#evil hua au

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

How do you reckon an evil Hua arc could go/could have gone?

Well first, the setup is important.

See, we want Hua in character, but by its construction, the HoS arc was Hua ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER... because she was never Hua. Our Hua's wayyy too steadfast, and I don't want to mess that up.

So for an evil Fu Hua, I think we'd need to have Hua be driven to mild insanity by trauma, grief or an external factor like SWARA or the Honkai. Maybe a combination. How about an obsession, too?

If we go by what the HoS arc originally SEEMED to be going for... (beautiful bamboozle that arc trailer)

We can have it be Hua yoinked back into her body because say, Kevin gave her feather back to Otto and he put it back there, and so she's stuck and in pain and doesn't know if Kiana's alright; maybe the Honkai torments her with how she keeps failing her mission and her loved ones, mistakes from a painful past she'd forgotten, etc etc.

So, eventually, she's well enough to break out. Hell, if Otto's around, I can see her beating the crap out of him since he shot her in the face last time they met— but mostly likely she'd go for efficiency, so you'd have a newly Herrscher'd Hua who's unconsciously emitting a ton of Honkai and slaughtering security bots that Otto's trying to contain her with. In that case, she'd mostly just kill Otto because she needs to go through him. Maybe say something cold about how that's how his friends treat one another, considering, you know, he's got his little friend spiel even though he SHOT HER IN THE FACE.

(Seriously they should've let Hua come with Dudu and Kiana to beat him up in Kolosten.)

I don't think she'd care to go find Kevin beyond making sure Kiana escaped him, unlike HoS. Like... evil Hua isn't gonna try and bond with an old comrade, she'd just bulldoze her way through things until she finds her objective. She's stubborn after all! And here I think her priority would be Kiana, given that she left her alone and in danger. Also Fuki's a great ship.

At that point of the timeline, Kiana's with AE, but unlike with HoS, after brutalizing World Serpent HQ for information, she'd go looking for Kiana rather than wait on Mount Taixuan with illusions. So you'd have a lot more active walking disaster.

Not sure when/how she'd notice that she did not come back quite right this time. If she has a quiet moment to reflect, probably quickly? But I kinda want her to... not. Like, Hua needing to get snapped out of it, and in the meantime sweetie's having a grand ol time making a huge mess of things while obsessed with finding Kiana.

You have fun, Hua dear, okay? They'll stop you when they stop you. You earned this.

Then it'd depend whether Hua finds Kiana first, or if AE figures out there's a Herrscher on the loose and Kiana + Bronya go and confront her, only to realize it's their good old class monitor.

THEN I GUESS HUA SNAPS OUT OF THE OBSESSION, REALIZES SHE'S A HERRSCHER, AND THIS TIME WE GET SHATTERED SAMSARA BUT WITHOUT HOS BEING A DIFFERENT PERSON and that honestly makes it even darker coz Hua didn't actually want to kill HoS but she'd have no such qualms against herself

If my memory is correct (too lazy to check rn) that's actually something the devs have said themselves, they wanted a Herrscher to become Fu Hua, rather than Fu Hua becoming a Herrscher, because she'd self-terminate immediately if she thought she was a threat like a Herrscher.

Fun!

[cuteniaarts]

Honestly, one of the main reasons I’m still dead set on finishing AIDIB is because once the AU progresses, we’ll eventually get to see badass bloodbender Suiren

Bonus, Live Kuvira Reaction:

[mxtxfanatic]

I’ve been stuck in 2ha fics for a minute and have seen a few metas and posts surrounding Mo Ran’s character, but something I don’t think comes across very well from the book to fanwork and (some) discussion is that Taxian-jun doesn’t exist without the long-hatred flower.

Like, I see a lot of modern au fics, for example, that tackle the Mo Ran 1.0 to 1.5 shift by having Mo Ran be disillusioned by Chu Wanning and that being his villain origin story, but what gets lost in that remix is that in canon, while Mo Ran was hurt by being whipped by his shizun, after he thought about it for a while, he decided to apologize to Chu Wanning to reconcile rather than hold a grudge. Because Mo Ran, at his core, is someone who is naturally good and would rather die than enact vengeance on others. That’s why both the timing and the effects of the flower are particularly evil: Mo Ran is cursed because he chose reconciliation over petty grudges and the curse forces him to go against his nature by holding onto said petty grudges to “repay” them to a ridiculous degree while erasing any good memory he has, which is what had previously fueled his will to live.

With that said, Mo Ran 1.0/Taxian-jun is able to transition to 1.5 and eventually 2.0 not because he realized that Chu Wanning loved him all along (as a disciple at this point), but because the Chu Wanning from the original universe nullified the effects of the flower, allowing him to finally see that Chu Wanning loved him all along and that he actually doesn’t want revenge. And we can see that effect of the nullification immediately! Taxian-jun becomes 16-year-old Mo Ran, finds out that Shi Mei, his “first love” is actually still alive at this point, and immediately decides to prioritize keeping Shi Mei alive over enacting revenge on Chu Wanning. Because at his core he’s motivated by love! And when Hua Binan brings Taxian-jun’s reanimated corpse into the new universe, his control is tenuous because Taxian-jun isn’t being motivated purely by spite anymore because the flower isn’t in effect anymore. This isn’t to say that Mo Ran was incapable of becoming Taxian-jun, but as the narrative proves, that is a version of him that only exists under mind-breaking abuse and duress, which only happened when he lived under the Mo family’s reign of abuse for years before finally snapping and then once again under the effects of a curse that rewrote his memories to convince him that he was living under mind-breaking abuse and duress. Without those conditions, Mo Ran always chooses hope and love, and even as he looks back on those moments where he reigned terror, he wishes he could have chosen/been afforded death instead (much to Chu Wanning’s upset). So all this to say that Mo Ran isn’t saved by realizing he was living under a misunderstanding; he is saved by having the thing leeching out all of the good in him destroyed.

(Also on a smaller note, Taxian-jun isn’t uneducated because he was on the street for so long and therefore “too old” to be properly educated. Taxian-jun is uneducated because all of his memories of learning were good memories tied to Chu Wanning, thus they got erased. Mo Ran 2.0 re-educates himself in his late teens/early 20s because the problem was always the flower, not some “inherent” inferiority he was stuck with from his upbringing or an unwillingness to learn.)

[thisisallthehattersfault]

AU where Hualian met and got together some time before Xie Lian's General Hua era, and they ended up properly being able to raise and take care of Banyue and Pei Su.

Also they somehow end up figuring out what's up with Jun Wu, and when Pei Su still ascends, he does so with the knowledge of what Jun Wu is. Instead of killing all those people at Banyue pass for Ban Yue, he's working within heaven against Jun Wu.

I just want a fic that really delves into Pei Ming's relationship with Pei Su, and the realization that he didn't actually know the kid nearly as well as he thought he did. Also, we see in canon that Pei Su seems to respect and look up to Xie Lian more than he does Pei Ming, which is another thing that's never really addressed but could be interesting to explore. And I like the idea of heaven being like "The Ghost City is dangerous and volatile and Hua Cheng is the ultimate evil" and then we cut to Pei Su vising home for a weekend and having to dodge dozens of well-meaning ghost aunties trying to feed him questionable things before he gets to Paradise Manor and is immediately accosted by Hua Cheng because oh, I see, you have the time to run all those errands for Ming Guang but you don't have the time to cALL YOUR FUCKING PARENTS--

[greenflamedwriter]

Crack Fick: Dream Daddy

Imagine a Dream Daddy AU where SY gets to choose to Date all the characters in PIDW. So theres, 1. Luo Binghe/Chief\ Huan Hua Palace Master [Xiaxia ver] 1.5 EXTRA Luo Binghe Twins/ evil twin VS good twin and SY has to figure out which is which.

2. Liu Qingge/ Gym Buddy\ Peak Lord Warrior Rival

3. Gongyi Xiao/ In the closet has fiance /Rogue Cultivator\ [For the dating game]

4. Yue Qingyuan/Childhood best friend\ Sect Leader

5. Mu Qingfang/ Doctor\ Also the Sect Doctor

6. Shang Qinghua/ Slob of a writer who gets picked up by rich boyfriend then has a makeover glowup/ traitor of a peak lord and begs to be saved- [if you date over 'boyfriends' QInghua always gets matched up with MBJ]

7. Zhuzhi-lang/ Stalker \ Still a stalker 8. Secret Daddy- Tianglang-Jun Unlocked!/LBH playmate or- Heavenly Demon Emporer.

If Shen Yuan was trapped in a dating game and had to play to escape- then realised he had feelings because it's more real than a dating game-

Who would you want him to date?

[absolmon]

You know what we need? SuTian Ladyhawke AU with Shang Qinghua as Mouse. For those that don’t know the 1985 classic the broad strokes are that an evil bishop has cursed a couple by making it so that by day the woman is a hawk and by night the man is a wolf. The only way to break the curse is for them to touch as humans but they transform as soon as the dawn and dusk break. Mouse is an escaped thief who gets saved by the knight and accidentally becomes tangled up in their curse. In this AU Old Palace Master curses Tianlang Jun and Su Xiyan to turn into animals the same way. SXY should be Navarre the captain, riding around looking like a badass in black during the day and turning into a massive black wolf at night. TLJ is the titular Ladyhawke, maybe not a hawk but a massive beautiful bird of some kind during the day whilst at night he’s a forlorn damsel living a half life. Shang Qinghua somehow gets in trouble and has to be on the run for a while whilst the system in the background gives vague advice. He gets saved by SXY from some Huan Hua palace disciples and gets roped into her revenge plan to kill the OPM. Maybe Zhuzhi Lang can be the priest that comes up with the solution? I don’t know this could be fun! I’m not sure I’m funny enough to write SQH’s asides to the System.

[justaghostingon]

Xie Lian: God of Cooking

A crack au

It all began just before Xie Lian’s third assention.

He was minding his own buisness, cooking himself some dinner over a fire, very pleased to have gained as many ingredients as he has and calling it Heavenly Revelation Soup, when another man shows up out of nowhere

Said man is a disgraced chef who’s stuck on finding a very special original dish for a very dangerous man who’s taken over his whole kingdom

He’s so stressed he hasn’t eaten in days, and has spent the whole of the week searching for rare ingredients. But no luck.

He shares his tale of woo with xie lian, and begs a last meal before he returns to face the music with nothifn to offer

Xie lian tries to talk him out of it, but the man insists. So he reluctantly hands it over

Naturally the man instantly throws it all up

But!

In the seconds it was in his mouth, he recognized a mixing of flavors completely unique! Something no one has tasted in all the land!

He exitedly asks Xie lian for the reciepe, then runs back to the palace to prepare the new meal

And with his mastery of cooking, he actually makes it taste divine.

Xie Lian is honestly shocked

The evil king loves it, and demands the chef tell him how he came up with such a dish, and when he reveals it was inspired by Xie lian’s dish, he insists Xie Lian come forward and prepare it “the original way”

Now Xie Lian tries to warn the king, but he refuses to listen, and honestly he’s bad enough Xie lian doesn’t feel too bad about giving him his cooking

Predictably the food is so terrible it makes the king faint. Unpredictably, the king while fainting, hits his head and falls down dead

The guards scream poison and jump for Xie Lian, but at that very instant he assends for his third time

As a Cooking GOD!

Apparently saving a kingdom with a dish so horrendous is kills evil does that

Feng xin and Mu Qing both faint from shock.

Xie Lian is very embarrassed by this new title, he knows his cooking’s not very good, but from the moment he assends he keeps getting all these prayers for good dishes and cooking inspiration

There’s not a lot of gods for household duties like this okay? Lots of normal people like chefs and cooks have been dying for some representation in heaven that proves their skill is important! Lots of mothers (and fathers) pray for skills to feed their families!

Xie Lian becomes very popular, very quickly, which no one, not even the heavenly emperor, were expectinf.

Xie lian prob feels a bit like an imposter

He tries to prove his terrible skills by giving a dish to a follower, but the follower after eatinf and throwung it up, is suddenly struck by the way he used sweet fruit in a far to salty dish and makes whatever the chinese equivelent of pinapple pizza is

Thus the legend of Xie Lian is that his food is a challenge and a test, if survived will give you great wisdom and cooking skills.

His food is so powerful it can literally purge evil!

Followers can use his dumplings are weapons!!!

Now your probably wondering, what does Hua Cheng thing of all this?

He thinks Gege is finally getting the credit he deserves!

As the one person who can eat Xie Lian’s food and enjoy it, Hua Cheng proudly builds Xie Lian a restaurant right off of puqi shrine, and keeps it running with a healthy amount of ghosts and mortals who owe him.

He wants everyone in the world to taste his gege’s food

He even introduced himself to Xie Lian as not just a rich young master run off, but one with restruant training! Who was looking for a job!

And wouldn’t u know it, your shrine to the cooking god needs a resturuant manager! Isn’t that lucky!

Thus Xie Lian finds himself a popular god, restruant owner, and if that cute ghost who’s declared himself his manager has anything to say about it, a husband too.

[sandushengshou]

Every month of 2023 ✨

tagged by @junsfangs to link my favorite or/and most popular creations from each month of 2023 & then tag some ccs! xoxo

January most popular:  this amazing pushing daisies quote my favorite: wen siblings exchange gif i did for a mxtxnet event (i love them, but i hadn't giffed them together before this, so it was nice having the opportunity. and i like how it came out)

February most popular:  gomez & morticia addams set (the original otp) my favorite: xiao zhan showing off his titties (because, well...i'm a slut)

March most popular: wei wuxian + text posts  my favorite: yunmeng trio as demonic cultivators (chongzi gave me evil jc so i had to. i also wanted an au where yanli wields zidian)

April most popular:  barbie jiang cheng (i bet jc antis reblogged it because they had to admit they hate him because he's better than their favs) my favorite: twin heroes of yunmeng as demonic cultivators (i just love this au)

May most popular:  lan wangji + text posts my favorite: barbie wei wuxian (i had more plans for the dress up game part, but not the skills. i still had fun with it!)

June most popular:  wei wuxian + text posts my favorite:  sorry and thank you between wwx and jc (because i love angst)

July most popular:  my fav ghibli films my favorite: same one! i rarely make colorful sets and animated films are good for that

August most popular:  lan wangji + text posts my favorite: birthday gift i made for kareena. wen kexing in red (i wanted something red and slutty because kareena likes the color and because being slutty is a big part of who she is so..)

September most popular:  another moriticia and gomez addams set my favorite: jiang cheng missing wei wuxian (angst!)

October most popular:  addams family values set my favorite: all jiang cheng smiles (because it makes me T_T to see them)

November most popular:  hua 'this ring made from my ashes that is basically the only thing that can destroy me isn't anything valuable' cheng my favorite: birthday gift i made for pat -> love and redemption set - sifeng and xuanji's ten lifetimes (this was hard because there are a lot of xiao zhan titties during this month but i was strong, i looked away from them, and i had to go with this one. for the meaning behind it and also because it came out pretty)

December most popular:  twin heroes of yunmeng + text posts my favorite: another angsy twin heroes of yunmeng set (i love angst and i love them. i love putting together these two things i love)

tagging: @madeline-kahn @highwarlockkareena @eohachu @chinzhilla @yilinglaozu @jiaoliqiao @simonghostrileys sorry if you were already tagged! and no pressure to do it of course!

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

In ER there was a dialogue (Raven I think, I'm not sure) about how any of the flame-chasers could have been World Serpent's Sire. In a bubble universe, it might be Hua. Her Azure Empyrea phase reminds me a lot of Kevin, living only for defeating honkai, all alone. That just came to mind with all the evil hua talk.

Yeah, that’s fun! I wanted to go a different route but that one would also be fun. Just very different circumstances 🥰

[inferusrf]

Lethe Speaks No Evil Chapter 1 is out!

Aka the Space Colony AU

1500 years after Humanity arrived on Tethys, Kiana the self-proclaimed Comet attempts to rescue a Heiress from an outbreak on Chiba Space Station, and learns that the Herrscher is also a dragon, huh...

KiaMei in space, Hua will be added to the mix eventually :)

[chipsncookies]

BEHOLD the pla x dgs au 😂😂😂

I first got this idea because both the games are set in Meiji era, also rei kinda looks like ryuunosuke (look at his hair and big eyes!!)

Basically you play ryuunosuke's role, the wardens are jurors, akari is your co council, professor laventon is the souseki of this au (always gets accused), kamado is the judge, cyllene doesn't have an equivalent in dgs but she reminds me of courtney sithe a bit(??), the clan leader you didn't choose is your prosecutor (if you choose Adaman/Dialga, the prosecution is Irida and vice versa) and Volo... He gives valuable tips and helps you, shows up during random times, is blonde and handsome, and also saves you when times are dire so he's sherlock but evil

Also that scene where kamado banishes u in pla is the closest to dgs, even irida and adaman go against him, their lines in that scene fit right in an aa game 😂

The npcs can be witnesses, i want to see tao hua accusing choy of stealing his treasure and arguing in the witness stand 😂 bagin offering to expand your inventory, the doll guy demanding u give him wood etc!

[hey-hamlet]

SVSSS AU - Real Villainy

Svsss au where Shen Jiu says fuck it and just becomes a real legit villain. He’s tried to do the right thing and it always goes wrong - maybe if he tries to be evil he’ll do good? Unlikely, but what other choice does he have at this point?.

He comes to Cang Qiong while Yue Qingyuan is still locked in the cave and finds out that, rather than give the man medical attention they shoved him in a cave to let the chips fall where they may.  

Shen Jiu is like "wow, actually, fuck these guys" but he hangs around to learn from them, ends up head disciple of Qing Jing, then Yue Qingyuan is released from his cave and he's like "right. I'm busting us out of here"

 But the peak lord of Qiong ding isn't going to let her successor go so easily and beats the tar out of Shen Jiu when he comes to sneak Yue Qingyuan out. Shen Jiu is slippery though and he escapes.

He is still head disiple of Qing Jing though. His Shizun is very fond of him and refuses to instate a new disiple, even though SJ has technically defected and fought the sect leader.

 Teams up with some demon whose cultivator wife betrayed him because he's going to get his Qi-ge back if it kills him - well. Kills someone else. No point getting his Qi-ge if hes not alive to enjoy it.

 Then he finds out the disciple was the head disciple of Huan Hua and he's like "oh, the girl with the pervert master?" And suddenly Tianlang Jun is like ',,, maybe we should find her first. Before we do the murder.'

They plant a body of Su Xiyan and raise baby binghe while they wait for it to grow.

Free uncle for Luo Binghe

Literally the day SXY crawls her way out of the ground (only took a year, but it was a year too long for SJ) the three of them - and binghe, in a baby sling - storm Qiong Ding and reclaim YQY. 

The two of them enjoy their life as ‘cultivation consultants’ to the demonic emperor - aka, they baby sit Binghe and back Su Xiyan up when she tells Tianlang-jun that he’s being a moron. 

[rarepears]

May 2023 masterpost

tywin lannister x sung jinwoo

Moshang Levirate Marriage AU

Shen Jiu thinks that ghost!Shen Yuan that is haunting him is his ancestor AU

hannibal lector reborn as Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe's firstborn son AU

european fantasy mdzs AU: Lan Qiren is the dragon 'uncle' to princesses Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji

luo binghe as sephiroth and shen yuan as cloud strife AU

evil overlord shen yuan needs an evil queen so he picked henchman luo binghe to be promoted AU

getou suguru (jjk) adopts shen jiu and yue qi (svsss) au

after sqq self-destructs something goes wrong and he’s reborn into the body of the huan hua palace lord au

rich housewives of cang qiong peak AU

modern SVSSS AU where shen yuan's parents are shen jiu and yue qingyuan

getou suguru (jjk) adopts shen jiu and yue qi (svsss) au

Shang Qinghua and the DILFs AU

SVSSS peak lords in pokemon AU

shen yuan transmigrates into orochimaru’s body and the naruto universe instead au

steve irwin as cang qiong’s beast peak lord AU

if shen yuan transmigrated into bleach as Ichigo AU

Modern AU where Luo Binghe makes cosplay outfits for Shen Yuan to wear when he's not doing card captor work

Shen Jiu becomes a silk merchant instead of a Qing Jing disciple AU

If Wei Wuxian was a dog instead... AU

jiang Cheng observes ptsd and the other impacts of war AU

shen yuan and shen jiu: a brotherly relationship of hatred and animosity AU

shen yuan thought he got transmigrated into a BL fanfiction of PIDW... AU

SVSSS X Final Fantasy 7 AU: Shen Qingqiu is seen as the God of Wutai and Shinra better quake in their boots as Sephiroth gets adopted

shen yuan gets into a twitter spat with elon musk AU

Shen Jiu time travels and decides to hide from cang qiong by becoming a concubine AU

SJ is stuck as a ghost after being replaced by SY and only LQG can see SJ's ghost form au

give me that Architect X Sung Jinwoo fic idea because i need this weird AF au to exist

if the Qing generation was written like they are the millennial gen and their disciples gen z… AU

shen qingqiu adopts a pregnant cat; luo binghe Misunderstand everything AU

endeavor x go gun hee (solo leveling) AU

[prettypeonylanwangji]

just saw a tiktok comparing xiao xingchen and xie lian. now i can't stop thinking about an au where xie lian, who's blind after giving his two eyes to feng xin, is living in puqi shrine, trying is best. but white-no-face, just like xue yang, comes into his life pretenting to be someone is not, and make xie lian kill feng xin, his best friend. when he discovers who was with him this whole time and what he did, he k/ll himself and white-no-face, just like xue yang, try to fix his error — he just wanted him to be evil, after all. but he can't fix anything, and xie lian's soul doesn't want to be reincarnate.

and his most devoted believer, who as the time was just a ghost fire, turns into a wrath after seeing his death. he build thousand and thousand temples for his beloved god, never forget him and does not let the world forget him either.

maybe arrives a time where he comes to the heaven and fight for his dead beloved and take the throne, becoming a supreme king and an heaven's king (?)

but even after all of that, xie lian's soul will not be reincarnate.

hua cheng puts xie lian's ashes into a ring that he always wear,

and he can't wait to die too, to see him again.

[touchmycoat]

pride and prejudice AU, WIP that I WILL finish for ficwip5k

“It is a truth universally acknowledged,” Wei Wuxian lectured, “that a single man in possession of good cultivation must be in want of a cultivation partner. And have you heard, my three ridiculous children? Qiong Ding Manor has let at last.”

“Oh my,” Shen Jiu, the second oldest of the lot (also the second youngest for that matter), intoned flatly as he scrubbed the dirt from an enormous radish in a washing basin. “You must want to tell us who’s taken it.”

“I want someone to ask me first,” Wei Wuxian sighed, throwing a hand over his forehead and himself over a hard wooden bench. “But of course my cruel, demonic sons are beyond pity for their poor parent. Except A-Yuan. A-Yuan ah, you’re not one of the cruel, demonic ones, are you?”

Shen Yuan cleared his throat, set down the cabbage he was peeling apart, and put on an angelic smile just a beat too late.

“Certainly not. Do tell, dearest father, who has let Qiong—uh, Qiong…?”

“Qiong Ding.”

“Qiong Ding Manor?”

Look beatific, was Shen Yuan’s self-reminder, but again it was too late, even with Shen Jiu’s murmured assist. Wei Wuxian had dropped to his knees in the dirt and begun shaking his fists at the sky.

“Oh this unfair world, oh wretched fate! At my darkest hour you drop three brilliant young souls into my path to light my way across the lone-log bridge, and in return I have taken on your mission to nourish them into adulthood. All I wish is to ensure they have cultivation partners capable of keeping them comfortable for the rest of their lives but look here, what are these pieces you’ve dealt me? My eldest, who would be disingenuous to placate his crazy old father! My second, who brandishes his cutting comments without a filial care in the world! And my third!”

The sixteen-year-old, as stretched out and delicate as the vine on a beanpole at his age, smiled a lazy little smile before gutting the rabbit in his hands.

“Always just sitting there like a pretty little flower, head empty. Hua-hua ah,” Wei Wuxian said miserably. “Don’t you know you have the worst lot here, being the youngest? You ought to be encouraging your brothers to go to more functions, meet more potential partners.”

“And why should we be so eager to sell ourselves off as spiritual energy storage tanks to some rich Young Master or Mistress?” Hua Cheng asked idly. The meat he shaved off the hunted game hit the hot wok in loud sizzling chunks, and Shen Yuan readied a bucket of water to make it into stew. “Is father anticipating death sometime soon?”

Wei Wuxian and Shen Yuan both froze. An unintentional jerk splashed water from Shen Yuan’s bucket into the wok, and oil exploded into the air like the aftermath of a bomb. Meanwhile, Shen Jiu walloped the head off the daikon he’d polished as white as mutton fat jade and jabbed the blade in Hua Cheng’s direction.

“This is why nobody will ever want to cultivate with you.”

“But I learned it all from you and your line of suitors out the door, Er-ge”

“Boys,” Shen Yuan interrupted, “enough. Our father is not dying. Is he?”

Wei Wuxian waved both hands carelessly.

“Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous, the evil, all-powerful Yiling Patriarch cannot die—no matter how much his youngest son curses him. Hua-hua, how could you bear saying such a thing?”

Without a word, Hua Cheng bent down, picked up the radish head Shen Jiu had thrown his way, and lobbed it at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian caught it without thought, and the moment it touched his bare hands, the leftover greens at the top wilted—and then the whole thing promptly dissipated to dust that fell through Wei Wuxian’s fingers before anybody could react.

Shen Yuan set the bucket down and started forward, energy coating his fingertips.

“Let me—”

“Don’t—” The red flickered out of Wei Wuxian’s eyes as swiftly as it flickered in. He was grinning again, a toothsome expression that was every bit as disingenuous as Shen Yuan’s smile had been moments ago. “Don’t you know it’s disrespectful to touch your elders without ceremony? Let your father have a little dignity here! In fact, you ought to treat your father like the legendary Patriarch he is!”

“Then the legendary Patriarch,” Shen Jiu said, expression neutral though tilting on the side of concern, visible only to the family who knew him best, “ought to get out of this filthy kitchen. Heavens know you’re too lazy to help with the prep.”

“A-Jiu’s right,” Shen Yuan said, hand retracted and smiling with a touch of apology. “Won’t our esteemed father please make his way to the dining hall, where the meal will be brought to him with proper ceremony?”

Wei Wuxian looked like he wanted to pat them both on the head. Shen Yuan had a distant memory of him doing that long, long ago, but not for years now.

“Finally, a display of the proper teachings I’ve given you. Yes, this father shall be waiting then. I’ll even bring out the good china.”

By which he meant the set of four bowls without chips on the rim, only cracks along the body. It’s poetic, Wei Wuxian liked to say, swishing soup in his bowl like a wise old philosopher pondering tea. Scars and damage, such and such, you know? If you know you know. (To which Shen Jiu had replied, you’re dripping soup everywhere.)

Once Wei Wuxian had gone, the three brothers proceeded with the stew in silence: Hua Cheng expressionless, Shen Jiu scowling, and Shen Yuan eyeing them both. After a while, Shen Jiu finally threw down his cutting board.

“Wei Wuxian’s not dying,” he declared. “And even if he is, we’ve got enough demonic cultivation between the three of us to bring him back. Why did you have to bring it up you insensitive little jerk?”

“Merely to encourage my brothers,” Hua Cheng replied, speaking coolly over Shen Yuan’s admonishment for calling his brother names, “to go to more functions and meet more potential partners.”

//

So the thing was, Shen Yuan was a transmigrator.

No, that was neither a misspelling nor a misunderstanding. Shen Yuan was a transmigrator, a bright young modern mind (read: an internet-obsessed shut-in) who died and got placed into the universe of a classic novel—one of his favorites that he’d been rereading just before dying, in fact. He was lucky, he supposed, that he was placed in the actual novel and not its zombie apocalypse, sorta-tongue-in-cheek sorta-taking-itself-too-seriously spinoff, which he’d also been (spite-)reading on-and-off. Though there had been some zombies in sight when he first got to this world, Wei Wuxian took care of them with such ease that Shen Yuan knew these were only the zombies in the classical Chinese sense, not the scary movie sense.

As for misfortunes, Shen Yuan supposed he would say the worst he’d suffered was first transmigrating into the body of a nine-year-old. That put him now, at twenty-four all over again, fifteen years in Wei Wuxian’s not-so-tender care, which was absolutely batshit to think about. So Shen Yuan didn’t think about it.

[ying-an-sanren]

I was a bit hesitant to whether post this here as well, bcs it does have mentions of nsfw, but truth to be told it's quite vague and far from as detailed as I would write a scenario that is only supposed to be nsfw, so we'll see we'll see.... But anyway;

(Also contains angst coming from misunderstanding and assumptions but turns into happy ending); 

One thing I really crave when I feel a bit melancholic and/or sad and/or lonely are arranged marriage AUs - the type where Xie Lian is to be wed to this mysterious king that nobody really speaks nicely about, and he expects the worst to come from the loveless marriage, but Hua Cheng only gives him the opposite. 

Imagine a scenario where Hua Cheng is this fearsome Ghost King that all of the Heavens fear. He's powerful and unpredictable, and above all he's known to despise Heavens and its officials, perhaps even hate them - after all, he destroyed 33 of them on a whim.

And when Xie Lian ascends for the third time, the gods come up with a brilliant plan. 

This prince of Xianle is more problems than he's worth, really. Just think of the poor bell and all those collpsed palaces! 

Well, here's a way he can even his debt; what if they gave him to that Crimson Rain Sought Flower as a peace offering?

They can call it a marriage - a union that would ensure that the Ghost City and Heavenly Court won't go after each others' necks as long as the married couple is still alive (as much as ghostly possible). And whatever Hua Cheng decides to do to him, why should that brother them? 

It's not like anybody particularly cares about him anyway. As said, he's more trouble than he's worth. 

For all they know, Hua Cheng can have fun torturing him or using him for his perverse pleasure to his evil heart's content, no problem.

And yes, it's practically condamning him to the life of endlesss suffering, but why should it bothered them - it's not them in his place. 

To him of course they convey the whole situation as if he's their only hope, and how only through his noble sacrifice the Heavens can finally be rid of the greatest threat. And what about his cultivation? Well, it's not like he has any spiritual powers anyway. 

In reality though, it's just them killing two birds with one stone; they get rid of Heavens' arch-pain in the arse, and also Heavens' least favorite official. 

And so Xie Lian, this (in their eyes-) worthless little god with no spiritual powers worth mentioning is sent off to become the property of the easily most powerful being, that rules over the lands where heavenly officials aren't welcome. 

The wedding ceremony is taking place in the Ghost City but none of the heavenly official's sty longer then needed - too afraid of even being this close to Hua Chengzhu. 

As soon as the pair is proclaimed a married couple, all the heavenly envoys, chosen to accompany Xie Lian and see to the whole ceremony dart out of there so fast they leave only a cloud of dust, leaving Xie Lian to his fate in the hands of the Ghost King.

Xie Lian befallen with the full weight of his situation. He's alone and helpless in a strange place, and although he had come to terms with his fate - martyrdom for the good of Heavenly Court - he can't keep his hands from trembling, as the tall man by his side leads him away from the loud noises of the wedding feats, until the only sound left is the sound of his own footsteps and the soft chiming accompanying his husband's steps. 

One would think that escaping the uproar of Ghost City's celebrations would serve to calm him down but in reality it does quite the opposite. If possible it only makes him feel more on edge. Making him think of all the thing's he's heard of his husband and his resentment towards heavenly officials. 

The anxiousness is clawing on his chest from the inside, and it's only growing stronger all the way through the quiet halls of Paradise Manor, all until they reach the door, leading to the newlyweds' room, all until the long pale fingers brush the hem of his veil.

The veil. The veil is the last curtain separating him from his predicament. 

His throat clenches at the thought of what's to come when the veil is lifted but there's one thing he understands well. He ough not do anything to Hua Chengzhu's anger - not because of himself, but because of how Hua Cheng's wrath might affect Heavens. That is the final thought, before the red curtain is lifted from his eyes, revealing the face of the Ghost King himself.

Amongst rising surface of the sea of anxiety, that had been filling him up since the moment he agreed to this marriage, there's quite an odd thought - his husband is quite handsome. Despite that, Xie Lian doesn't dare put his mind at ease - after all, looks rarely mirror one's heart.

However, in spite of his worst anticipations Hua Chengzhu does not strip him right then and there, he does not push him onto the bed, and doesn't force himself upon him. Instead he... quite politely assures him not to fear, that he's not going to do anything that Xie Lian doesn't want to, before turning towards the door.

But instead of relief, Xie Lian only feels panic. Did he do something wrong? Was the Ghost King displeased with what the Heavens gave him? The anxiety mixed with the fear of failure, and the thought of all of Heavens suffering because of him - because the Ghost King deemed him useless, and not worth to even stay in his presence, not to mention share a bed with.

And wouldn't that be true? he thought bitterly. His cultivation forbade indulging in the pleasures of flesh. Didn't the Heavens practically diddle Hua Cheng by giving him Xie Lian?

And yet as it was already a custom, he would do what he could to change that... He would let Hua Chengzhu do anything to him if it meant keeping the Heavens safe from his wrath. Even if he knew that no one in Heavenly Court would ever spare a thought for him...

During his journeys across the Mortal Realm, many a time he had heard the women on market complain about their painful, violent experience - but it's alright, he's a martial god. He can endure pain. He can endure violence... And yet he cannot hide how he's trembling, when he's sunken in the silken sheets with the waterfall of inky hair cutting his vision off of everything, leaving only the sharp-cut face and the piercing eye, howering mere inches above him.

...However, once again Hua Cheng shatters all his expectations, when instead of using Xie Lian's body for his own pleasure, his first and foremost priority is to make his husband feel good. 

A surprised whimper escapes Xie Lian's lips before he can stop himself. But soon follows another and another, as the gentle touches ignite a feeling so foreign, so frightening, and yet so nice. 

It leaves Xie Lian lost in confusion because... Up til now he thought their nights together are supposed to be pleasurable for his husband, his lord... Not for himself, he doesn't matter. And yet the perfect the way Hua Cheng treated him was such a perfect balance of gentle and rough, constantly asking whether he feels comfortable, and coaxing the kind of sounds out of him, Xie Lian never knew he was capable of.

He cried when he reached his first climax, speared open beneath his husband, a low soothing voice whispering sweet words of praise into his hair. 

He hadn't stopped crying even when both of them came down from their high. The sea of anxiety, that had been piling up inside of him over the past few days rose above its tide, making him break into sobs. 

It felt so selfish to cry for the fleeting gentle touch, because he knew that come morning, he would most probably be thrown away into the corner, like a used toy, until the moment when the Ghost King will be in mood to play with him. It felt so selfish to wish for the gentleness to last longer than a night.

Hua Cheng doesn't say anything. Instead Xie Lian feels strong arms wrap around him, bringing him close. Those arms craddle him like the most precious thing in all of three realms, and he couldn't help but let himself fall, knowing they would be there to catch him. Even if only for tonight. He stays in their embrace, until his crying fades away, and until he falls asleep.

Yet fate is a strange thing, that likes to play strange tricks on folk. The next morning Hua Cheng surprises him for the third time.

That morning Xie Lian wakes up to his head resting on a pale well-defined chest, a long slender fingers gently combing through his hair, and when he looks up, he's met with smile of fondness and an eye full of affection, beforethe familiar low soothing voice speaks up,

"Good morning, beloved."