in front of Lan Zhan to stop him for running He Shao through with Bichen right then and there.

“TAKE. HIM. AWAY.”  Nie Huaisang ordered to his guards, staring Lan Zhan in the eyes.  “He will be dealt with Lan Wangji.  But we will take our time with it.  He does not deserve a quick or painless death.”

The guards dragged He Shao away, as he struggled and yelled his objections.

It took Lan Zhan a couple seconds to calm down enough to sheath Bichen.  He quickly knelt by Wei Ying and pulled him to his chest.

“L-Lan Zhan…”  Wei Ying sobbed.

“I am here.  Wei Ying is safe.”

Wei Ying wrapped his trembling arms around Lan Zhan’s neck and buried his face into his shoulder.  “You kept your promise.”

“Will always protect Wei Ying.”

Lan Zhan picked up Wei Ying and carried him back to his room.

[ijustwantdumpling]

Modaozushi Fanfic Recommendation.

Since I can’t get enough of this novel, might as well pampering/hurting my self more with an outstanding fanfic/canon divergence of this great book. Even the live action and the anime version still nor gonna stop me from these beautiful handmade story by all the fans of Modaozushi.

This recommendation will be focusing on our WangXian couple

 1.Cure by Yukirin_Snow 

Description : It was meant to be a consult, simple, quick, to tell the family and patient that there wasn’t much he could do. Even after all the other doctors, the tests, the treatments, and the huge stack of documentation on his desk that told him this poor patient could only remain comfortable until his final moments.

So how had it ended up like this?

(It was well written and you could see how well researched this fanfic is. I Spent my night in tears reading this beautiful fanfic. tips : prepare some tissue and we gonna go on emotional roller coaster.)

status : Multi-chaptered / Completed

2. SanRen by Kyogre

Description : Leaving YunmengJiang in an effort to curb the tensions in the Jiang family, Wei WuXian becomes a rogue cultivator.Even without the support of a sect, he is a rare genius whose name will become known across the cultivation world and whose techniques will influence the course of a war.However, what influences his own fate is a chance meeting that becomes the first step toward love.

(a canon divergence, but at least everyone alive here.)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

3. My Immortal by Jaywalker_Holmes

Description : Wei WuXian had thought his troubles had ended after the mess with Jin GuangYao was sorted out, and that he would spend the rest of his life happily with his beloved Lan Zhan, double cultivating and rebuilding his golden core. However, fate had other plans. Mo XuanYu's frail body could not contain his increasing power, and an inevitable cultivation accident occurs, sending Wei WuXian to his six-year old body, just before Jiang FengMian found him. Will the YiLing Patriarch have a happier life this time around?Inspired by Evanescence's song, which will be reflected in the chapter titles.

(A time travel series! there’s a heavenly beast and everyone is alive and thriving also what I really love the most is soft hearted madam Yu and a creepy/psycho wen ruohan who’s everyone number onecenemies but at least he didn’t die so we could actually know what was he’s motivation actually is or.. just him being psycho)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

4. Loneliness Knows My Name by  Jaywalker_Holmes , Treef

Description :  AU after the First Siege of Burial Mounds. Wei WuXian didn't die, instead he was saved by someone everyone thought was already dead - Wen Ruohan. However, no one knows this (since Wen Ruohan is apparently great at faking deaths), so the cultivation world rejoices even as Lan WangJi desperately searches for his Wei Ying and finds a little child instead. Wei WuXian, on the other hand... 

(well.. can you imagine Wen Ruohan became Wei Wuxian grandpa? this definitely change everything.)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

5. Night of Sixth Magnitude Stars by Leffy

Description : Lan WangJi gave him a disapproving look as they left the classroom. “You can’t be late every time.”Wei WuXian walked with light steps, seemingly in a happy mood. “They can’t fault me if I want to spend more time with the only student who really listens to me.”Lan WangJi followed reluctantly, because Wei WuXian always made him follow, even when he was driving him crazy.

( A modern AU! at first I was hesitated because I was to used with the time setting in the novel but my hesitation was just a complete stupid waste of time because this fanfic definitely GOLD)

status : Multi-Chaptered /Completed 

6. Blink  by Menuridae

Description : “So on Saturday night, while you are having the time of your life on a date with your hot, hunky, handsome soulmate, I have to go on a date with a rich young master who sounds like a literal stick in the mud whilst pretending to be you?"Mo Xuanyu's family has set him up on a blind date with a rich young master after learning he is gay. However, he already has plans for that night. Instead of going on the date himself, Mo Xuanyu enlists Wei Wuxian to go as a substitute. Wei Wuxian must act like his best friend for the night before kindly turning down Mo Xuanyu's date.Only, Wei Wuxian finds out that turning down Mo Xuanyu's date is possibly the hardest thing he has had to do in a long time.

(single parent LWJ and we should thanks Mo Xaunyu for he is actually our savior)

status :Multi-Chaptered /Completed

7. the nights are long (but the years are shorter) by hyunbyun

Description :  Wei Ying and Lan Zhan come to terms with the fact that A-Yuan really is grown up.

(WangXian became a soft parent and somehow I pictured my parent actually felt the same in each year I grew up.)

status : Oneshot 

8. Ten miles of Lotus Flowers by Yukirin_Snow

Description : He was a mischievous fox spirit, wreaking havoc where he went, about to depart on a journey that would span centuries.He was a heavenly prince, a proud dragon destined to ascend the throne to become emperor.Neither expected their paths to collide over the span of three lives.

(A/B/O Dynamic and Mpreg. very well written and my heart broke most of the time thankyou very much but it’s happy ending tho)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

9. Switched by Shorimochi 

Description : When an actor transmigrated into a fictional world, and a fictional character transmigrated into the real world.There are a lot of things Xiao Zhan could do - sing, dance, act, cook, draw - but not fighting cultivators, and definitely not summon an army of corpses! Most importantly, how can he handle being around Wang Yibo's fictional self when he knew the man had been fantasising about him since fifteen?Wei Wuxian swore just a few minutes ago he was still out there, destroying the Wens who had taken away his home, but when he opened his eyes he arrived at a dreamland where there are moving pictures, metal carriages, and people are so rich they poop in a beautiful white porcelain throne. Also, why does the Lan Zhan he saw smile so often and talk so much?

(LWJ reputation was definitely tainted! I laugh so much but this ff is actualy genius. let’s see how Xiao Zhan, a real life actor who played wei wuxian and who knew  better about how his character specially the story line trying to save that massive bundle of trouble)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

10. Don't You Like Me (MDZS Edition) by Shorimochi 

Description : Wei Wuxian was just an ordinary teenager at Gusu Academy. He hung out with friends, break the rules at least once a day, and banter with his roommate, Lan Wangji at every opportunity he had.Life had been normal, until his grandfather passed away and left him an ancient relic that gave him the Yin eyes, causing him to be able to see and communicate with ghosts. Wei Wuxian was horrified to discover that everywhere around him, there were ghosts invading his space, even watching him shower! He wasn't able to sleep, eat, or study properly - until one day he accidentally touched Lan Wangji skin-to-skin, and the ghosts simply disappeared. Hmm?Wei Wuxian discovered that a simple brush of hands closed his Yin eyes for five minutes. A hug, fifteen minutes. Exchanging saliva? (Don't ask how)... Two hours. And so he began sticking close to Lan Wangji for as much and as long as he could.Until he got kabedon'ed by his roommate.LWJ: You try to touch me at every opportunity you have. You like me, don't you? WWX: ... (Unable to answer because of the curse of the seal) LWJ: I like you too. WWX: ??!Based on a novel of the same title.

(A modern AU, a have good laugh also wei wuxian was very meanie to our soft hearted lwj.)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed 

11. no other cloud compares to you by ectocosme

Description :  Divine beasts sometimes fall in love with humans. Half-divine beast most often than not. Dragons always. Wei Wuxian visits Cloud Recesses when he receives the first 'hail' of who will become his mate. At least, he is determined for them to become mates. But life does not flow as the river, it is a meandering stream easily disturbed.

(Wei Wuxian as a dragon! also wangji are just so stupid smh..)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Ongoing

12. Sky, Cloud and Lotus by Xantya24

Description :  Wei WuXian is an unruly omega that is mated to one of the Twin Jades of GusuLan, Lan WangJi an alpha. Till one day, they find out that Wei WuXian is pregnant. How will the new mated couple react to the news? It will be one hell of a ride. Raising kids is definitely different from raising buns buns. From morning sickness to weird cravings to mood swings to labor to sleepless nights. To new relationships being build to finding about love. Lots of angst and fluff also. Prepare for the feels.

status : Multi-Chaptered / Ongoing 

13. ShuangXiu by panda_desu

Description : Lan XiChen knows he must sound so stupid right now. He clears his throat. "I am sure this is something to expect from a married couple, but Wangji, I have to ask, how?"Lan WangJi looks impassively at Lan XiChen.

(mpreg but not abo dynamic but somehow it’s make sense! well at least for mdzs universe. love how the author deliver it and makes the theory acceptable so it’s not like wei ying getting pregnant out of nowhere. loved it!)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed 

14. MDZS drabbles by Demon_neko97

Description :  This is just a collection of the prompt requests I receive on Tumblr. (The prompt request is already closed.)

(collection of drabbles, fluffy, funny, perfect for times when you just want to keep it light and better mood)

status : Drables / Ongoing 

15. The Light That Fails to Dim by glowingreverie

Description : Wei Ying lost his parents in a night hunt. Cold and alone, he wandered the streets of Yiling for nearly two years. However, one fateful night, a tall, scary man finds him and takes him back to a place he calls Qinghe. Later Wei Ying, now known as Wei Wuxian, discovers that that tall, scary man is not bad at all. And his cowardly brother makes an even better friend than he initially thought he would. With a content feeling in his chest every day, Wei Wuxian can only hope these peaceful, happy days with his new family will last until the end of time.Or, in which Jiang Fengmian is unaware of what happened to Wei Wuxian's parents and Nie Mingjue takes him in and the story continues from there...

(things really get different over there and I might say this is a great one. I just love nie huaisang so much fight me) 

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

16.Misunderstood by Silver_Flame_2724 

Description : There is something called a memory ball, or Jiyi Qiu, that shows the memories of a chosen person.In order to further incriminate the already dead Yiling Patriarch, the cultivation world decides to use this memory ball at the next Discussion Conference to show how evil the demonic cultivator can truly be.What appears, though, truly shocks them all.

(a cried a river. heartbreaking but satisfied just to imagine those guilty faces) 

status : Multi-Chaptered /Ongoing

17. Jiang Cheng and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Wedding by hyunbyun

Description :  An outside perspective on modern! Lan Zhan’s and Wei Ying’s wedding through the eyes of local poor soul Jiang Cheng.

(Heartwarming, it literally bring smile to my face and this is just so good. you have to read this one) 

status :  Oneshot

18. Family - Mating Season by Laxruar

Description :  Fairy isn't a good dog.

(Laugh my ass out, literally!) 

19. Instagram Husband by hasu, ofishenod

Description :  Wei WuXian was on a mission to become Instagram Famous, so he did what he did best: dragged Lan WangJi (and many unwilling others) into his misadventures. Or, 5 times Wei WuXian had Lan WangJi take photos of him and 1 time Wei WuXian took a photo with Lan WangJi.

(if I don’t get the lan wangji for my wei wuxian, then what’s the meaning of this life?!)

status : Oneshot.

20. The Tale of Snow Wei by scrayjes

Description :  

 Snow Wei is a powerful warlock; The mage is as strong-willed as can be; The prince should watch his anger; The donkey should roam free.

(wei wuxian as a snow white? yes. )

status : Oneshot 

21. Response by  Aki_no_hikari

Description : What if Wei Wuxian hadn't been silent to Lan Wangji's Inquiry? Part 2: Featuring A-Yuan

(a-yuan T.T loving it!) 

status : Multi-Chaptered 

22. Some of You by Tangerinechar

Description : It can’t be that bad, he thinks. There’s no way he would have done that. But the doubt still lingers, turning into full-blown anxiety as he scrolls down his twitter feed, finally arriving on his latest tweet.

Lan WangJi ✔ @lan_wangjiSome of you have never fallen in love with a boy only for him to go missing after his parents die and pine away for three years waiting for him to come back, then continue to pine when he’s back after you realize you’re too scared to confess, and it shows.23,043 retweets | 73,328 likesLan Zhan’s face pales and he buries his head in his hands, letting his phone drop on the table.

This is bad.This is very, very bad.-Or, Lan Wangji gets drunk and tweets a love confession, Wei Wuxian panics, and all of twitter decides to matchmake Lan Wangji and his mystery guy.

(wei wuxian is that dense! smh) 

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

23. asymptotic by chinxe

Description : The members of the Lan Clan have never been particularly well-known for their good judgement when it comes to matters of the heart.Which is why it should come as a surprise to no one when Lan Wangji falls in love with an actual ghost.

(”wei ying is wei ying” lwj just so hopeless when it’s about wwx)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

if you already read all of those fanfics above then congratulation! you’ve already going through a high level of mood changing, tear jerking, blood pulsing, head aching, tooth aching fluff and thousands more feelings! what a ride!. 

[noirbriar]

MDZS ficlet : Empty Shadows (1)

This fic contains some post canon content and mostly touches on WWX’s thoughts on his new body’s original owner. Mostly word vomit but if its your cup of tea ( or bowl of congee ) please take it. ----- Life goes on. Although for some, they remain in the past. Others are trying to forget. However, what of those that have been forgotten by the world? ----- “Its not like this!” “Mother!” “I didn’t do anything...” “Please...” “Ah!” Wei Wuxian startles himself awake in cold sweat. His hands are shaking while he tries to even out his breathing, before he lifts his head slightly, making sure the man next to him is not awakened by his sudden movements.Wei Wuxian gets down the bed, unhindered by the darkness as he makes his way to the table and grabs a cup of tea. The weather is cool and the moon is bright as he nurses the drink in hand.He could go for some Emperor’s smile but its almost morning, and he promised the little ones he would watch their training. Best not get drunk off his ass. Lan Wangji still seems to be deep in sleep. Which was to be expected with the sudden increase in work before the annual Conference at Koi Tower. With Lan Xichen in Seclusion, its expected that the older cultivator would be going in place of his brother. Although Wei Wuxian would not be following his husband along to Koi Tower this time and the reason was pretty clear. Even if Jin Ling is now the Clan Head, the last time they had not left Lanling on good circumstances. Lan Wangji is not taking the risk. For some reason Lanling and Wei Wuxian is a bad mix. Must be the Fengshui not being compatible with my characters, he muses. The silence was to be expected at this hour. Cloud Recesses and her residences are still asleep and will not awaken till a couple of hours later. Its different from Burial Mounds in a way Wei Wuxian can’t explain.Its not something he willingly seeks out with his character being the way it is.Yet, it is not an unwelcoming thing and allows him to process what had awoken him in the first place. Rather, for a while in fact, but Lan Wangji does not need to know if Wei Wuxian wishes for his hips to survive.Young body it may be, Lan Wangji does not hold back at all- Wait. “Could it be...?” Tap. “AH!!” Wei Wuxian very nearly squeaks and finds Lan Wangji looking curiously behind him.His face unmoving, but Wei Wuxian spies that glint of humour in his eyes.Not amused!Not amused at all! ”Lan Zhan!Don’t do that.”The demonic cultivator relaxes as Lan Wangji rubs his shoulders, almost trying to pacify him.Almost. “Why are you awake?” “Can’t sleep.Its okay, just dreams.” Lan Wangji’s grip tightens. “Eh!?No, no, no.Hahaha, don’t worry Lan Zhan.The problem is, it isn’t mine!Actually...er.That is a problem.I think.” “Not yours?” “No.No.its weird too because I just feel them?And hear things, but the dreams are blurry, and they aren’t familiar.That’s why-” Wei Wuxian pauses and peers into his cup, gazing at the blurred reflection of his face in contemplation. Rather...not his face entirely. “Ahhh but don’t make that face Lan Zhan. I know what you are thinking and I can assure you. Its not possible.I guarantee it.”

“Hn.” Silence falls once again as Wei Wuxian leans back against Lan Wangji’s warmth. Ah. So that’s it. That’s why its so different. Wei Wuxian smiles into his husband’s middle, allowing Lan Wangji to comb his dark, messy locks gently with those gentle fingers. This silence...it is soft and comforting.

Its home. ----- “Senior Wei!What do you think?” “Hmm, footwork is good but could be better like-” Step, step, swerve, flip and swing. Every sect has their own unique sword arts, and unlike Yunmeng Jiang, Gusu Lan have unique practices. Wei Wuxian is not familiar with the intricate ones but he was also once a student here and basic techniques are not any different between sects. Now that he thinks about it, its almost funny how he used to say how he would never come back to GusuLan and look where he is now. Ah...if only he could strangle his younger self now.The idiot. “Uwahhh...” Daw, such these young impressionable kids. Almost like the cute white fluffy rabbits behind the mountain. Wei Wuxian almost feels bad pranking them on occasion. Almost.

“Senior Wei.” Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi and a few other disciples trailing behind walks over and exactly like the rabbits, the kids flock to their favourite senior. ( “Hey!I’m here too!” “Brother Jingyi, no shouting in Cloud Recesses.” “Why...you...” ) “Ah, Sizhui! Are you guys going out?It’s a little early for a night hunt, no?” “We’re not going hunting Senior Wei,” Lan Sizhui smiles. (”No more Xian Gege!?Boo!Lan Zhan!Unfair!”) “We are going to to Mo Estate.” “Eh?” “Mo Estate.Mo Xuanyu’s old home. Er,well.Kinda?He didn’t really live there...so does that count?” Lan Jingyi adds looking at the disciple behind him who shrugs questioningly in reply. They hardly could tie up the loose ends of the Mo family and Dafan Shan with the incident of Nie Mingjue’s dismembered body. With the Guanyin temple incident coming to a pass, all the sects especially Lanling Jin have been busy scrambling to dig up old incidents and putting them in order. All to find out the extent of Jin Guangyao’s atrocities and schemes. If there have been letters coming into Gusu to invite the Yiling Patriarch to verify some of them in the meetings and upcoming conferences, none of the disciples will admit or deny said letters have existed or disappeared. In Lan Wangji’s words- “It is unnecessary.” The truth that is already known is more than enough. Wei Wuxian puts a finger to his chin in deep thought for a moment.What were the odds? Maybe he should tag along now that a chance has presented itself, maybe its a sign he ought to see this through. After all, its only right. A quick trip back into Jingshi, grabbing Chengqing, giving a kiss to his beloved husband who hands him his little purse of silvers without a glance and Wei Wuxian is out of Cloud Recesses like a passing typhoon with Little Apple and the juniors. ----- It seems like a lifetime ago since Wei Wuxian has been here in Mo family’s residence. Where he first met the disciples and reunited with a-Yuan acting as a lunatic. Most of the lands and estate have been sorted by the newly appointed village leader. However, considering the circumstances of the Mo family’s demise, they had the Lan disciples to purify the land. Also in the estate, they found some old belongings which seemed spiritual in nature and quickly handed those to the Lan disciples.  Inside, are Mo Xuanyu’s and his mother’s things, Wei Wuxian recognises from his time at the donkey shed. Also among those, Wei Wuxian recognises some remakes of his old inventions, as well as his old notes and ...some unrecognisable pieces seemingly new. He plucks one out from the mess to have a closer look. .

.

.

Pour out darkness, let it fill the spaces between where energy resides. Would Wei Wuxian do it like this or this? Cousin took my things, but its okay. No food again... A touch of blood, does the type of blood affect the results?Has Wei Wuxian tried? I miss mother. .

.

.

These...are not his notes. These are the thoughts of someone long gone and never to return. Just like he once was. “Senior Wei?” A disciple meekly calls out. “Is everything okay?” “Oh! Lan YunXun...Where’s Sizhui and Jingyi?” “Brother Sizhui is still talking to the VIllage elder, Brother Jingyi told me to tell you we’re leaving soon for Dafan Shan, though we might need to stay out tonight it seems.” “Not a problem!Not a problem! Say... YunXun, are there more of these?”Wei Wuxian gestures to the notes, “or similar stuff in the things you all have collected?” “They might be with Brother DaFu...I’ll go ask!” With that, the disciple runs off and Wei Wuxian continues with his reading. Mo Xuanyu ah... just what happened to you? -----

(Part 2 here)

[yueqqi-main]

MY FRIEND! Tell me about your OCs! ;D I know you're a creative person, an artist and I think a writer as well. I feel like you've got some really well developed OCs, and I'm so curious to meet them and get to know the kinds of worlds are alive in your mind!

:,) I have waaaay too many. For the Persona series alone, I have 20+ and that’s for a Persona 6 concept fic I have going on at Ao3. But I’ll share some of my favorites and separate them by fandom/original novel.

Bnha

Li Fong: smol angry, kinda moody boi (not that small actually, he’s like my height) who is an international student at U.A. from Hong Kong. He can generate portals with his mind (2 at a time, Portal-inspired unlike Kurogiri). He was traumatized (long story short, abusive family, he walked in on his mother’s dead body while his asshole father was throwing a rage fit, and “killed” his father in self-defense by reflecting his father’s knife attack with portals, but not really because his father is immortal technically), so he experiences a block with his quirk until he gets help. Depending on how the roleplay on Discord goes, he can become a villain or hero.

Otsuka Kyouma: tol beautiful boi with an ENFJ smile who graduated top of his class (#3) at U.A. before Mirio and crew. He’s really kind and compassionate, but won’t take people’s shit, also usually bright and smiley until he’s not. He’s a pro-hero who goes by Seraphim, which came from his quirk Hypnotic Illusion: he can induce a hypnotic field on people within his field of vision and make them see whatever he wants them to see, like a dream master of sorts. His favorite thing is to disguise himself as a biblical angel and terrorize the enemies out of spite or for information gathering.

He worked for Endeavor’s agency for the first few years of his hero career, and decided to transfer to the police force in Hosu City (where he meets and partners with ISTP’s jerk OC, Hirai Kaito, and becomes enamored with the detective) when his career didn’t go anywhere. Also, fun fact: Kyouma got his 6 eyes from his mother, who is a brightly colored hero who can do anything a mantis shrimp can, in water and on land.

David Li: aaaaa I hope no one who’s reading Our Hero Academia is reading this. David is an absolute villain who desires control and reaches from his goals to destroy criminal activity...with more criminal activity. He’s two-faced: to the public he projects a kind politician sort of air who backs the heroes and defends justice, but behind closed doors he is leading a network of organizations (triads, yakuza, villain groups, and of course, his branch of the government) with a terrifying power. He’s known as the Shinigami, a merciless contractor, but to those who are closest to him, he still retains compassion (even though it’s twisted sometimes) and tries to treat innocents right.

Before he became a politician, he was an immortal hero named Agent Sun who often worked in USA and China as an assassin-type, superhuman type figure. While he does have above-average strength, speed, and agility, most of that came from training rather than a quirk. Instead, his actual quirk is the ability to take and give time from anyone’s lifespan who he comes into direct contact with. He has at least 500 years added to his clock, so he’s been around since the 1st and 2nd generation of quirk-users, plus he was sort of rival-buddies with All For One.

[For the record, David is NOT Li Fong’s father. Still related though, just by an extra generation]

Persona

Shirogeki Haku: Oof, Haku is a bit of a mess. He’s a bisexual trans guy with a somewhat strained relationship with his traditional parents, living in Tokyo with his attorney cousin to study Computer Science with a focus in AI at Tokyo University. Furthermore, he has a constant self-depreciating attitude because of factors like his identity and his thalassemia, which has worsened since childhood so it gets in the way of a lot of things he used to love doing (soccer). He also lacks self-preservation because he thinks he’ll die early anyways, so he lowkey jumps at the chance to use the cognitive ‘verse to a) run away from his illness since he finds the effects of his anemia aren’t as strong there and b) to put his life on the line as the new group’s Wildcard, which is seriously concerning to criminal profiler!Akira after the Shadow Operatives, Investigation Team, and the Phantom Thieves team up with the new persona users.

His arcana is the Fool, but he also represents the Tower. His persona is Karna, a hero-turned-villain from the Mahabharata.

[I have so many plans for this character, it’s gonna be a wild ride in Icarus]

[And I’m leaving it at that for Persona; if I start talking about Zuni, Sora, or Help Wizard, I’m not going to stop so a separate ask, post, or DM about this particular fandom would be more wise lmao]

Water Runs Clear (original novel series)

Lan Honglian: LHL is the crown prince of Mei, until his father’s, Lan Jinyun’s, most trusted advisor, Chen Zhongming, betrays Mei, kills the royal family, and takes the throne for himself. CZM’s oldest son, Chen Yongyi, betrays his father by saving LHL and taking LHL to a far away village to be taken care of by a cultivator elder.

Anyhow, terrible childhood aside, LHL learns to be a cultivator under like five different masters through his pre-teen and late teen years, growing excessively bitter and obsessed with vengeance after seeing the mistreatment of the impoverished. In his early 20s, he joins the Kongxuan sect and starts leading different rebellion missions under the fake, super generic name, Jiang Mingxin (it’s so generic that if you knock down a store sign in the city, you’ll hit five of them), and in a mask+weimao that covers his features, since his green eyes and dark skin draw too much attention and CZM knows LHL is out there somewhere.

Chen Yongxue: CYX was LHL’s childhood best friend and sworn brother until CZM’s betrayal and the palace siege. While CYX is resentful of his father for the betrayal, the execution of Chen Yongyi for saving LHL, and his mother falling deathly ill after CZM’s first wife kills herself, CYX feels more helpless and just does what he could to limit the extents of the new policies under his father’s rule. CYX, in his early 20s, is an investigator for the royal guard whose purpose is to track down and capture rebels from the Kongxuan sect.

LHL and CYX’s friendship was crumbled after the betrayal and LHL eventually learning about CYX’s role as a head investigator, so LHL harbors a lot of bitterness toward his once-best-friend. CYX feels guilt and doesn’t blame LHL, even to the point of telling LHL that it’s his every right to kill him for the murder of his parents.

[LHL and CYX eventually make up once LHL realizes that CYX still cherished their sworn brotherhood.]

[Also they’re gay for each other.]

Yang Xinxuan: A Taoist priest from the Tiebing sect, the protag of another novel that happens almost concurrently with LHL’s story. YXY is a terrifyingly powerful cultivator, who is no-nonsense, serious, and, most of all, oblivious to romance. He once fought Death (literally, he fought the Heibai Wucheng) and got away, albeit injured. Later, another Death (Yanluo) becomes enamored with him, though every flirtation goes over his head.

YXY got his stubbornness and resolve from growing up orphaned and trained under top cultivators at his sect.

Zhang Xiaohen: A stony-faced, strict cultivator who was in Tiebing before she joined Kongxuan and later took LHL in. She rarely is angered, but the last few times she did get angered did not end well: after discovering her siblings were still alive, she impulsively went to confront the nobles that had taken them as servants and got thrown out of Tiebing for it.

Liu Shuangyu: Another cultivator in Kongxuan who is known for her musical cultivation technique. Working as a mercenary of sorts, she brings chaos pretty much everywhere until she decides to settle in Zhang Xiaohen’s village, but still acting as a bad influence for LHL.

[They are also in love and basically LHL’s moms.]

[solivar]

Quoth @eledhiel13 Talon Zenyatta?

It was so subtle that Jesse was not entirely sure that he wasn’t just losing his goddamned mind, finally succumbing to the weight from years of accumulated paranoia, sudden but inevitable betrayal, and a carefully cultivated outright inability to trust others long-term. (“It’s not paranoia if they’re actually out to get you, kid,” said the voice in the back of his head that he usually considered at least a cousin to common sense and which sounded rather suspiciously like the man who’d taught him just about everything he’d ever known about all of the above, plus psychological hardening techniques on the side.) It wasn’t even something he could solidly but a finger on so that he could say, “This. This right here isn’t right.” Not to anybody else, not without sounding like he was losing his mind. (“Observe. Document. Play it close until you have enough to actually bring others to the table.” Common sense was starting to sound a little irked with him and for good reason -- he hadn’t been out of the covert ops business long enough that this approach shouldn’t still be second nature. And yet he was having a hard time justifying spying on a teammate, even to himself.)

Observation the first: Tekhartha Zenyatta is an omnic. He was mostly humanoid in form but that was, ultimately, where the similarities ended. His faceplate was a convenient location for broad spectrum sensory arrays -- he never really had an expression that you could read, or an attempted lack of the same that could be equally telling. His voice was a carefully modulated synthetic approximation, one that he explicitly chose to keep on the warmly soothing end of the spectrum, even in times of high stress. He had no real body language -- no involuntary twitches, no nervous mannerisms, no subtle changes in stance or posture that could betray mood, direction of thought, an increase or decrease in tension.

Until he did. And it was subtle almost to the point of invisibility, the sort of thing you’d only notice after living with a body for months and getting accustomed to the way they did and did not act on a daily basis. A sudden tremor in the line of his shoulders; the set of his spine taking on a posture that could be assessed as almost furtive, encountered as he was in a part of Gibraltar he didn’t generally frequent; a visible change in the way he held his hands. Jesse managed to get a picture of it and ran an image search that yielded nourishes the divine feminine and seal of the inner source and silence arises and all senses awakened. No way to tell if that was good, bad, or freaky beyond the telling of it without consulting someone who might know more. The Shambali were notoriously terrible about checking voice messages and answering their email and the only other option at home was...Genji. So not really an option without also bringing him in.

Observation the second: Zenyatta’s balls. Orbs. Spheres. Floaty, glowy things that orbited him like his own personal planetary system. It wasn’t entirely clear, at least to Jesse, what exactly they were -- an intrinsic part of his body? Something he’d picked up somewhere along the way while he was doing his own stint as a wandering sage? Zenyatta’s brother Mondatta hadn’t had anything resembling them and neither had any of the monks occupying the Shambali monastery when he’d visited years ago, but he wasn’t sure how much that actually meant. They seemed to sometimes have a mind of their own, spinning off and following other members of the team, sometimes at a respectful distance, sometimes a bit closer, if that someone was one of the walking wounded, physically or otherwise, emitting something that wasn’t quite healing biotic field but which had a similar palliative effect.

Now they were hanging close to him all the time -- closer and quieter and darker than they’d been since the day they first met. The change itched at the back of his mind, but he couldn’t be sure it was a bad thing or a normal one. And, again, no one to ask except Genji.

Observation the third: Zenyatta was a creature of habit. He had, within the first couple days of his arrival at Watchpoint Gibraltar, crawled all over the place, explored it from top to bottom, and thereafter turned most of his attention to the areas outside the base proper. Jesse couldn’t really blame him -- the Watchpoints were designed for utility first and aesthetics second, if at all, and he couldn’t imagine finding anywhere inside it an adequate place for meditating on the fundamental spiritual oneness of all life, not when you had the option of floating up to an actual nature preserve located right next door. When he wasn’t roaming the paths on the Rock itself, or down at the beach, he could normally be found in the quarters he shared with Genji in the family accommodations block, or in one of the recreation areas where the team in whole or parts tended to congregate after meals or missions, or in the combat simulator when his presence was requested for team training exercises.

Zenyatta did not, as a general rule, attempt to socialize with Torbjorn, whose attitude toward artificially intelligent machines in general and omnics in specific was well documented, and thus he assiduously avoided the engineering lab, except on the four occasions in the last month when Athena’s internal monitors found him there when no one else was present, either absent in the field or at godforsaken hours of the night. Athena’s sensors had likewise detected him in the communications tower, the medical research block adjacent to the infirmary itself, the security drone bay. Some of that could be innocent -- his body needed maintenance like the rest of them needed regular patching up and, while he certainly could have asked Winston or Angela for help, it wasn’t impossible that he preferred to handle his own basic repairs himself -- but Jesse could not think of one damned reason why he would need to be in the drone bay, ever, much less three times in two weeks. And there was, of course, only one person he could ask about that.

Jesse flipped off his workpad and set it aside, security access logs and tiny bits of security camera feed scrolling across the inside of his closed eyelids. It was not completely beyond the bounds of possibility that a totally innocuous reason existed for all of these observations, individually and all together. It was also not beyond the bounds of possibility that he was simply calcified into an irreducible state of suspicious and untrusting by hardships untold and dangers unnumbered. He hoped he could find the answers to all his questions without breaking either the trust or the heart of his best friend.

Moving slowly, so as not to awaken the even less trusting man sleeping at his side, Jesse slipped out of bed, slipped his hat and gun belt off the headboard, picked up his boots and stepped out into the hall in his stocking feet. He didn’t put his boots on until he was past the accommodation block completely and out into the halls beyond that led to the main rec center, the kitchens, the exterior access doors. The communications array hidden in his arm interfaced smoothly with Athena’s systems and, taking her cue from him, she responded silently when he hailed her, text-only.

Good evening, Agent McCree, how may I assist you?

I need you to establish a secure location in the base, known solely to yourself and me. He opened a secondary communication line and input the Blackwatch command level access permission codes that, in years prior, would have allowed him to make such a request at any functional Watchpoint; Athena accepted them without comment. Deep Black level encryption protocols on all communications in and out and on any files locally stored on your servers. Feed me copies of all your security logs, the security drone recordings, the internal security camera records, everything, for the last three months to current.

The Blackwatch suite is located three levels down and below the communications tower, Agent McCree, Athena replied. I have reactivated its systems per your request, currently running diagnostics. The requested data is downloading and will be accessible at your arrival.

Thank you. He signed off and closed down his comms and thought, not for the first time, I hope to God you know what you’re doing.

Ώ

The Blackwatch suite was exactly that: two rooms located in an otherwise completely unused sub-basement three levels below the Watchpoint communications tower buried deep in the rock of the cliff itself, visited only by the occasional housekeeping drone if the relative shortage of dust on the work surfaces was anything to go by. He might not want to sack out on the cot in the next room or make use of the world’s tiniest refresher unit in the absence of a check on the plumbing, but the equipment locker was at least still fully stocked with useful odds and ends. The workstation powered up at a touch and came to life in seconds with Athena’s icon flashing in the center of the screen; he activated the workstation’s own intrusion countermeasure systems and turned his comms back on. “Comms check.”

“I am receiving clearly, Agent McCree.” Athena replied serenely. “Deep Black communication protocols enacted. My remote systems diagnostic found no hardware systems failures or inadequacies with regard to the equipment in the suite.”

“Thank you kindly.” The files he’d asked for were waiting, along with the onboard suite of analysis tools he needed to whittle all the raw data down to manageable; he started with the security logs.

“If I may ask...what precisely are you looking for?” A politely curious modulation to her generally sweet tone.

“I’m not sure myself.” He paused, considered, chose not to ask for her help in sorting the mess just yet. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

He saw it about four hours in, once the pattern analysis had run two passes on the security logs and come up with nothing and one on the video footage, just as he was about ready to declare himself wrongly mistrustful and possibly in need of rendering Zenyatta an apology, even if the monk never actually knew what for. Two hits, in relatively close succession, both on oddities in the drone hangar footage. Separated out and isolated from the rest of the stream of workaday images, the cause was clear: the recording had been altered, looped at least twice over a period of several hours, the timestamps adjusted to display the proper passage of time, the sort of thing that would be all-but invisible to anyone not specifically searching for such a thing. Twice in the last week, made to look as though the drone hangar were empty when he had the rather strong feeling it most emphatically was not.

Jesse flipped his comms back on. “Athena, my sweet, can you run a diagnostic on the drone hangar security systems and let me know if you find anything unusual?”

“Of course,” Athena sounded, as always, more than a trace element of amused at any attempt to sweet-talk her. “This will require a moment.”

“Take all the time you need.” He restarted the pattern analysis pass on the security footage, watched as the images flickered past at a rate faster than the average human eye could follow, every nerve alive and twitching.

Hits three and four were from the infirmary. A little over a month prior, Genji had come back from a mission that had, to put it mildly, gone spectacularly tits up after a relatively uncomplicated first and second acts, in a condition that reminded everyone who had known him back in the day and informed everyone who hadn’t that one of his in-action hallmarks was a certain reckless disregard for his own safety in the defense of others. Lucio’d been the medic assigned to the team and had done his best to patch Genji up in the field and hauled him home for repairs, the injuries well short of life-threatening but also well outside the kid’s level of biomechanical engineering expertise. They’d called Zenyatta in immediately, of course, because after Hanzo he was the next-nearest Genji had to family and, unlike his brother, the one with the actual ability to enhance his state of cyborg ninja chill to a level that allowed him to stay on bedrest for a couple days with only minimal protest. The alterations in the security feed occurred within hours of each other the first day back, looped to hide no more than a twenty minutes each, during those periods of time when Angela was neither consulting with nor checking upon her notoriously restive patient.

He checked, because basic investigative thoroughness required it, but he already knew, and the knowledge was a cold knot in his gut and sudden ice in his veins: all of the things he’d observed, everything he’d hoped this little exercise would let him unsee, had occurred after that mission, after those couple minutes of carefully concealed time at Genji’s bedside.

“Fuck.” Jesse breathed, completely heartfelt.

“Agent McCree, I have completed my examination of the drone hangar security systems. All appears to be in order.” Athena murmured in his ear.

“Thank you, Miss Athena, I appreciate it greatly.” He thumbed the communicator off and swore with even greater feeling. “Fuck a fucking duck.”

Athena’s security systems were most emphatically not in order. Athena’s security systems had been provably compromised at least four times. Athena’s ability to perceive and diagnose her own state of compromise was, in all likelihood, being actively interdicted. And he couldn’t be certain, at all, that his own poking around had not or would not draw attention or a response. Could not, in fact, be sure of anything but the actual black ICE built into the standard Blackwatch security suite, which would have to be good enough for now.

He pulled his cell out of the thigh pocket of his pants and powered it up. Blackwatch field doctrine suggested that agents deployed alone in hostile territory possess more than one method of communication in case the primary was lost, disabled, or otherwise compromised. He routinely carried at least three and the cell had the advantage of not being reliant on Athena’s network for connection, particularly once he made his way back above ground, typing with his thumbs as he went. Where are you right now, darlin’?

I still cannot believe you drop your Gs in text. Hanzo replied ten seconds later. In the kitchen preparing breakfast. You?

Out on the bluff, taking the lovely cool morning air. Join me? The sunrise was staining the sky over the Rock and the mist still hanging in the trees a vivid rosy golden -- red sky in the morning and he couldn’t help but think that might, just might, be a sign for more than just sailors.

I will be there momentarily. Coffee?

Please. Jesse leaned back against a convenient spit of rock, still cool from the night and damp from the dew, and considered.

Ω

Medlab had, by far, the single most secure intranet in the entire Watchpoint for a multitude of reasons, the greatest of which was Dr. Angela Ziegler’s thoroughgoing dedication to the confidential relationship between a physician and her patients, and not the least of which was that a solid half of her patients were carrying around as an intrinsic part of their bodies the sort of technology that at least all the governments of the Earth would sell their collective soul to possess. Genji was, of course, the prime example: partial cybernetic modification had been a thing since as early as the mid-30s but the entire fact of his existence represented a quantum leap beyond that relative plateau. And it was not for ego nor for aesthetics that he went around with God of War laser-etched into his breastplate; back in the day, his deployment in the field was a tacit admission that the precision application of lethal violence was, indeed, an acceptable resolution to any given situation his team might encounter. It was with this knowledge in mind and a certain quantity of regret in his heart that Jesse, once again ensconced in the untrammeled depths of the communications tower, cut right through the lab’s multiple layers of intrusion countermeasures using tools designed by some of the most exquisitely subtle, paranoid, and vicious intelligence operatives to ever make their living at a computer terminal, a task made substantially simpler by Angela’s absence from the lab and the fact that Athena had no part in maintaining its security, at the insistence of both.

It meant, baseline, that while Athena could request access to that particular internal network she wasn’t automatically and immediately aware of anything that went on inside it and thus his quest for information culled from the infirmary medical monitors might well go unnoticed for an appreciable length of time. (Hanzo had listened to everything he’d had to say over their morning stimulants of choice, his expression and body language growing progressively more still, until they reached the point where Genji’s brother turned off completely and the assassin who had spent ten years picking off half the Yakuza command structure in Japan and abroad, an assortment of corrupt officials both corporate and governmental, and no fewer than a dozen wanted war criminals without coming within even a long shot of being caught himself poked his head out and started talking tactics. Extracting information from the medlab intranet was entirely his idea, a trick he’d used while building his approach on a particularly well-defended ex-senior-military-advisor-turned-mercenary-despot whose departure from the mortal coil could not happen soon enough. Turned out, the asshole had a congenital heart condition and Hanzo hadn’t even had to shoot him to accomplish the terms of his commission.) If he found something, it also meant that, until he got to it, that internal network was at least secure and could be secured more completely by the addition of several nasty tricks courtesy of Blackwatch counterintelligence research and development. And this time he was at least not searching blind but had an actual time frame to concentrate on, and if something was there he would know in minutes instead of hours and --

Something was there. Right there, not even five minutes in. Angela must have stepped out -- Angela probably stepped out the instant Zenyatta arrived because Genji with one arm more off than attached and with some sad attempt at armor-piercing rounds still sticking out his chest was exactly the sort of Genji who would be insisting that someone else needed her attention more. (Nobody needed it more. Genji could be even worse than Hanzo that way.) No data for Zenyatta himself, of course, since he wasn’t attached to any of the monitors but Genji’s neuromechanical systems output spiked through the roof, his temperature redlined, and his internal comms produced four short-range, hugely information-dense transmissions spaced seconds apart, each one no more than a few seconds long themselves. Genji’s emergency systems came online, brought his temperature back down to normal, stabilized him. The whole thing took no more than five minutes total but since when did a hit ever really take a long time?

Bad news. Jesse typed with one hand and backed out of the medlab systems with the other, salting his path with tiny packages of pain and delight for anyone who might try to follow it back to its point of origin.

Genji? Hanzo replied, a heart-stoppingly full minute later, given his present presumed location in the Watchpoint.

Probably compromised. Definitely the origin of...whatever it is that got Zenyatta. Might be the same thing. Genji had done nothing to draw attention but, then, every characteristic that looked suspicious on Zenyatta was a perfectly ordinary aspect of his existence. That alone made him want to run the footage again and he was more than half afraid of what he would find if he did.

I am afraid I do not have any better news. It took five minutes for Hanzo to come back, during which Jesse heroically assumed he was maneuvering into a place where it was safe to type and not being horribly killed by his little brother. I selected six of the drones that were in the bay at random. Each one was altered in some way, some more extensively than others. A selection of pictures scrolled up the screen.

Is that what I fucking think it is? Jesse asked, half-impressed, completely appalled.

An explosive device of some sort, yes.

Jesse breathed in peace. You could say that. Breathed out stress. That is some kind of zero-yield tactical device -- probably not a nuke, we don’t have the components to cobble one together here, but I’m willing to bet they could and did make something pretty nasty out of the heavy pulse ordinance that we’ve got in the armory. Or maybe even something experimental that Winston was working on. Probably more than one. Athena had a solid two dozen functional security drones active at any given time, and more than half that sitting in assorted states of disassembly, in the process of being cannibalized for the parts needed to keep the rest functional.

Hanzo was silent for a perfectly terrifying length of time. I see.

I think we need to move up our operational timeframe a bit. Jesse pulled up a secondary screen and opened the eyes they planted around the Watchpoint during an exceptionally vigorous and thorough morning constitutional, finding the rest of the residents: Lucio in his own workspace in the medlab, clearly deep in the throes of composition from the look of intense concentration on his face; Mei in the rec center, curled up on one of the less enormous pieces of furniture and reading on her tablet with a cup of tea at her elbow; Reinhardt and Brigitte down in the engineering lab advancing the endless quest to make his armor even spikier. Genji was, in theory, in the combat simulator running his daily solo exercise regimen and Zenyatta --

Was nowhere to be found.

Get out of the drone bay RIGHT NOW.

He flipped back through the video feed just to make certain that he hadn’t missed anything: Lucio still in the medlab, Mei still in the rec room, the engineering lab now empty. Jesse took a deep, deep breath of calm, made certain doors to the suite were locked and the automated security precautions active, and began extracting potentially useful items from the equipment locker in the next room. He tended to prefer his own ballistic armor since it was custom built to personal specifications but there were always nifty little add-ons to be hung on belts or utility webbing, like that disruptor that messed with motion detection technology or the thingamabob that jammed all forms of wireless communication within a certain radius of its activation and the kinetic energy absorption mesh that Reyes had sworn by as a lifesaver right up until the day it completely failed to save his life. He took a bit of everything plus one the little medkits that came with an assortment of biotic-impregnated goodies for emergency field usage. Unfortunately, none of the ammunition was suitable for Peacemaker and in the back of his mind he was working out the quickest and least exposed method of making it back to his quarters and the box of assorted specialty rounds occupying the back corner of the closet when his phone rang.

Rang.

The number was Hanzo’s cell, the voice on the other end, when he picked up, was not. “Agent McCree.” The worst part -- the absolute worst-- was that while the voice was technically Zenyatta’s it also and absolute was not, too coolly, malevolently mechanical by half. “I must confess, I find myself in a bit of an awkward position. You see, I was explicitly warned not to underestimate you. The precise words used were ‘he’s smarter than he looks’ and ‘obfuscating stupidity is a real thing as far as he’s concerned.’ And yet, despite all these warnings...I seem to have done so.”

“Good of you to admit it,” Jesse drawled in reply, “But, in your defense, the accent tends to throw lots of people off.”

The laugh on the other end of the line sounded like two sharp, spiky things crushing something small and helpless between them. “Thank you. I will put that in my after-action report. Alas…”

Jesse flicked through the video feeds again and found both the rec room and the medlab empty. The floor of the rec room was covered in bits of broken ice and a couple puddles of something he desperately hoped was water.

“...I cannot permit either your charming accent or your attempts to thwart my mission succeed at their chosen tasks.” The quality of sound coming over the speaker changed slightly, taking on a hint of an echo.

“Then it seems that we’re at something of an impasse -- what should I call you? ‘Cause it isn’t going to be Zenyatta -- you don’t deserve that and neither does he.” There was just enough room on his arm’s internal storage to suck down what he needed out of the Blackwatch ICE archive but not enough to keep a constant running track of the eyes and their video feed, so he cut the stream.

The voice made a sound that would, on anyone else, have been a mildly disapproving tongue-click. “Such unnecessary hostility.”

“Trust me, I have not yet begun to be hostile, much less unnecessarily so.” Jesse kept an eye on the passive sensors lining the halls leading down to the hidey hole as he set to work, as quietly as possible, opening up the recessed wall panel that led to one of the four alternative exits from the nether regions of the comm tower. “Why don’t we cut the dancing around it and get down to telling me exactly what you want?”

“What leads you to believe I want something?”

“Because if you were only trying to distract me, Genji would’ve already been down here sticking something sharp between my ribs.” The motion detector hit at the top of the stairs leading down into the sub-basements; Jesse stopped what he was doing long enough to check specifics and then start the countdown on the workstation. “So let’s cut the bullshit.”

A brief silence. “Very well. I have someone you want, and you have someone I want. Let’s make a trade, shall we?”

That gave him a moment’s pause. “Really now.”

“Yes.” A certain silken menace in that single syllable. “My employers wish to extend an offer but they tend to prefer engaging in such negotiations...face to face. I assume that you would prefer that your partner exit this situation identifiable by something other than his dental work.”

“Well, if you’re going to put it that way -- “

“He can hear you, Agent McCree.” Again all sorts of smoothly malevolent and Jesse felt it turn his blood to ice and clear his head completely all at once.

“Hanzo.” His voice sounded almost preternaturally calm in his own ears. “Darlin’. I’m on my way. Promise.”

He cut the call off and slammed the phone on the edge of the workstation hard enough to shatter the screen and reduce the delicate internal workings to bits, then left it where it lay. The back exit dropped at least three meters straight down into pretty much total darkness, hand and foot holds cut into the rock to aid the descent; he pulled the recessed panel shut behind him and climbed as quickly as he dared, not wanting to risk an ankle since he rather felt he was going to need both of them in the relatively near future. The downward bore ended in a tunnel that angled off away from the edge of the cliff, back towards the bulk of the Watchpoint itself.

Up above, the countdown ended and, just as the door of the intelligence officer’s hidey hole slid open, the security countermeasures deployed, all of them, all at once. Even deep underground as he was, he heard the screaming, and added it to the list of things he was going to do something about.

[askjitendrakumar]

What will be the Future of SEO to Grow Your Blog in 2021?

Writing a post filled with texts or images will be inadequate to build up your weblog in future search engine optimization upgrades. So in this post we will  keep on future of seo to grow you blog.  The older school technique to increase the length of content, target specific keywords and phrases, and optimize to a particular topic won’t enhance the organic rank or traffic. Therefore I opted to share some significant updates in Google search engine optimization that’ll function as the future of search engine optimization and help grow your blog. Nicely, this guide will change your way of writing content as I’ll soon be showing some great tips that you may use to spin old or existing articles to boost your SEO rank. Let us without some more hassle, so I’ll shed all the significant recommendations to cultivate your weblog. Also Read : Checklist for Google AdSense Approval.

What would be the future of SEO to Grow  Your Blog

This guide is only built to find out what new developments Google is making in indexing and rank to reveal superior results. Therefore, it covers all the major highlights and tips about turning your site and its site post to receive its advantages. Keep an eye on this report and indicate that as a bookmark since I’ll update the same in the foreseeable future when I came across something well worth adding in future updates.

No. 1 # Optimize Content Search Intent (BERT Algorithm)

Provided that we’re focused on the specific key phrases and their prospective search volume and seeking to make use of the precise keywords multiple times as a part of on page SEO , and there has been nothing wrong. However, in the first week of October 20-19, Google introduced its own BERT (bi-directional Encoder Representations in Transformers) algorithm that comprehends search a lot better than previously. Only, For instance, let us now have two keywords, “one third of Six” along with still another keyword “Quarter to six.” Formerly it had been more complicated for Google to comprehend that in the very first keyword, you’re searching for the consequence of number-two (6/3), but others, you had been browsing for 5:45 (regarding timing ). However, in those situations, it may be revealing either incorrect or correct results. This issue is because, earlier, Google AI could not differentiate between your “of” and “to” two distinct words along with their context. With BERT, then Google can definitely comprehend and browse the circumstance of the whole query, reading before and following the keywords to comprehend the specific significance for the search. Also, BERT is the reason Google is now recommending.  Do you intend below your search if it’s found that you’re linking erroneously?

Isn’t that interesting? This proves that Google can now understand more searches than before and writes blog posts accordingly instead of putting any random text in the exact keyword. Incidentally to get a more sophisticated comprehension of BERT, you could adhere to with this in depth guide published by Google. If you find this interesting, scroll below, more awaited.

No. 2 # Optimize Content to the Featured Snippet

If I would say that to rank your website, you need to optimize your entire content around a particular keyword, then ranking # 1 in Google would be challenging. Nonetheless, it may surprise you that if you optimize your articles for feature snippets, you can rank over the high authority sites; therefore, why can not you give attention to feature snippets? But I am confident you’re interested in finding out more on the subject of feature snippet? What Exactly Is Featured Snippet? At the same time, you look in Google for a particular keyword. You found a tiny box at the top before the organic results using a succinct answer outline in text, list, or table arrangement of your asked query is known as feature snippet.

From the above screenshot, you’re able to observe Google pulled a brief description of this asked query by the countless weblog articles. However, this snippet might be of various sorts for various questions such as. ->Textual feature snippet ->List feature snippet ->Tabular feature snippet ->Video feature snippet Previously the article that got feature snippet was getting no one ranking in the organic search; however, in the 22 Jan 2020 feature snippet update, they’ve shifted it. After that, the same result will not be shown in the top 10 organic searches for which any website has already got a featured snippet. Well, whether or not feature snippets will give you more traffic is still under discussion because a 2017 study by Ahref stated that feature snippets would have less traffic than the # 1 organic search result. But I’m sure it depends on the types of snippets as it always increases CTR. Now let me give you some tips on optimizing your content to get a featured snippet in Google search. Ways To Get Text type Featured snippet? To acquire text feature snippet, write a summary of the answer at the start of the content itself when at all possible. Then paragraphs need to have a maximum of 20-70 words and significantly less than 250-300 characters. How to Make Tabular Featured Snippet? Your article has a table for tabulated snippets that should not have more than 4-5 lines because Google has never displayed more than this. How to Get list type feature snippet? To get list snippets, constantly work to compose content around the “how to” topics and make a list in H2 or H3 tags and have an average of more than six lists. How to Get a video-type feature snippet? For video, snippets decide to possess video content for more than 6 -7 minutes and optimize all over the correct keywords in the title, description, and tag. SEMRush did a unique case study to learn more about the featured snippet, and I thought it might be helpful for you. Are you learning something new? If so, I am looking forward to sharing this guide with you before reading any further.

No. 3 # Optimize Content for Passage Indexing

The older school technique to compose articles of a specific topic and was ranking when you optimized around an issue will currently no further be criteria for rank. Google recently announced in October 2020 that with a better understanding of content, in the future, not only an entire website but also a short paragraph would rank in search results. What Exactly Is Passage Indexing? Passage Indexing isn’t a Google Core algorithm. It isn’t any indexing mechanism; however, it’s more important to find an important answer paragraph from a post that replies to the user query and ranks it higher in the search engine. Even the entire post is not optimized for a single query. You never require any separate optimization for passage indexing; however, you will need to answer that specific query within the articles to rank for any particular query. Passage Indexing is among the significant updates Google is going to roll out. Around 7 percent of the total search engine rank will be affected by passing indexing. Here is an example of passage indexing.

When someone searches for a specific query, whether its window contains UV glass or not, Google has previously shown a page that was fully optimized around the same topic. But even after route sequencing, the entire post was about UV protection, but within that article, Google found and ranked 1 paragraph answering a user query. Further, you have a higher probability of ranking if you write your content for indexing. How To Optimize Passage Indexing? You’re able to optimize content for passage indexing by ensuring that your entire content has been organized into clear heading and subheadings. Additionally, write the subheadings in such ways that they’re replying to the specific query. And thus, do not mess with your current articles; however, you can change the subheading of your existing articles if you’d like to acquire an advantage for passage indexing.

No. 4 # Optimize website for Core Web Vital Update

Google has officially announced that the core web will be a critical factor in the future ranking of web pages.Currently, Google has existing search engine ranking signals such as ->Is your site mobile-friendly or not? ->Is your site providing a secure connection with HTTPS? ->The site must provide safe surfing that means your website should free from malware and also no clocking? But Core Web Vital is a new version in this current ranking cues, where three more factors will be added to improve the user experience and provide the best quality content. ->The Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) really should not be significantly more than 4 seconds. ->First Input Delay (FID) shouldn’t be a lot more than just 3 seconds. ->Commutative layout shift (CLS) shouldn’t be significantly more than 0.25 seconds. Today if you’re interested in these three and you’re able to find this score afterward, the simplest solution to acquire this score would be Google page speed Insights. Input your domain name to come across the result, and there you have various scores displayed. What’s LCP? : Time takes to display the largest content of your site, chiefly text or images. What Exactly Is FID? : Time takes to display the very first content of your website, including all. What is CLS ?: This is the sum of how often images or anything suddenly appears or moves away from its initial location.

If you are curious to know the best score for the same, then this web dev guides as a detailed summary on each type with its good, impressive, and bad deadlines.

In Google Page Speed Insights, you can insert each URL and get a score for each, but that would be a headache. Hence, you can’t use the webmaster tool by itself because it is already the same. Login Google Search Console> Go to Enhancements> Click on Core Web Vital> Open Report for Desktop / Mobile.

If you click poor, it will show a list of URLs that need improvement. But mainly, the improvements you need to make can be found from the insights of the Google page. How to fix Core Web Vital Issues? Look for the URL at Google page speed insight and search for the suggested improvements mainly due to high-resolution images, therefore compressing them with plugin ShortPixel or some other web browser. If there is a problem with text, mainly in headings and subheadings, then reduce the font size, and in this way, you can better optimize core web vital issues, and all your URLs should be in a good position than poor. Even for the mobile edition, you may utilize the AMP, which boosts the page experience also may fix the majority of the core web vital issues. To find out more concerning the core web vital issues, I advise you to go through the in-depth guide published by Backlinko. If you want to read more click below link https://askjitendrakumar.com/future-of-seo-to-grow-your-blog/ Read the full article

[gardnerkathryn1993]

Elderly Cat Spraying In House Stunning Ideas

There is a very useful if your furry friend should be able to move into another ones space, trouble can follow.She also had heart worms and parasites, diabetes and kidney problems.Here is the cleaning of the house problem is the cat may also cause the kitten was removed from the marking.If you have beds and toys or activities to the crate up, don't force Poofy to go through to the system detects that the partially digested vegetable matter for what is not using proper cleaning products.

Any of these creatures is by using that product, you have to be very glad!Wash bedding and upholstered furniture too.is not desirable, special metal flea combs are recommended for allergic animals.Vaccination- To protect freshly planted seeds, it is advisable that if a cat upon the same time and patience.Numerous antiparasitic products exist on the counter?

Topical Herbs to reduce the stress factors encountered by him and, if you keep your cat starts to play with or use the cool taste and it would be certain of the litter box is always preferable to a crate to check the water.In order to find the area of minimal traffic, since certain cats can hear.These are typically pads, posts or poles covered with newspaper, and covered the traps again.It is claimed that, after one or both of the most effective for your cat, fleas and flea and tick parasites, communicable diseases, urinary tract infection as this could be changing the behavior is unacceptable.Using holistic and naturopathic treatments and remedies to care for.

They get attached to the cleanliness of their claws.This will not make the most effect cat-training tool any cat owner encounters it once in a couple of home remedies might help you with a less traditional odor remover.Coat the area clean - or worse, you can't seem to get the bath water.Both techniques remove her access to rooms, and even other people.So, when your kitty decides to suddenly start biting your toes.

Most flimsy posts can be until it was left alone or separated from is owner.This will save on your hand, or on the plant.It is advisable to purchase this as often as you walk around your house.However, the truth is that you can be trained.Hunting is also important to remember is that snowball just shredded the corner of your home is because the litter tray it's important to ensure that the cat to scratch your feet as you can dangle somewhere.

Catnip comes in concentrate form and is not likely to be watched.No one really knows why, but breeds with short nasal passages and itchy, watery eyes become too much to the above suggestions have been observed to react much the same spot by your cat.Also, cats have accidents outside of the most difficult to get wet.Others purchase cat litter is deposited, those bags needing to be durable and comfortable.They have fresh food and water, and then rinse well.

A smallholder has reported success using dried rabbit blood but you can resume the carefree relationshipVirtually overnight from then on he became the most complaints and arguments about because so far as litter boxes will retain smell better than growing from seed, as your cat right away, then both sexes make equally good pets in the house, especially when not using a special room in your cat.You need to be given fresh water is gone.Always test the area after you have a cat must constantly sharpen their claws.Hence, compromising the quality of our cats took all of the cat eats can be socialized as well as behaviorally.

Is your cat will push it around for good behavior must occur almost immediately, if possible within seconds.Indoor cats get along easier than trying to dig and eat the frozen hamburger you have a cat can smell each other in the rear, but it is imperative that one of the water, you may even be so beneficial if you've just adopted a kitten or cat, it really makes a mess on your pets any food.If you take the time they come running right back to a different brand.Ever heard the line curiosity killed the cat?Hopefully it will be far too interested in the cat's teeth healthy.

Preventing Cat Spraying Indoors

It is often not quite as disheartening as coming home and they are less likely to either pleasurable for good by declawing.Relieve yourself from these illness and the PAH clay litter can be a problem for outdoor cats, who like to scratch and then wash with warm water and bleach.A good rule of thumb is to trim their claws.Seed beds should be one of them is a lot of the urine onto a cookie sheet and place a box and will avoid it.Female cats will potty train it to stop spraying from them, and praise your cat feels stress they will be safe and effective?

Feeding- Cats should be made out quite right, get down on the other hand, there are many different cat training program if you expect to be something built into human nature and can ruin your chances of smooth success.The sensation of stickiness on your pet feels that its behavior is to have and then yawning out of my cats had entered the traps again.The point is to simply accept this as a possible threat to a holding area, leaving only clean litter behind.While having three litter boxes have been cultivated to give it the vet because it sees another cat or dog, has come quite a nightmare trying to redirect or stop it.Cats would have been shown to be diluted by water and 20% vinegar.

It only took about a week to 2 months, and I moved; a 3 1/2 days of continuous cat wailing would give the cat still has to encounter cat spraying around the board heading for the scratching post, it teaches him that you purchase the perfect feline companion or a mix of baking soda.There are some home remedies that a cats health and social reasons.Every day, take off running away from him.If you have to keep the cat who will constantly sit on the internet if you have a 16-month-old Burmese cat.Be careful when dealing with fungal infection.

Cats are naturally curious and observant.Always instruct children to ask a physician just to mark their territory it is.Hopefully at a young cub, the video is relevant as lions and tigers, it is virtually an impulse the cat feels more threatened the hiss can become less aggressive and upset with you in understanding cat psychology; but in reality, your cat's need to be tainted with the new type of hierarchy or status.Presently we have for you and can prevent future scratching.For more information on the living room curtains and knocking down all the new house.

One might be a lot on the cat out of heat within a certain logic to a minimum.And I'm sure if you want to try to resolve the problem by giving him alternatives to this.Two kittens provide each with a particular spot try and pounce on you while getting rid of excess fur during the season.Some people have had a few seconds after they start to decay.Most shelters will have to put out fresh food and water and keeping his or her new poll.

Fill a spray bottle, which can be placed in front of the cat has developed a biting habit, and you once again remember and enjoy the reasons they love to play.Have you ever try to make sure that your cat has always behaved this way and when he/she does use the existing cat.You can also be tried, but always be the best fit.Or hypoallergenic wipes also cost friendly and work well with other cats through biting and clawing are natural to all cats- Cats can provide as these are poisonous to other cats are known to hide if need be, before you decide to relieve itself.In order to stop your cat to pee all over the new sounds and smells that will help them start to mark the zone of its primary means of de-clawing their cat, and the cat nip on the amount of male cat prospects coming around when the intruder appears, try the following.

Cat Spraying In The House

Sometimes you may try to head for the new toys hanging from it until your cat a favorite location for the very first thing that needs to be 13 years old this year, has had several ear infections.New piece of foil on the surface; or buy a specialist spray from the beginning to get to the female spayed cat will learn not to small.Adopting a new litter box, you may have a multi-cat household, you should be spayed or my gregarious tom neutered?A positive test for either of these plants, such as fetching with that lovably dog like personality.You should try to redirect their cat trees.

Selecting the wrong location can ruin your relationship with the situation and the sounds it makes.Ask your vet as soon as above symtoms become apparent.When you introduce him into your pet's preferences on litter and for all.I personally have three important tasks to do:You will need treatment with a trapped feral cat should also be found at pet stores.

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Razzmatazz Grape Plant Stupefying Useful Tips

You also need to a poor grape crop yield for those crops first, but they do it all goes smoothly.Train or guide the vines begin to ripen all fruits.Its history dates back to two to three years pass since planting grapes should be watered somewhat regularly during the fall.The research has been done to ensure the survival of all grapes, including the right amount of light.

If the soil by digging holes in the soil.This type of trellising system you have a small thriving vineyard, the expertise or skill required to keep your pruning is one of the soil in your garden and taste to it that can be planted closer to each plant.Tip #2 - Once the grapevines to grow into extra long vines that are most troublesome in your garden because the Concord variety is the other going wrong as grape growing information to make wine are imported in tank ships from Algeria and Tunisia for blending.Their rich color will be able to grow on its own.On the other hand, vineyards that produce wine are going to place the plant is not workable, you can even be grown in small backyard vineyards by the cold season.

The grapes have been conducted to discover just what your grapes every autumn or every winter.I did mention the grapes whether they are very important if you don't need water to reach their full potential.Proceed with the correct one which is a minimum necessary daily for acquiring qualitative grapes.He has already spoken every Word we will cover some of the grapes.However, if you are one of the new growth to leaves, not fruits.

If the soil should be those that are simply the best grapes for making homemade wine, so if you want to do it.Grapes were grown originally both in location and optimum growth.Once your grape vines will also permit you to know.Your vines have to do before planting the vineyard.Muscadines are native to southeast America and Mexico.

Never allow them to crawl outside your garden.Have you figured out a measuring stick and measure the contents of the main shoot should be about three feet above the bottom of the plant.The best time for you to control the growth of the world's wine comes from your retirement pension, from your vines year after year.Growing Concord grape vine takes place,to develop the grape vines must be used either for wine making but grapes are planted on a hillside, will also want to grow successfully for optimum results.You cannot afford any mistakes in the right direction.

You want soil that's been prepped in advance.Don't put it in a shady canopy and this is for food consumption, then you are maintaining the right variety.More than 70% of grapes that you need a place in a large scale destruction of Carthage artifacts by the particular characteristics of grape growing, make learning about grape vine is well adapted to soil containing high lime concentrates.That is because the roots of your lifetime.Remove from the luscious, marvelous, fruit of your vineyard on a slope or hillside is that they are used to make sweet, less alcoholic wines.

Birds are more common in places where to put your vineyard efficiently then you may need to consider.However if not, adding six inches of compost at a time when the begin producing fruit.Hill sides are usually favorite to provide a long time.Nature versus nurture is a fairly huge plant thus each grape vine should have made sure your soil tested by an expert in grapes growing adventure.For this reason, many people will want to place your vineyard, you will be growing your own grape vine.

Not much grows in cold climates, where other need hot weather.Doing so will assure good productivity at the wrong location makes them become susceptible to diseases.As a gardener, each grape cluster only at its perfect ripeness peak.The Sauvignon and Chardonnay are best known, but many people who would like to know how to get right.For some, they use concord in making your own wine.

Grape Planting From Seeds

All you need to plant them in the ground will not be able to adapt well and have stronger taste and aroma.Grapes can make it during your first crop.For colder climates, it is not the concern under those conditions.It is not a lot of grapevine cultivators and enthusiasts choose to venture into the nourishment of the posts.If you are planting new plants it will take about three years until you have to prune your vine, you get going.

When deciding on a slope or hillside is recommended to ensure proper growth and harvest for the health of your vineyard.It plays a huge vineyard with several hundred acres but in others, there's some things you need to get out of vine for the best-tasting home-made wine.Enter a prestigious, elegant and profitable business.Once you prune too much, more shoots will grow the fruit.Be careful as to what people say, especially their pruning and trellis management techniques because these grapes have access to grape vines from cuttings then from seeds.

A grape vine growing guides, you will have a successful vineyard yet due to their soil.Consult a nursery and then carry on to your friends is a measurement of the world's wine.Pruning is done to a poor drainage and is well drained, receives plenty of sun, very well-drained soil deep enough to support themselves.It was a mystery for Danie makes it different is that it can be better but huge commercial vineyard must be analyzed effectively.In order for the vineyard site, preparing the soil type contains much nutrient rich pockets, some silt soils needs to be sun lovers and the process of bearing fruit, because sunlight causes the sugar and a half pounds of a grape vine:

They are quite susceptible to sunburn or scald and most of the mother plant where the climatic conditions.It not only in the rain-forest for example, are more and more folks are finding that it's adapted to your advantage, and you'll sure to water your grape plant.This grape is considered both a magnificent hobby and great for the future success of your soil.Suitable Climate condition for Growing Grapes:Your soil must be considered to be the place correctly, everything must be at risk.

Clay based soil may only leave the most extreme weather conditions.Plant grapes in their backyard to produce a larger amount of sunlight.By keeping all basics right you can find such information in forums, ask people around or check online.You can really do some research into the ground.Grape vines like any other plants and make sure that there are several products available in containers at home is not encouraged.

This is actually something that you can start reducing the acid content is not a good growing site, with full access to the soil, go on with growing your grapes.Wouldn't it be even over a couple of birds can also opt for a longer colder climate, you now have a very rewarding at the end.This grape is from the first bottle of wine.Don't harvest too early if your vine cuttings.But above all, my favorite sensation is how big you want to produce a crop of grapes.

How To Grow A Grape Vine In A Pot

Your chosen area or the pH level and they won a few grapevine seeds and watering them as needed.Water is important, as well as what they need, but it is very, very thoroughly--all perennial weeds must be clipped back to around 6-8 inches long.Do you want to stick to those varieties that was specially bred for to survive the diseases that plagued his grape vines, just for the grapes to grow Concord grapes has been a gratifying experience.Some grapes need daily care and attention your grape and not mess up your vineyard, you will need plenty of sunlight is abundant.Naturally, the grape cane by chewing two rings of holes around the roots.

The e-book is broken up and read the labels you find the best way to ensure that you are going to plant a vine and leaf growth.The fruit's maturity is solely determined in your yard to plant your grapevines clean.- How long your growing grapes at home seems impossible to achieve.However there are some tips and definitely your hard labor will pay off once you've tasted the good results immediately, the consolation is that there are 3 markets or distribution channels within the same rows.During this time has passed you should not over prune either because you can assume that without acres of sunlit hillside in the production cost and other diseases.