#duke!lwj

[silviakundera]

Oooh I like duke su from the show but the one from the novel sounds so much more interesting tbh I love a morally grey character with his own goals who doesn't give a f*ck what the lead is trying to do but has their own agenda and it's a much slower burn. Though with how Chinese dramas operate these days it's no wonder they made him like the FL and start helping her extremely early I don't think they know or even can with how netizens are write anything else.

Though I too love novel Su guogong, I think we're in a real quandary for the adaption.

The censors won't let him be characterized as black as the novel version AND be allowed to survive (see: Eternal Brotherhood where we can have a main character who is a dark schemer with blood on his hands that adores his wife -- only because he's doomed, doomed, doomed!) Boooooo!!! I do not agree that this softening was required for this work nor Story of Kunning Palace. Grr!!

But the change to make the FL and ML interact much more and work together in the 1st half, rather than him observing coldly and uncaring about her life or death -- imo that's a quandary about different mediums and how the audience reacts to them.

I wrote a lil meta post previously about the live action adaption of MDZS and why imo the production was forced to change the WWX and LWJ backstory. Once they decided on a linear storyline, imo the otp had to eventually be friends in his first life with a mutually acknowledged bond. The audience simply CANNOT be asked to wade through 20+ hours of episodes before LWJ as love interest isn't repeatedly rejecting the protagonist. 25 episodes and weeks in real-time of him being only cold & standoffish is too much for most viewers. When consuming the novel, the reader both won't have that stretched out real time delay until the couple are on the same page. And it won't take them 20 hours of reading to get there.

Things hit different for a crafted romance on page than performed live on screen for a 40-50 episode drama.

I can still see the adaption's struggle with this. Su suogong is truly a minor character in the novel and frankly not an active participant in most of the problem > scheme > resolution sub-arcs. He has this whole other full life of his own separate interests happening..... somewhere else. The novel mostly leaves his weekly activities as a black box, an obscured mystery. Drama boy is out there somewhere moving his chess pieces & murdering people for power but the reader often just sees glimpses of him ominously sipping his tea & ordering his minions around. In order raise him to a main, the drama is forced to make him involve himself in the play much earlier - to give him a reason to be on screen that is fully tied in with the main plot & its themes. He has to care about FL by the 9th hour in, and want to support her.... or give up ML status to Ye Shijie. 🤷

We can see the strain of this as 3 episodes may happen and all the screenwriter can do is have Su guogong show up for 5 minutes just to flirt a little and remind viewers he's alive 😂😂 but that's what you gotta do with 40 episodes tbh. I can't disgree that this is a more enjoyable viewing experience.

[simon-says-nothing]

tagged by the wonderful @dwarfsized! sorry for doing two ask games in a row im just finally at my computer haha!

How many works do you have on AO3?

9!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

141,123!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

bg3 currently! also used to write for the untamed, and unforchies vld!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1 - Staring at Eternity - (magnus bane/alec lightwood) (please this was in 2015.)

2 - don't make purple - (keith/lance) VLD

3 - fire on fire (wei wuxian/lan wangji)

4 - overcome the sirens (sigh. once again. i was in hs. but. todoroki shouto/midoriya izuku)

5 - the bane of my existence - (its fucking cassie clare again )

5. Do you respond to comments?

always!! mwah

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

ah, probably burden , my wyll/karlach (wyll grand duke ending) fic. tis a small oneshot abt them being long distance pining, n i uh. was gonna write a happier part two but. shrug!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

probably don't make purple haha, the only longfic i finished and definitely the happiest one :,)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

ah, i have a few times, not often! most notably someone calling my t4t wangxian. homophobic. bc they are trans men. lmfao.

9.Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i have haha, in my wangxian fic, but its not my strong suit for sure. eager to get better at it one day!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

i have not written any but i'd love to!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not yet!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

mmm no but writing w @sweetsuke in the doc will always feel like a fun collaborative process :))

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

oh man, i as leetle am a multiship bitch but. wangxian, wwx/lwj, has a rlly special place in my heart forever. love those dudes. they live up here in my brain forever.

15) What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i swear to christ i will finish fire on fire. i will finish you wangxian fic. has it been. 2 years? yes. do i still think of them ? yes. one day.

16) What are your writing strengths?

hm, i think! im good at dramatic one liners. and character work, for Some characters but not All. sigh.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

describing things without feeling like the most boring encyclopedic shit is my personal hell. i suck at adding a little life a little flavor to It is a room. boom.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i like it if it tracks for the character and the authors done research!

19) First fandom you wrote for?

its 2013. i am on quotev. i upload legolas/authors note (i have not learned the internet lingo yet and i thought authors note was the same as reader)

20) Favorite fic you’ve written?

right now my darling is reflection , my wyllstarion one-shot, first fic in a long bit that i didn't harass myself over every sentence haha and! surprise! when you don't beat yourself up the words turn out better. insane!!!

i tagg @the-neon-pineapple @sweetsuke if ya want!

[soyforramen]

Ok, not to be that guy, but LWJ is pretty Cold Duke of the North coded. Hot? Check. Unapproachable? Check. Absolutely soft for the MC? Boyo checked all the boxes he could find and then made some more.

Anyways, LWJ would totally pull the, “Hmm, interesting,” if MDZS was an isekai.

[llycaons]

monster baru: notes as of ~halfway through

Dickinson's exploration of topics related to culture, sexuality and colonization is pretty neat to see in a fantasy series. I liked the discussion around cultural relativism, sexual fluidity, and Stakhi gender roles. a white man he may be, but careful and well-researched

I did think it was weird when baru extended sympathy to svir for the discrimination he faced as someone the reader would recognize as white, but ig it does follow the prejudices of the setting to their logical conclusion, and it makes sense that a series so involved in breaking down bioessentialism and misogyny would also challenge assumptions around white supremacy and the idea that white is the default

I kind of dislike that baru has non-sight senses/esp (?) on her blind side. I can't imagine this actually exists, but I suppose DIckinson would know

ulye xe is a GREAT character. her mannerisms and perspective are so cool to get into, and her sense of humor is subtle in a way that rules. also reminds me of lwj, actually, in that sense

I really liked the depressing bath sex scene. it was perfectly appropriate and it made a strong point about baru. also the sex scene itself was really good! hasn't been as graphic as other I've read, but I think the vagueness really works in the scene's favor

the switching POVs is still kind of confusing, but at least they're not doing it in the middle of the chapter anymore. and xy's voice is so strong, and her backstory is insane, I love it. her passion! her outlook! her commitment to the common people! I didn't realize how much she hated the ducal system. but who is XY addressing? 'my friends??'

also antiroyalist XY killing the Duke fucks. WILL THAT BE ALL YOUR GRACE

I picked up on a sense of 'tear down the ducal system' in traitor but it was never explicitly laid out. it certainly doesn't factor in baru's plans

anyway xy's 'side' is so much more complicated than just 'empire or rebel', she's a tactician who sides with the masquerade strategically in order to protect the most powerless of her people.

tain ko is so fucking cool. all the tains are honestly they rule

TAIN SHIR!!! HOLY SHIT!!!! I want her. and to see how she started...oh my god

TS and TK's backstory... 'I am not mastered'. I have chills. star wars WISHES

I love seeing more of oriati society, and the class critique thereof was super compelling.

it's nice that orientalism was so thoroughly avoided (especially compared to the dany chapters I'm forcing myself through 🤮stop talking about ~strange spices~ dany you have lived there for YEARS just eat the fucking locusts) but imo the world seems kind of small (Taranoke, Aurdwynn, Stazhi, Falcrest, Oriati, with some other peoples to the far east and west) - I would love to see more places and peoples. they all feel like vibrant, living, dynamic places that could actually exist

baru's relentless self-reflection is endlessly fascinating. she never stops questioning, either herself or others

unfortunately I still dislike the try tryhard chapter titles. DIckinson got so excited about all the new elements he wanted o incorporate and is trying to do so much at once. it feels overburdened and needlessly complex. like, tighten it up!

many many beautiful women. it continues to astonish and delight me that so many characters just continue to be women

very confused by this passage

I'm going to ask a mutual but the matricide line jut has me so baffled. how are lachta and the tain family related? why would lachta need to kill HIS mother?

it's really neat to see how Falcrest took over a different country. the weapons adapted to the situation of the place they conquer

Stakhi sounds really cool too! I want to go there!. the concept of 'a necessary king' is so neat. they're a people who don't like to be ruled, by anyone

finally I wish they hadn't used to word weed. it sounds silly and modern and informal when stuck into the language of the narration. just say cannabis

baru's crush on lao seemed like it came out of the blue and I was slightly weirded out that they were cousins, but then she clarified second cousins and honestly I met my second cousin this weekend at a family reunion and I think he's kind of hot so I can't even judge

the interrogation island is REALLY neat

I think the oriati concept of trim, and the critique of the princes, is one of the most fascinating and realistic aspect of the worldbuilding. look forward to reading more

[cyndaquillt]

I posted 9,799 times in 2022

That's 5,989 more posts than 2021!

166 posts created (2%)

9,633 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@deathsmallcaps

@miggylol

@weaponized-mathematics

@violetstar250

I tagged 6,722 of my posts in 2022

Only 31% of my posts had no tags

#long post - 665 posts

#vid - 635 posts

#cats - 608 posts

#relatable - 463 posts

#mo dao zu shi - 371 posts

#pokemon - 338 posts

#meme - 290 posts

#animals - 280 posts

#mood - 263 posts

#comics - 195 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#it’s worse when you watch the show with heteronormative people and they start shipping the characters with any character of the opposite sex

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Shantanu first falls for Ganga, a river goddess and then Satyavati, who literally smells like fish. Guy has a type

116 notes - Posted May 15, 2022

#4

WWX: *spews some nonsense*

LWJ: *looks lovingly at him*

LWJ: Mn. :)

163 notes - Posted August 9, 2022

#3

All these J High boys getting involved in gang fights, meanwhile Duke is just living his best rapper life

187 notes - Posted October 20, 2022

#2

They laughed at him! My friend Jonathan Harker was locked in his own room and they pointed and laughed at him 🥺

190 notes - Posted June 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Am I doing this right?

197 notes - Posted March 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[besanii]

paper-thin

[ WangXian ; XiXian ]

--

The war is won!

Gusu is victorious!

Hanguang-wang is alive!

--

A sizeable crowd has gathered on the streets outside of the palace gates by the time Lan Wangji arrives, freshly bathed and changed out of his travel-weary and battle-worn armour into his formal robes. He dismounts as the guards approach, keeping the reins in his hand as he shows his pass; they grant him passage with a low bow, moving to the side as he leads his horse through the gates as quickly as decorum will allow.

The maids and eunuchs he passes on his way to the Hall of Mental Cultivation pay their respects with low bows and bent knees, lowering their gazes as they murmur his title with something akin to awe. He nods curtly in response but otherwise does not halt in his progress—it would not do to keep the Emperor waiting, war hero or not.

It's been over a year since he went to war, defending Gusu's coast against the invading forces of Dongying. The war had been harrowing and brutal and there were many times Lan Wangji where hadn't been sure he would survive. But he'd fought on with grit and tenacity, acutely aware of his role as a member of the Imperial family to lead and inspire his troops by example. That is, until a well-aimed arrow caught him in the shoulder between the plates of his armour, and sent him overboard in the midst of battle.

He’d survived. Barely.

The doors to the Imperial study are open when he arrives, and the eunuchs kneeling on either side of the door touch their foreheads to the ground in greeting. He walks up to the eunuch standing closest to the door.

“I am here to see the Emperor,” he says.

“Yes, Wangye,” the eunuch replies.  He gets to his feet and turns to the door, raising his voice to announce: “Huangshang, Hanguang-wang begs an audience.”

They do not have to wait long for a response.

“Enter.”

The Emperor is still dressed in his court robes despite the lateness of the hour—the afternoon court session had been over for at least two shichen already—the black silk sleeves stark against the embroidered gold draped over the desk where he works. He puts his brush down as Lan Wangji parts the beaded curtain hanging from the archway leading into the main chamber, a smile already forming on his lips as he watches Lan Wangji kneel in the centre of the room.

“Your humble servant greets Huangshang,” Lan Wangji says, touching his forehead to the floor. “May our Emperor live for ten thousand years.”

“You may rise, Hanguang-wang,” the Emperor says. "We are very pleased to see you returned to the capital alive and well. Your service to the Empire will be duly rewarded."

Lan Wangji rises to his feet, sweeping over the invisible creases of his robe and shaking out his wide sleeves.

"Huangshang gives your subject too much credit," he replies. "I live to serve the Empire and will gladly give my life a thousand times over in its protection."

"Your devotion is recognised, Hanguang-wang, and appreciated," the Emperor says. "Nevertheless, a great victory such as this should be rewarded. Come, brother, is there anything you would wish for? Name it and it shall be granted."

Lan Wangji's hands curl into fists by his side.

"Huangshang would grant anything your subject wishes?" he asks quietly.

The smile on the Emperor's face freezes. A muscle twitches in his jaw as he swallows; he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and exhales slowly. The smile smooths into something cooler, but no less genial.

"Anything within reason," he clarifies.

Lan Wangji exhales and bows his head.

"Your lowly subject dares to presume Huangshang knows what it is I wish for," he says, keeping his voice carefully level. "There is only one wish—one request—your lowly subject would make."

He hears the Emperor sigh, a low, disappointed sound, and his stomach sinks with realisation. But he had not dragged himself out of the depths of hell and back here to give up so easily. In the three months he had allowed himself to be presumed dead, laying feverish and close to death with an infected wound, it had been this one hope, this one wish that had kept him clinging to life. If he survived the war, won the war, then nothing would stop him from coming back and finally—finally—asking for the one thing he's wanted more than life itself.

When he chances an upward glance, the corner of the Emperor's lips are drawn in tight and the crease between his brows have deepened. Lan Wangji has had years to learn the shape of the Emperor's moods, even the ones he hides behind pleasantries and polite smiles, and he knows the Emperor is displeased.

"We would advise Hanguang-wang to make another request," he says finally. Do not continue to pursue this.

Lan Wangji drops to his knees. "Huangshang, you know there is nothing else I would ask for.”

“Wangji, enough!” The room stills. A sigh. “Leave us.”

The eunuchs and maids turn in unison and bow, backing out of the chamber without a word; the door to the study shuts behind them. Lan Wangji curls and uncurls his fists against his thighs, breathing heavily through his nose as he struggles to get his heart rate back under control. He hears the rustle of fabric, followed by footsteps from behind the desk coming towards him, but he dares not raise his eyes.

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen says in an odd, stilted tone Lan Wangji has never heard before. “There is something you should know.”

--

Eunuchs and palace maids alike cower in the wake of his fury, scattering to the winds as soon as he passes. No one stops to question why a male member of the Imperial family aside from the Emperor and his sons is here, unaccompanied, within the gilded walls of the inner palace. Perhaps word had been sent ahead of his arrival, perhaps they had been expecting him--whatever the reason, Lan Wangji knows he would cut down anyone who dares stand in his way right now.

His mind is still reeling as he turns the corner along the once-familiar path that winds through the Imperial gardens, his feet following the route ingrained into him as a child still living within the palace walls.

He hasn't walked this path in close to fifteen years. Not much has changed: the trees and the flowers are the same--still the delicate gentians favoured by the previous mistress of this particular courtyard—only now there are also lotuses surrounding the small pavilion in the heart of the man-made pond, filling the air with their sweet fragrance. And inside that pavilion, an entirely different person is silhouetted against the afternoon sun.

A skirmish arose between Yunmeng and Qishan involving Qishan-hou's second son. 

Wen-er-gongzi was injured in the confrontation.

He takes a step forward, his feet suddenly heavy as though weighed down by boulders, dragging along the gravel. The person in the pavilion is still too far to have noticed him, but Lan Wangji has a clear view of the long black hair twisted up into a half-knot to expose the line of a long, slender neck, held in place by a fanzhan made of silver and set with blue sapphires. The sight of it makes his throat run dry.

Qishan demanded retribution for the injuries inflicted on Wen-er-gongzi. The life of his attacker.

Both Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen were each presented with a set the rare jewels at their coming of age, a mark of their status as members of the Imperial family. To see the same jewels adorning the familiar head of hair—

We believed you dead, Wangji. 

He drags his feet another step forward, the breath catching in his throat as the person in the pavilion half-turns at the sound.

We needed to protect him.

“Who goes there?” a eunuch calls, hurrying around the corner along the path around the pond. “This is Wei-xuanyi’s private garden, outsiders are not perm—”

“It’s alright, let him through.”

A lump forms in his throat so large he can barely breathe around it without pain; whatever hope of this being a cruel joke is crushed at the familiar voice. How many times in the past year has he heard it in his dreams? How many times has the memory of that voice called him back from the gates of Hell itself, when the rest of the world thought him dead?

The eunuch drops to his knees on the side of the garden path and bows his head; Lan Wangji takes this as a sign to proceed.

As a child, the garden path had always seemed wide and inviting; it had always led to his mother, the late Empress, the only source of light and happiness and home in his childhood. And yet now all he feels is dread, cold and dark, seeping out through the cracks in the surface of his façade with every step.

Lan Xichen’s words ring in his ears.

Wangji, it was the only way we could save him.

He stops at the bottom of the steps leading into the pavilion. Four steps. Just four steps, and yet his legs refuse to move, to take even just one more step forward; it is as though his body is fighting with everything it has against it. He can't move.

He is unsure how long he stands there at the bottom of the steps boring holes into the paved stones—it is difficult to keep track when one's mind is filled with the deafening roar of one's own heartbeat. It is not until the sound of footsteps, followed by a rush of activity in his periphery as the palace maids and eunuchs fall to their knees in unison, does he finally raise his eyes.

There, standing at the top of the steps, clad in soft, flowing robes of Gusu blue and Yunmeng purple, with Lan Xichen's jewels in his hair—

Wangji. Wei Wuxian—

Wei Wuxian lowers his head and bends at the knees, his fingertips clasped lightly by his hip. A demure greeting, wildly unsuitable for a member of the gentry.

“Hanguang-wang,” he murmurs. He raises his eyes slightly, enough to peer at Lan Wangji from beneath his lashes. Demure. Restrained.

The ground crumbles beneath Lan Wangji’s feet.

—I have taken Wei Wuxian as a consort.

--

Translations

Wangye (王爺) - equivalent of a Duke, usually Emperor’s brother or uncle

Huangshang  (皇上) - the Emperor; as per usual, I only use the pinyin when the term is used when directly addressing LXC

hou (侯) - equivalent of Marquis, second highest rank after 王

xuanyi (宣儀) - lit. ‘Propagator of Deportment’, a variant of the Tang dynasty concubine ranking pin (嬪) that doesn’t use feminine qualities; the second highest rank after furen/zande (夫人/贊德), used between 662-670 (possibly under Wu Zetian’s influence)

fazhan (髮簪) - hair ornament/pin

--

Notes

Title is taken from the Chinese phrase boming (薄命), which means to have an unlucky fate (usually in reference to women). It literally translates to “thin life/fate”. Inspired by a line in the song 雪落下的聲音 (the sound of snowfall; Story of Yanxi Palace OST):  此生 如纸般薄命 - this life, my fate is as thin as paper.

For those of you wondering where the hell I’m going with this—I have no fucking clue lmao. I just wanted to write WangXian angst with a dose of XiXian that doesn’t involve Dark!LXC for once. I also cannot be bothered to look back on this anymore, so any mistakes are purely cos I’ve given up working on this any further hahahahahaha *dies*

Inspired by a mish-mash of Story of Yanxi Palace (Fuheng x Yinglou reunion anyone???) and Empress of China (mostly the OST, but also the gorgeous costuming and setting of the Tang Dynasty).

Will I continue it? Maybe??? It took me weeks to even get my ass into gear to write this one snippet, I honestly don’t know if I will get around to writing more. But if it interests you, send me an ask about the ‘verse and I’ll try and expand more on it, even if it’s just headcanon form and not fic.

--

buy me a ko-fi!

--

[professorsparklepants]

Tfw your crush starts randomly doing fucked up magic while you're afraid for his life and you have no choice but to express an actual emotion for the first time in your life

[angstymdzsthoughts]

Add-on to the royal au thing about a possible 'mistake' resulting in A-Yuan being stillborn, and apologies in advance if it's at the limit.

The 'mistake' was by a midwife loyal to the Emperor, absolutely sure that the disgraced consort they were attending had cheated. So they think - why not deal with the problem before anyone realises? For someone of their calibre, without anyone around them likely to notice or intervene, it's not that hard.

They realise their actual mistake once they hand the silent little body to WWX and he cries that he has his father's mouth, gently strokes the little eyes to open them and-

- oh fuck.

They assassinated the crown prince before he even took his first breath. Now the consort is catatonic, the Emperor is spending almost every waking moment (when he isn't, say, personally picking and laying toys down in A-Yuan's coffin with him) pleading with the consort to say something, and the young Duke Jiang and Duchess Jin are this close to seceding or committing regicide, it's anyone's guess as to which.

LWJ eventually finds out - one of NHS's little birds took a while to get back to NHS, but they did, and what songs they sing for NHS to investigate and bring to LWJ and JWY. The sole reason the midwife isn't whipped to death on the spot is Duchess Jin ordering JWY to stop - bind them and bring them to WWX. He deserves to know.

It's what finally brings WWX out of his catatonia. Despite his weakened state, he practically flies at them, screaming and clawing them. He's too weak from prison, then childbirth, then catatonia to actually do much, and eventually JYL pulls him off more out of concern for him hurting himself (or knowing WWX would be haunted by murdering someone) than anything else.

The midwife dies via lingchi. Yes, that lingchi. WWX only speaks to LWJ just enough to agree to that, then ask for a divorce and never to see him again.

Another more angsty possibility:

The midwife was somehow even less professional. Both consort and presumed bastard die quick, bloody deaths in childbed from their 'mistakes'.

The midwife had an assistant. The midwife had an assistant who suspected something was going on, but didn't dare question their superior - a very real, documented issue in strongly hierachical, Confucian cultures. In a moment of pity and curiosity, while wrapping the baby's corpse in the swaddling-turned-shroud, the assistant decides to take a good look at the baby, trying to see if it resembles any of the palace staff they recognise, the only other people with access to the consort around the time of conception - the dark eyes of the majority of the servants, the warm brown of one of the servant boys usually bringing food up, maybe the weird blue eyes of that guard from the northern border.

Oh... oh fuck. The assistant's eyes catch on the little mouth next, matching it to the Emperor's. The little odd things the midwife did, noticeable only to someone trained, the lack of surprise, all move from suspicious to potentially a treason worthy of miezu, the entire family being extinguished.

They scream.

.

[drwcn]

《Without Envy》 snippet 10

AU: concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj

Plotlines are explained in chronological storyboards and snippets are detailed scenes which I felt more inclined to explore. All can be found in the masterlist here

~ two years before main plot line ~

Meng Yao knelt in the taishi's presence, head bowed but back straight. (taishi 太师 - the emperor's teacher/master)

"Huangshu," Meng Yao showed no fear. He understood his husband's uncle well. This was a man of stubborn constitution, who put the interests of the country above all else. Between him and his elder brother Qingheng-di (di 帝: emperor), Lan Qiren was the more suited leader. (huangshu 皇叔 = royal uncle)

"I did not summon you at this hour to hear your invariably colourful excuses. I only wish to know how you would like me to lie to Xichen after your death, to protect his heart which will no doubt be broken should he ever learn the truth of your treachery."

"I…have committed treacherous actions, many in fact." Meng Yao kept his eyes lowered, but his voice was calm. "To which is huangshu referring -"

His audacious reply was met with sharp clatters of tea cups smashing against the floor, spilling warm tea everywhere including the front of Meng Yao's robes. In his anger, Lan Qiren picked up the inkstone and made a motion as though he wished to fling it at Meng Yao's face (he probably did), but at the last moment set it down with barely controlled rage.

"Your collusion with Jin Guangshan is enough to remove your head from your neck, though perhaps I should first remove your silver tongue!"

"Huangshu, you are mistaken. I am not colluding with Jin-guogong. He believes so, but I am not." (guogong 国公 - a very high member of nobility, which for ease of understanding you can think of as duke)

Lan Qiren's brows furrowed tightly, as was his clenched fist. "Explain."

"Jin Guangshan has betrayed Gusu and defected to Qishan's Wen Ruohan. Wen Ruohan has intentions to invade and annex Gusu, and in exchange for Jin Guangshan's cooperation, he will be granted a princedom. Jin Guangshan has…information about me, about my past, and he seeks to undermine Gusu's imperial government and bixia's rule through the information he receives from me as well as the influence I have with bixia."

"And have you been providing him with such information?"

"Indeed I have."

"Then how are your actions not collusion?!"

It was then that Meng Yao raised his head to look upon Lan Qiren with a rage - a hellfire - in his eyes that had the older man internally bracing for a blow that he feared would rock the foundation of the nation.

"It is not collusion because Jin Guangshan only thinks he knows everything. He asks me to inform on the emperor, but what use is that to him when the emperor doesn't even know everything. I have realized long ago that the only way to prevent Jin Guangshan from completely destroying Xichen's rule is if Xichen doesn't rule -"

Meng Yao put his closed fist to his chest and thumped it once, the echo like an artillery exploding beneath his painted skin.

"- I rule."

And rule he did. In the dark. Behind the walls of the harem where his little birds whispered to him. Between the sheets where he whispered to Lan Xichen. There are maps of mountains and lakes and webs of plots and ploys that existed in no archive except the one in his mind, the only place in this world that was safe.

"It's you." Lan Qiren rose to his feet, shaking with emotions too tumultuous to put to words. "The dark presence I felt in court, what I assumed was Jin Guangshan's growing influence…it's you."

Meng Yao laughed. "I hide in his shadow you see, and in Xichen's shadow too. That way, they only ever see each other, and they'll never see me. So you're right, Huangshu, I have committed acts which can easily cost me my head ten times over, but I have no other choice."

"Of course you have a choice! You could choose to be honest with your husband, your ruler -"

"He isn't FIT to rule!!"

Meng Yao's outburst shocked Lan Qiren into silence.

"Xichen is kind, he is benevolent, but he is swayed by sentiment and sees the good in everyone! As his consort and his bedfellow, I love that about him, but as his subject I condemn his fitness to govern a nation. You have to know that, Huangshu, and you do, just as you knew that your older brother was not fit to wear the crown either. They both lack a certain degree of bloodlessness. Jin Guangshan has it in abundance, and Xichen is no match for him."

For a long heavy moment, Lan Qiren said nothing. So Meng Yao continued.

"I know what you're thinking, but you cannot remove Jin Guangshan. Not like this. His roots are deep and vast. If you arrest him, all that'll do is bury the rot he has left in our court. Give me time, Huangshu, and I will uproot him and all of Qishan's spies when the time is right."

"Some would say you're too clever to be allowed to live, and they would be right. Why should I trust you?"

Meng Yao smiled. "You should ask Da'ge."

"Mingjue -"

"Yes." Fengjun Nie Mingjue - the famous Chifeng General - was still alive. (fengjun 凤君 - a title for the "male empress", which doesn't exist historically but is something that is frequently used by online cnovels)

"I see."

Folding his hands behind his back, Lan Qiren raised his head towards the sky and heaved a heavy sigh. "This conversation is not over, Meng Yao, but I think it is enough for tonight."

"Then I shall disturb taishi no further." Meng Yao rose to his feet and bowed at the waist. "I bid you goodnight, Uncle."

"Before you go, tell me, what is it that Jin Guangshan has on you?"

Meng Yao hesitated, but in the end he only laughed. His secret, in comparison to everything he confessed tonight, seemed so inconsequential now.

"My mother was a... lady of the night. I was raised in the trade and had worked for some years I found myself under Dage's command."

Lan Qiren grimaced despite himself. Meng Yao could see the muscles of his jaw clenching as he worked this new transgression through the pristine moral catalogues of his mind.

"And were you, " He cleared his throat. "…Popular? During your…employment?"

"If by popular you mean to inquire if I was well known in the entertainment circles, I was not. The place that owned and trained me, the place I was sold to after my mother died, was situated in the province of Yunmeng and not in the business of being main stream."

Though his tone remained nonchalant, inside, Meng Yao was trembling. Before today, he dared to say no one within the capital with the exception of Jin Guangshan, who had searched extensively into his history, knew the depravity of his past. Now Lan Qiren knew, knew that a prostitute controlled his court and ruled his nation.

"If you were not popular and it was so many years agO, how is it that Jin Guangshan came to know about your past?"

Oh, so that's what the old man was worried about.

"Huangshu, you need not worry. Jin Guangshan was not my client."

…

"He is my father."

[stiltonbasket]

lwj and jiang cheng are quietly trying to out-husband each other? jiang cheng is buying his wife fancy events outfits and practical work clothes, but lwj out-buys him? Jiang Cheng wins a victory by having a better game for doing spousal makeup, though.

In any universe where NMJ is alive, he emerges as the unquestionable best husband. After Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng finish duking it out with each other, they make a solemn pact to spy on Nie Mingjue as much as possible and pool any superior husband knowledge they obtain during said espionage.

[three--rings]

Wait a minute, wait a minute, what?

According to the writer, the Chinese word zai in the north was another way of saying “rabbit” ( tuzi , 兔子 ), referring to a young passive partner in male same- sex relations. 

   from:  Wenqing Kang, Male Same-Sex Relations in Modern China. Published by Duke University Press  2010    

Uh, sorry, rabbit means WHAT?  This certainly puts LWJ’s love of rabbits in a different light...

(In seriousness, I assume if this was commonly known slang, I’d have heard something about it by now.  Still... The article is talking about an incident in the 1920s.)

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

So I am writing a fic and am torn in two directions. It is a time travel AU where WWX, LWJ, and JC all go back in time but none of them know the others did as well until WWX isn't in Yiling for JFM to find and JC arrives alone at Cloud Recesses.

The thing is, I can't see WWX coming to the Jiangs after everything. I can't see him going to CR in the context of the story. He has been living his own life and healing from all the trauma until this point.

My issue is - is it better to introduce him back into the story during Wen Indoctrination or later during the Sunshot Campaign?

It's pretty obvious that things would be immensely shitty for the Sect Heirs if WWX isn't there during indoctrination or during the Tortoise of Slaughter incident. But would LWJ and JC be able to hack it out with their knowledge of the past?

Also, this isn't JC-friendly at all so there's no way for LWJ and JC to micraculously work together. LWJ is solidly on the JC hate train and JC has nothing but disdain to offer in return.

Feel free to not answer this if it is too much. This would be my first fic in the fandom and I am nervous about getting it wrong. I'm just asking people who understand the novel better.

I think it would be an interesting twist to have Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng having to duke it out in the cave for survival. And I think it would probably help that at least for Lan Wangji he already would know how too kill the tortoise sooner and there isn't a chance of anyone being harmed (no broken leg for LWJ and no fever from the burns since WWX isn't there).

It would also mean that Jiang Cheng would have to realize that the Wens didn't have any sort of grand plan with killing the indoctrination disciples after he had insisted Wei Wuxian was at fault for Lotus Pier fall. When it would have fallen even without Wei Wuxian present inevitably. (Make him suffer is what I mean here and shove it in his face that Lan Wangji is and always has been more competent and strong while JC had someone always covering his back before to keep him out of dangers, and introduce Wei Wuxian back in during the sunshot campaign).

(And if you post this, please please send it over since I love the idea of time-travel fics for MDZS especially ones that don't soften up the characters growth and knowledge as adults)

[kuriipi]

Ok, ok! Hear me out! Bridgeton inspired wangxian 👀👀

So I barely have anything fleshed out other than very eligible bachelor LWJ who adamantly refuses to marry and WWX who manages to somehow cause such a big scandal madam Yu wants to marry him to like Wen Chao, or something, to save face.

WWX 100% things LWJ hates his guts and LWJ also 100% began to question everything the moment WWX appeared in front of him doing something entirely shameless and is no consumed with lust.

I have no idea who proposed the arrangement. I just want fake dating misunderstandings and wangxian going at it like Daphne and the duke the moment they get married and solve the whole "I love you but you don't." "What? No! I love you but YOU don't." Ok!?

Also lady Whistledown is almost certainly NHS.

That's all I got for now...

So continue later??? Maybe???

[restingdomface]

If Lan Wangji hadn’t shown up to Mo Manor in time and Wei Wuxian had to take these little shits to Dafan mountain instead, just imagine what these kids would have learned? ‘That mushroom makes you trip balls and think you can fly. Only eat it if you have someone you trust not to let you climb onto things.’ ‘Oh cool, look at this plant, the leaves taste oddly sweet, but try this little fruit that grows on it! What? Why are you crying? It’s not that spicy, I thought they were a little mild.’ ‘So see, Lil Apple is a bit of an asshole, doesn’t wanna eat the subpar grass, but what, if I put an apple in front of him-‘ *gets dragged away by his donkey when his arm gets caught on the saddle while the kids watch with very tired expressions* they’ve been babysitting this man for too long and just no longer care.

Then obviously they get to Dafan, and now Jin Ling shows up, and WWX is thankful that one of them deemed to call him by name (that sweet little Lan Sizhui, seems to regard his little nephew as a sort of cousin, how sweet) and asking why random cultivators are complaining that Shufu Xuanyu is teaching the Lan babies how to snort mold at the mountain base (‘it’s medicinal I SWEAR-‘) why he wasn’t invited!!!! Of course, WWX is going to have to rectify that by giving his sweet baby nephew a joint he rolled ten minutes ago (which is promptly taken away by LSZ because he’s only 13!!!! Don’t give the kid weed!!!! But LJY stole the joint from LSZ’s pouch when they weren’t looking and promised to share it with JL later) and now JL is okay with crazy uncle Xuanyu showing up and maybe he can convince Jiujiu to let MXY move in with them if MXY promises to stop drawing blood circles on the pier while the servants cry about it.

Then shit had to get complicated when LWJ and Jiang Cheng show up to duke it out over their kids being given drugs and they’re BOTH 100% sure it’s the others fault, and honestly? This just isn’t WWX’s day.

[one-doesnt-simply-walk-in-bagend]

MDZS Pacific Rim au

Ok I’m gay and love soulmate shit like souls just meant for each other whether platonic/familial/romantic just that shits so good and what better way to express that than in huge robots beating up giant monsters?

So jaegers right? Ok sect backgrounds

Yunmeng Jiang: Specialize in water battles with controlled yet fluid movements. They specialize in midranged battle with swords and whips that keep kaiju at a distance but theyre also very adept at close combat. They definitely have hidden daggers in every open crevice of their jaegers

Gusu Lan: Specialize in more aerial battles, not like sustained in air battles but using different maneuvers to gain the advantage over kaiju. They tend to work in pairs and work in tandem to disorient and overwhelm the kaiju. They’re strict because not only do you have to vibe with your copilot but you also have to know what other pilots are thinking so you can work together 

Qinghe Nie: Ok so Nies made some of the og jaegers with nuclear power and low shielding because it give them a Massive Boost in power but it was also dangerous for their pilots. While the other sects went for better shielding and less dangerous power sources, the nies kept the trade off because pilots felt that risking their lives was worth protecting their people. Nie pilots tend to die young

Lanling Jin: Kind of like the Nies the Jin style has trade offs. They opt for thing light plating so they are quick to maneuver and get at weak points on kaiju. They specialize in speed and precision to keep them alive and effective. They’re basically squishy genjis 

Qishan Wen: Idk I feel they have experimental but dangerous tech that they test. The sects are wary of them but they get results so there’s not much they can complain about. The wens have the advantage because so many of their population are drafted for their pilot program where the other sects take volunteers and people who want to become disciples.

This might get long so imma put the rest under a read more :L

Ok so do we want plot or soulmates first? Hmmm plot to explain the soulmates

We start with wwx and jc. Yzy trains them fast and hard with the other disciples and they both excel in their training. Wwx and jc have a jaeger named Night’s Envy. 

They are a team to be reckoned with as they balance each other. Wwx is impulsive but has great instincts and his ideas are brilliant if risky. Jc on the other hand is calculating and analytical and he takes his brothers ideas and turns them into a viable plan they can both pull off. 

Yzy is always harsh on wwx for his tactics saying hes going to get his brother hurt one day but wwx just laughs it off with jc bc they trust each other so well. 

Also because they drift, they know of each others insecurities and help each other when tensions spike etc etc. We are here for supportive brothers ok?? They are the Twin Heroes of Yunmeng and are inseparable. 

God I havent even gotten to the plot yet. Ok this is a bit of a step back to their training days but this is where wwx and lwj met. Wwx and jc go to the Cloud Recesses training facility because its the most advanced in the country. It’s strict there but their training is top notch and keeps their pilots alive. Ofc wwx gets busted by lwj for alcohol and thats how wwx gets on lwjs radar.

Lwj doesnt know how to feel about wwx, besides annoyed, because hes such an amazing pilot but doesnt control his actions. Wwx excels in the studies and training but is so carefree and flippant about everything that it frustrates him to no end. Doesn’t help that wwx loves to rile lwj up to get a reaction

They end up developing a competitive relationship and always try to outdo each other in training sims and sparing. All the other disciples know about the top two students duking it out for top spot but they keep switching between each session. Before they get to actually try drifting together wwx gets into a fight with jzx and gets kicked out (spoilers they are drift compatible) 

Ok back to our Twin Heroes. Night’s Envy gets deployed for a kaiju but their fight starts to drift into Wen territory. Idk regulations or smth say they shouldn’t infringe on anothers territory so yzy tells them to come back but wwx spots the kaiju headed for an undefended village. It would take the wens time to deploy their own pilots so wwx and jc look at each other and nod. Wwx says their headed to save the village and yzy is furious telling him off for being impulsive and not listening but it was also jc’s idea (he wont say that tho bc he doesnt want him to get into trouble)

Wwx has a wild idea, jc finds out how to make it work, and they go after the kaiju as it bears down on the village. They’re able to push it back but it gets a hit in and jc gets injured and knocked out. Wwx is left to pilot solo and manages to subdue the kaiju before piloting the jaeger to crash next to the village

This is where Wen Qing and Wen Ning come in because this is their village and they pull wwx and jc out from the wreckage. Wq stabilizes both of them and wwx is the one to wake up first. Their comms were broken in the fight and the village doesnt have advanced enough comms to get to the jiangs so wwx stays and helps the village while taking care of his brother who is still Out

Little do they know that the Wens are Unhappy about them infringing on their territory and bar yzy from sending parties to collect her pilots and jaeger and theres now Tension. (Wens are just using this as an excuse bc they want more power in the jaeger industry and want to incorporate the other sects)

Once wwx catches wind of this, he enlists wn’s help in getting them out and they’re able to get an unconscious jc back into the jiang’s hands but then he himself gets caught by wen chao and wen zhuliu. he’s able to say wn was his prisoner and forced so hes safe but wwx is now in their hands.

He gets beaten, tortured, etc for information but manages to escape and find his way back to the wen village. Wq helps him back to health bc he protected her brother and he stays there because he can be safe there. (This is where he basically adopts a-yuan bc i say so)

When jc wakes up hes back with the jiangs but his brother isn’t there. He goes Off and hes doing everything he can to try and get back to find his brother but he was unconscious and has no clue about the village let alone where it is. 

Soon war breaks out between the sects bc the wens are using their weird tech to take territories from the other sects and now the sects are fighting on two fronts: the kaiju and the wens. Finding wwx is lowest priority for the sects but jc is still out there searching and when lwj hears of it, so is he

I think once the war breaks out wwx starts to move his village of wens to a safer territory from both the wens and other sects bc he knows no one will be spared. During his time at he village, he ventures out to bigger wen cities and learns about their experimental/dangerous tech and learns how to use it and program it to his advantage

He makes his way back to the jiang territories once he has amassed a thorough knowledge of the wen tech. he uses that knowledge to take out wen pilots and outposts in the territories he pushes through and becomes a ghost. the only evidence of his presence is the destruction left in his wake. 

Jc and lwj at this point have just started searching together and thats when they stumble upon wwx using wen tech against the wens. Jc is so angry with wwx for leaving him and being away so long but hes also crying as he hugs him close. Lwj is wary of the tech wwx is using because its experimental and dangerous idk. Jc takes wwx back and they continue fighting the war.

Now the jiangs and thus the rest of the sects have an advantage because they have an insider who knows the wen’s plans (meng yao) and someone who knows how their tech works and can use it against them  (wwx). wwx is able to set up some tech to hold off kaiju so certain forces can be pushed to the wen front to end the war quicker

in the final battle wwx is able to get them a huge advantage with the tech but gets hit hard with backlash and gets knocked out during the battle and lwj and jc defend his unconscious figure as meng yao gets the final blow on wrh and the battle ends. 

Idk i want lans to still be healers cuz i want lwj to take care of an unconscious wwx while jc and the others deal with the end of war idk meetings etc plus there are still like,,, kaiju attacking lmao

jgs is gonna be targeting wwx since he knows the wens tech and its uses etc. the jins go after the remaining wens bc they want their tech blah blah. they find wq’s village and wwx goes off. he goes and rescues them (wn is injured but alive) and takes them away. jgs spins this as wwx trying to amass his own tech to take over or something and people believe that for some reason w/e

the massacre at nightless city is wwx trying to talk to them about the wen remnants being no fighting army etc etc but doesnt matter and someone attacks him and he fights back but of course experimental tech isnt always good and it accidentally gets too powerful and hurts a Lot of People (jyl is alive). wwx is knocked out by the backlash and lwj takes him to safety. 

wn is there and he takes wwx back to where the rest of the remnants are hiding and lwj fights off 33 elders who try to follow/intercept wn and wwx

I haven’t decided how the rest is gonna go but I have Ideas. Tbqh there’s a lot missing in between the bullets but i wanted to get this all down 

[crossdressingdeath]

Since they call wives "Madam/Lady (Fūrén)" in the English translation, why not call WWX the English equivalent of madame? That would be Sir (Xiānshēng) or Lord (Zhǔ)[it translates to Master too]? You have the option of Gōng equivalent to Duke in English (tho nowdays is mainly applied to deceased make relatives), it's the highest title after the prince, in this case it would be below JZX only after he became the Sect Leader and only below their kid once he's the Sect Leader.

Honestly, I’m thinking I might just call him Consort. Or Young Madam Jin, but that then raises the question of what LWJ would be called... Consort is probably the simplest, even if the Chinese rank that is translated as consort isn’t exactly the right one? Maybe I’m talking right out my ass, but I got the impression that titles like Xiansheng are more things you just... have. Like, I know the rules are different between English titles and Chinese titles, but the husband of a queen (or king!) would be ‘prince-consort’, not Lord or Sir or anything like that (although he likely would be a lord); they’re different levels of rank. So part of it is my brain saying “That doesn’t sound right” and I know I might be getting things wrong because different rules, but... I don’t know. Consort just sounds better to me.