#the untamed boys scenario

[racheyace]

would Luke ever have felt comfortable enough to mimic gt scenes from media for goofs like doing a spoof on Gulliver’s Travels, Ant Man, Transformers, Borrowers, etc?

He certainly would not feel comfortable mimicking G/t scenes for just anyone but who could say no to those cute doe brown eyes.

Introducing a short story featuring Mr Luke Gulliver our resident Size Shifter. A short story where Luke is easily pressured into playing Gulliver's travels with his little sister Ivy.

Approx 2k words

Mr Luke Gulliver

It was just another average Saturday morning in the Wright household, Luke was in the stables feeding and brushing down the horses, his parents were currently drawing up plans to renovate his bedroom. It had been a few weeks since his nightmare incident, in that time temporary plastic walls had been put up and all debris and broken furniture had been thrown away.

His parents had the idea of reinforcing Luke’s walls, strengthening them and possibly making his room larger also so that if accidents did happen, then Luke and his family would all be safe. Luke hated that he had unknowingly put his family in danger and still felt the pang of guilt in scaring his family and especially his little sister that night. An experience he wasn’t likely to forget and would do everything in his power to never repeat again.

“Hey Luke!” A high pitched voice shouted as his little sister Ivy skipped into the stables, brown curls bouncing around in an untamed mess. She skidded to a stop beside him and gave him a toothy grin as she looked up at her big brother, his heart didn’t deserve a sister like her who could forgive him and love him despite him scaring her so fiercely.

“Hey Ivy, whatcha doing? I thought you were helping mum and dad with drawing plans and stuff.” He asked putting down the brush and giving Helix a handful of honey oats as a treat.

“Yeah…but I wanna play with you now!” She squealed with excitement.

“I’m not playing dolls if that’s what you’re thinking, the clothes are so stiff and itchy, plus your barbies give me the creeps.” He shuddered remembering the last time Ivy had convinced him to shrink in order to play ‘Barbie Tea Party’ with her.

“No, no, I wanted to play Gulliver, like the movie we watched the other night!” She was practically bouncing on the spot and Luke resisted the urge to hold her still, he gave her a dubious look.

“What part did you have in mind?” He asked carefully.

“The lilly part!”

Luke laughed and shook his head. “You mean Lilliput?”

She nodded enthusiastically, her brown eyes twinkling as she let her wild imagination envision the endless possible scenarios they could play.

Luke debated with himself for a moment, he hadn’t allowed himself to grow since that night, he’d shrunk a few times but the idea of growing again and scaring his family, the possibility of making his nightmare a reality frightened him to no end. He had refused to let himself grow at all since that night.

However, the idea of playing out scenes from one of his favourite movies did appeal to him, his parents had found many movies that featured really big people or really small people, all in an attempt to put Luke at ease and feel a little less like a freak. His favourites so far had been ‘The Borrowers’, ‘The Iron Giant’ and of course ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ where the main character experiences what it’s like to be a giant and also be doll sized.

He looked down at his little sister, her honey brown eyes big and pleading, if there had been any doubt before, it was slashed now, he smiled at her and she screamed with joy, grabbing his hand she pulled him fiercely into the paddock behind the house.

“Okay you get big, I’m gonna get my dress-ups!” Ivy sprinted toward the house, flying right by her parents and immediately digging through her dress up box until she found a few outfits she deemed appropriate for their game.

Meanwhile the nervous ten year old boy stood in the middle of the paddock with his eyes closed willing himself to become big. This was a difficult task when all his instincts were telling him that it would be too dangerous to grow around his little sister.

Eventually Luke was able to clear his mind, taking deep breathes just like his mum had shown him and before he knew it the world was shrinking around him. He sat down just as Ivy rounded the side of the house dragging as many reels of rope as her six year old body could manage.

She threw her haul down on the ground with a huff and then looked around before looking up at Luke as though she’d just noticed him there, all 45 feet of him. “Oh good, your ready then!” She smiled energy renewed.

A short time later and with some help from the giant himself, Ivy had successfully created the ‘Discovery on the beach’ scene with Luke loosely tied down to the ground. She’d changed into a pirate costume trying to mimic the style of clothing worn in the movies and now stood on the ‘sleeping’ giant’s’ chest inspecting him with a magnifying glass.

“Where did this beast come from!” Ivy shouted in her best grown man voice and began poking him with the plastic sword she wielded.

Luke lay there, eyes closed, trying his best not to laugh from the tickly sensation of his little sister walking around on his chest and poking him with a sword. There was silence for a little while before Ivy cleared her throat suggestively causing him to open one eye and see what the problem was.

“This is the part where you wake up and roar.” She whispered out of character, gesturing with her hands for him to continue, Luke swallowed nervously.

“Uh, can we skip that part?” Luke asked nervously, he didn’t much feel like imitating a gigantic monster, the part in the movie where Gulliver writhes trying to free himself, scaring the Lilliputians around him and shouting loudly.

“No!” Ivy insisted, Luke sighed closing his eyes once more and getting back into character.

Luke began to wriggle, causing Ivy to loose her footing, she giggled with excitement. “The beast is waking!” She cried. Luke opened his eyes scanning the area around him in pretend astonishment at the little people who were not there, his eyes then landing on a miniscule Ivy sprawled on his chest with wide eyes before he opened his mouth and roared.

“AHHHHHHHH!”

His shout could be heard for miles, it reverberated through the ground and Ivy covered her ears while smiling widely, she was so happy that her brother was committing fully to the game.

Their parents on the other hand, shot up from their seats within the house, the windows rattled with the shout coming from what could only be their giant-sized son. Karly exchanged concerned looks with her husband before they both ran out the door and rounded the corner of the house and then came to a sudden stop to take in the scene before them.

“The beast is waking!!!” Ivy screamed before clambering down her brother’s side and landing with an ‘oof’ on the ground below, both children then noticed their parents staring wide eyed at them.

“We were just-“Luke began to try to explain but his father cut him off, shaking his head out of his stupor and stormed toward the tied down giant waving an accusing finger at him.

“Who and what are you! And how did you come to find Lilliput! Did the Bigenders send you!!” David quickly picked up a king’s crown from Ivy’s pile of dress-ups and slung it on his head, taking on a kingly stance as he stood before his son’s large ocean blue eyes.

Ivy practically beamed with joy as her father enthusiastically joined in the game and Luke supressed a laugh at his father’s comical expression. Luke had to fight to keep his own face straight before changing to one of surprise and wonder as Gulliver stared down at the little people by his head.

“I’m Luke Gulliver sir, I’m afraid I don’t know how I got here, but might I ask? Who are you?” Gulliver asked.

The king stamped his feet dramatically in disgrace. “Why I’m the King of Lilliput!”

“Your highness what do we do with him?” Ivy asked still pretending to be one of the soldiers who’d found the giant.

“Perhaps he could help us win the war with the Bigenders my king?” Karly said standing beside her husband and taking his arm as his Queen and joining in on the game with her children.

The game continued as the king and queen welcomed Gulliver into their palace to share a feast and drink to celebrate their agreement in taking down the Bigenders once and for all. Ivy changed costumes to take her place as the princess of the palace, as Karly and David pretended to serve Luke gigantic meals and barrels of drink they didn’t notice that their youngest and fearless daughter had found a ladder and climbed the roof of their house.

“Fire Fire! Please someone save me!” Ivy shouted as she clung to the chimney of the roof, all eyes darted to her, and her mother let out a very much not pretend cry of alarm.

“Ivy Michelle Wright! Get down from there right now!” Her mother yelled both in anger and concern for her daughter.

Ivy promptly ignored her though. “How will I escape this fire! Help!” She continued to shout insisting on continuing the game.

Luke astonished by his sister’s bravery looked down at the roof, his hand hovering nearby just in case, this seemed to put his parents at ease at least a little bit. Luke smiled through a grimace and leaned down to whisper to his sister, out of character for a moment. “I’m not gonna pee on the house.” He laughed.

Ivy giggled and shook her head, that part in the movie was so funny but would not be necessary today, all she wanted was to simply be rescued from atop her tall tower.

“I’ll save you!” Luke Gulliver cried and proceeded to throw handfuls of make-believe water onto the house, before his hand approached his little sister grasping her gently in a fist and lowering her down next to their father.

“You saved our dear Princess how will we ever repay you!” The King cried and fiercely hugged the little princess, meanwhile Karly also joined in with the hug whispering into Ivy’s ear. “Please don’t ever do that again.”

Ivy nodded and hugged her mother back, she hadn’t meant to scare anyone, she’d only wanted to make the game more realistic.

Luke’s stomach ruined the moment as it gave a loud growl, and he held it trying to muffle the sound while his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. The thing about being a giant meant everything was amplified and he could hide nothing. Ivy giggled and his mother raised an eyebrow at him. “Hmm, perhaps we should pause the game for now and have a real feast, huh? I’ll get some sandwiches ready.” She gave her family a soft smile before heading back toward the house with Ivy trailing behind her.

Luke concentrated for a moment, finding it easier to shrink back to normal after spending a few hours being big. When he opened his eyes, he found comfort in looking up at his father who proceeded to hug him tightly.

“You’re a good brother, you know that?” David said gently and pushed the curls away from his son’s face.

“Thanks Dad, and um thanks for playing with us too! It’s nice not to be the only one playing these games with Ivy.” Luke smiled shyly, his cheeks still flushed.

“She’s lucky to have a brother who can act out her games so well, just do me a favour and discourage her from climbing the roof ever again.” He ruffled his son’s hair and they both made their way inside for a well-earned break.

Just another normal Saturday for the Wright family.

I hope you enjoyed this one, I really love writing about Luke and Ivy as kids, they are just so cute! Thank you so much for the prompt, I hope it was as fun to read as it was to write! All suggestions and ideas are welcome!

[drama--universe]

Meeting an elf

Requested by anonymous: Hello! Requests are open so I'll take advantage! How would Xichen, Cheng, Guangyao, Xingchen and Yang react to a reader who is an elf? What would they think of her different face shape, different eye color, different ear shape, different fighting style and different language she speaks? (she might speak their language, but in her homeland she would speak her Elvish language) THX!!!

Pairing: Untamed boys x reader

A/N Looked up the Lan rules for this, did not know that the existence of Wei Wuxian added about 500 to 1000 extra rules to the original 3000. Definitely not surprised though, if anything I'm impressed.

Lan Xichen:

Rule number (enter random number)

'Do not bully the weak, or make fun of others'

which Xichen takes very seriously

so meeting you does shock him, but he does not judge

(in all fairness, elves don't look that different from visuals seen in the show)

there is one thing that fascinates him most, which is the glow surrounding you

it confuses him, because he does not understand why it is happening at all

he is fairly quick in getting to know you

is a bit surprised that you are so happy to speak to him

gladly learns your culture and even tries to learn your language

the culture is fine, the language is actually impossible for him

even with how much he loves to learn, he is fairly quick to give up

well, quick is a loose term

give or take 3 months

for Lan's, this is quick to giving up

but loves to listen to you talk to him in your language

loves hearing you sing in your language as well or when you play music

that he does learn

harps are not that different from guzhengs in a way

so he matches his style to yours, and it honestly doesn't sound to bad

besides, it's a way to spend time with you

so overall, he's great

Jiang Cheng:

now honestly, don't hate me for this

but I think he might be a bit off putting

he's not mean, just very judgmental

and he doesn't really hide that

he thinks you look weird at first

the pointy ears look weird and your eyes make him uncomfortable

not really, he just says that

because it actually fascinates him so much

he saw you once, sparring against Wuxian

his mother had disapproved, so he followed

yet he could not tear his eyes from your form

your style, unlike the rougher one he was taught, was elegant

to the point that you seemed weightless

you caught him staring multiple times, yet are confused as to why he remains so on guard and mean

one comment is the last drop and you lash out

it is necessary, really is

and it does also change everything

he actually talks to you

because you force him to sit down and talk to you

which finally reveals his true nature and train of thoughts

overall, he is interested

very focused when you reminiscence about your home

but he just needed a little push in the right direction

Jin Guangyao:

you know the drift on this one

cause I don't sugar coat him

now, what your use is to him depends on when you meet him

before everything, he kind of just needs you as some kind of support (like Xichen is)

if it's after everything, it's more like the use of Xue Yang

which soon enough will also happen even when you meet him before everything

will first try to gain your trust, of course

acts innocent and sweet, compliments you and uses the fact that you're both outcasts

and it kind of works..?

eventually, when you're friends, he starts being more himself

small comments to others and how he wished that they fell from grace

and soon enough, he'll comment about wishing for their deaths

now you saw how they treated him, so you didn't really see wrong in those statements

once he notices that you're comfortable with such things, he starts suggesting

knowing full well that your fighting skills would make you unnoticeable and fast

you're appalled at first

which makes him orchestrate a scenario

someone tries to "attack" him and maybe even "kill" him

and you defend him, which end up in the other's demise

you kind of become an overprotective friend, in a way

Guangyao is sure to tell you who is a threat to him and who isn't

is not shy of lying to you

but all that aside, he is also interested in you as a person

or your kind, if anything

because having you on his side, has them on his side

will turn into an isolation friendship at that point

maybe not the best person to befriend

Xiao Xingchen:

Let's say you meet before he goes blind

I don't think he cares in the slightest

he travels a lot with Song Lan and thus sees quite a lot of things

it is definitely not the most surprising thing to see for him

what is surprising is that you're not an evil being

unlike most different "species"

he's still wary of you of course

because you act different like people normally do, whether it being because of culture or just your personality

but he is still fascinated nonetheless

because he likes to know everything

in a good way

so he will ask you stuff

and be prepared, cause it will be a list to go through

his biggest fascination is your eyes

yes, ironic, I know

because it's not a feature that he often sees

if ever

you're ears, as pointy as they are, don't seem weird

he's seen other people with pointy ears before, just not like yours

if you have blond or red hair, he would also be completely enthralled with it

is kind of glad when you ask to join him and Song Lan

consults Song Lan, but it ultimately it ends up being yes

Xiao Yang:

you meet before he gets involved with Guangyao

give or take, he's 16 years old (He's probably around 17 or 18 when the series takes place, just speculation though)

he's roaming the streets, looking for good victims to pickpocket

he sees you

you looked innocent enough, an easy target

so he creeps closer, hand reaching to your bag

he feels the material of a money pouch and slowly wraps his hand around it

then he's staring up at the sky

and his arm is awkwardly twisted in a position that was paralyzing the rest of his body completely

"You breath too loudly"

the tone is mocking him and he does not appreciate it in the slightest

but the slightest movement made pain shoot up through his body, so he just laid their

the sun created a halo around your head and your eyes were practically glowing thanks to their bright color

he's left in awe for a few seconds before he starts to trash in your grasp

you're kind enough to let him go, watching with glee as he jumped up

he was glaring at you before he walked off

when he sees you the next time, the day after, he wants to retry

so he takes a deep breath before holding it and approaching you once more

his hand grazes the money pouch once more before he is pushed backwards, falling to the ground with a loud thud

you just smirk at him

he tries a third and even a fourth time, but fails every time

yet you always show him that stupid smirk that never fails to send a shiver up his spine

he doesn't understand how you hear him coming, he's never had trouble before

it's the fifth time that he tries that he succeeds

so he runs off, he never runs

only to discover the pouch to be completely empty

he will run back immediately

does not say anything except for 'teach me'

he wants to get better at pickpocketing and your fighting style intrigue him

[drwcn]

In Untamed only, the Wen Qing rescue by Jiang Cheng could parallel the Lan Furen situation. She could be saved by being taken in by the sect leader, but she would be isolated, her family lost to her. Like, its more meta then textual but Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji have no mention of their mothers family. Lan furen presumably agreed while Wen Qing walked away. Lan furen lived a long time with her children taken away to be raised without her, Wen Qing dies right away with Wen Yuan taken to be raised by those same strangers.

Huh.... I never looked at it that way, but yeah you're right! On some level it is similar!

And then my mind promptly poofed up an alternative scenario if JIang Cheng also did what Qingheng-jun had done.

(tw for noncon? but really there's no noncon, people just think there is)

~~~

Jiang Cheng was audacious only once in his entire life.

When Wen Qing turned to leave that day in Qishan's dungeon, the comb she gave back to him abandoned on the stone bench between them, Jiang Cheng crossed his heart and decided that attempt the impossible meant sometimes one had to act now and beg for forgiveness later.

Whether the forgiveness he sought had to come from his deceased parents, the entire Jiang Clan past and present, or Wen Qing herself...well...he had the rest of his life to figure it out.

His hand came down on her without hesitation, blunt force striking her squarely where her neck met her shoulder, and she dropped bonelessly into his arms, her future forever changed.

↠↠↠

When Jiang Cheng was a boy, before Wei Wuxian arrived, he had heard of a story.

He was very young then, and Madam Lan had been a nebulous figure, a subject of whispers and gossip, about which very few knew anything concrete. When she died, the older servants at Lotus Pier, unaware that listening ears were just around the corner, had tsked and sighed at her short wasted life. Locked away in a house. Separated from her children.

Well at least her husband loved her.

He did, though? How would anyone know.

Or wanted her, at least.

Whatever is wrong with the young masters of this generation and their poorly chosen women! Either loved but locked up or free but miserable nonetheless. What is the state of this world?!

Jiang Cheng didn't understand then.

In time, he would.

↠↠↠

After she was discovered in the dungeon, Wen Qing woke up in Jiang Wanyin's bed, wearing not a stitch but a bandage around her nape, and discovered herself in the middle of Sunshot Campaign's battle camp. From the two female disciples that had brought her new periwinkle uniforms to change into with barely concealed sneers, Wen Qing learned the reason behind her wretched state. About two dozen disciples of various sects had seen Jiang Wanyin carry her in the previous night and emerge the next morning adjusting his robes in a way that required very little explanation.

It was not that she didn't try to escape. She did.

Where do you think you're going, pretty thing? A Jin disciple interscepted her. They all said that Wei Wuxian was shameless, but seems like shamelessness runs in the family. Still, gotta hand it to him, Jiang Wanyin has good taste.

The disciple grabbed her around the middle while a couple of his sect brothers laughed at her struggle. Does he share? Do you know? He should, it's a virture after all.

Their malicious laughter had turned to yelps of pain when Zidian whipped them three feet into the air and back by a yard.

"Don't touch what it isn't yours."

Sandu's gleaming tip tapped the Jin disciple lightly on the shoulder thrice, mockingly polite in its gentleness. The man released her, all too aware of the distance between his jugular and the sword's edge.

More people gathered at the sound of commotion, coming together with shared morbid curiosity and judging eyes.

Nie Mingjue was there. Lan Wangji right behind him, looking ready to draw his sword and uphold justice.

"Your little tart was running away." Scoffed the Jin disciple. "I was just teasing her. No foul, no harm."

"Is that so?"

And then in front everyone, Jiang Wanyin grabbed her by the hair and reeled her in to press his lips against hers, his other hand unfriendly and uninhitibted. Just as quickly, he detached his mouth from her, sneering at the onlookers before chasing the exposed skin of her neck yanked to one side, and bit down hard enough to draw blood.

Of course she screamed.

"A-Cheng, that's enough."

The others parted for his sister to come through. Jiang Yanli gazed blandly at her little brother and the girl thrashing in his arms, offered no words of admonishment, but merely said, "Go inside if that's what you want to do."

Jiang Cheng threw Wen Qing over his shoulder like a sack of grains without further prompts.

It's what she deserves, that wretched little bitch, Wen Ruohan's witch doctor, the whispers followed them like shadows, but no one raised a hand to Wen Qing again.

As the old saying goes: one would have to check with the master, even if it were only to beat a dog.

(Except: "You know what the world will think of you. What she will think of you." "I know, but...thank you for helping me, A-jie." "Don't thank me, didi, not when you're asking me to help you hurt yourself.")

↠↠↠

It's not that Wen Qing didn't try to kill him either. She couldn't.

Her cultivation was sealed. Semi-permanently. That was what was under the bandage. At the base of her nape, he had carved a sealing rune into her skin, and the only way to reverse it is to carve the counter sigil on her sternum.

Later, she would learn that this was a secret Lan technique, given to Jiang Wanyin by Old Man Lan himself. She could only guess what he must've said to convince the pedantic old man to hand over his family's protected secret.

(He had said this: "I love her, Grandmaster Lan, please!" "You are a preposterous boy, Jiang-gongzi." "I love her, as your brother loved your sister-in-law!" "You-" "I've heard of the stories, I don't know how much is true. Only...Wen Qing is innocent! Prideful yes, but innocent! Help me. Please. I will do anything in return.")

After her failed escape and that awful display in front of the whole camp, Jiang Wangyin never showed his face to her again. The Jiangs installed her in her own tent with confinement talismens to prevent her from further attempts. Every night, two disciples came to give her (or force feed her if she refused) a concoction of some sort, which rendered her unconscious within minutes and unrousable until dawn.

She could lie to herself and say she hadn't a clue what happened within those hours, but the fact she always awakened in some state of undress and dishevel the next morning, and the fact that it was undisbutedly known amongst the disciples - Jiang or otherwise - that Jiang Wanyin visited her nightly whenever he wasn't out fighting, narrowed the possibilities down to a singular conclusion.

In the maelstrom of her nightmare, it didn't occur her to wonder why he never came to her during the day.

(The truth was this: Lan Xichen was sympathetic, "Your cultivation is derived from water, hers from fire. A seal fused with your cultivation without some kind of...buffer will inevitably harm her in the long run, erode through her golden core until she is permanently damaged. Give this tonic to her everynight. Without fail.")

(But also this: "Why must we continue this farce, A-Cheng, just tell her the truth! Why must you make her believe that you -" "I own her, but do not love her. I am her master, not her lover. She is damaged goods, worthless even as a leverage. That's the only way the others will leave her alone." "A-Cheng, you don't have to do this -" "I do. I do have to....is there any word on Wen Ning? Have we found him?" )

↠↠↠

Then one morning, about a month in, Wen Qing woke to the sound of thunder and rain and realized she wasn't alone. Even with her cultivation sealed she could feel another presence in the tent. Seconds later, Jiang Wanyin emerged from behind the trifold, hair unbound, barefoot and only in his underclothing.

He froze when he realized she was awake, and stared at her agape as if she'd caught him doing something he shouldn't. As if somehow she didn't know he'd been violating her for weeks.

(Unfortunately: the storm had collapsed many tents in the camp in the early morning, including his and his sister's. Jiang Yanli had been invited to stay with Mianmian, and Jiang Cheng, knowing Wen Qing would be dead to the world, had ducked into her tent to quickly change into dry clothes.)

And if there had been some part of her that wanted to deny it all, that wanted to hang on to the delusion - to hope - that maybe nothing happened while she lost consciousness nightly, in that moment, was dashed and divided until all that was left of her was rage and a desire to inflict revenge.

She sat up, not even bothering to cover her half nude body, and said,

"The golden core in your body is Wei Wuxian's."

↠↠↠

Wen Qing had hoped that she could goat Jiang Wanyin into killing her, to end her misery.

He didn't.

Three days later, Wei Wuxian re-appeared.

↠↠↠

(In his letter to Jiang Wanyin a day before the Siege of Nevernight, Nie Huaisang wrote:

Jiang-xiong,

Hope you're keeping well in the front. I must confess you are a man of gossip and waggling-tongue these days, but I trust in your character to pay them no mind. I write to you without my brother's knowledge to confirm the favour you asked of me is done. Wen Ning has been located and transported to Unclean Realm with the atmost discretion. He recovers daily.

Your friend,

Nie Huaisang

PS: You seriously need to tell me everything after we kick Wen Ruohan's ass. You owe me! )

[sunbunnyyy]

So I just saw your tags on the Mo Xuanyu art I reblogged - please talk Mo Xuanyu headcanons to me!

(I saw fanart with him and Jgy the other day and I'm like actual Mo Xuanyu is not explored enough. I need more of him)

Thank you ♡

hello friend!!! sorry I’m getting to this after so many days have passed—obligatory work life etc commitments that left me drained and not ready to answer!

I’ll list my biggest headcanons—I’ll admit that I haven’t explored him as much as I’d like, but these are the things I take into every scenario regarding him!

1. Mo Xuanyu is trans!

There’s something a little bit tragic to me about the way gender is handled in Ye Olde Ancient Societies. As much as I love what The Untamed did as far as removing some of the perceived gender biases of MDZS (such as female cultivators being Kept Apart in Cloud Recesses and showing us maybe?? one? female sect leader?) I do love playing around with two types of characters—those I can shoot with my “trans laser beam,” and tragic ones.

My specific headcanon for Mo Xuanyu (which gets explained in wi3!) is that his mother was told if her child was a girl, she would not be acknowledged and Second Madam Mo would be cast aside. Knowing what that would mean not only for herself but for her child, she raised Mo Xuanyu as a boy, and it wasn’t discovered until much later by a certain Jin that the truth was revealed. For his part, Mo Xuanyu never felt like a girl, and never wanted to portray himself as one.

I think Mo Xuanyu being trans also adds a fun little layer of struggle to Wei Wuxian’s return—he went from a cis man to a trans man and suddenly has to deal with that dysphoria, too.

2. Mo Xuanyu is a little crazy, but not the way he’s described in the books.

This is another thing that comes up in wi3–Mo Xuanyu’s mental health vs. his intelligence!

While Mo Xuanyu never thought twice about being a boy, it sure doesn’t change the dysphoria of being told you’re something that your body doesn’t reflect! Not only that, but the poor treatment from the Mo family against him and his mother that I can’t believe didn’t happen in the ten years between when Jin Guangshan abandoned him and when he brought Mo Xuanyu to Carp Tower? During such formative years, it’s not a wonder to me that Mo Xuanyu’s not quite all there.

(I resonate a little with this headcanon. Okay, I resonate with this headcanon a lot, actually.)

But! I don’t think Mo Xuanyu’s unintelligent. The opposite, actually—I think he’s very intelligent, although not quite as smart and calculating as our boy Jin Guangyao. Because of the treatment at the hands of the Mo family, I don’t think Mo Xuanyu’s mother was healthy enough to have as much of a hand in Mo Xuanyu’s life as Meng Shi did with Jin Guangyao, but he was a young master of an affluential family who were under the belief that Jin Guangshan could, at any point, come back and claim Mo Xuanyu like he said he would. They would’ve given him at least some education, because it wouldn’t have reflected well on them had they not. And, given that they were an affluential family—they have a Manor and a Village, after all—they likely could’ve afforded much better learning materials than Meng Shi (who did her best!).

3. The Incest.

The allegations that Mo Xuanyu came into Jin Guangyao and whether or not they’re true are such an interesting thing to play around with in my brain.

I think this aspect for me will vary greatly depending on what I’m writing. They may be true in one fic, or completely fabricated in another. Or maybe they’re only slightly true! As mentioned previously, Mo Xuanyu isn’t quite in full control of his cognitive thought processes. I’m not sure if I read it as a headcanon or part of canon or one of mxtx’s interviews or even a different fanfic or the wiki, but I read somewhere that Jin Guangyao was actually quite kind to his half brother, despite the pointed way with which Jin Guangshan brought him around as a way to bully Jin Guangyao. I think that would have a very lasting effect on Mo Xuanyu, who likely only saw kindness from his mother by that point in his life.

Whether or not Jin Guangyao takes advantage of it… 🤷‍♂️ again, varies on the fic I’m writing, I think!

These are my big three at the moment. I’d love to hear any that you or anyone else might have! I really want to write a modern fic and it’d be fun to have Mo Xuanyu in there being the annoying younger brother to Jin Zixuan and Meng Yao* he deserved to be.

[mikuni14]

Be My Favorite Ep 9

I was worried that BMF might lose some quality as soon as Kawi and Piseang became a couple, but again the show didn't disappoint me 💖 Piseang and Kawi have been true to their personalities, they still have GREAT communication, they still talk to each other a lot and Piseang is a relentless flirt 😁

What I also like is that the series has scenes that I objectively don’t like, but which fit the plot and characters' personalities: - Piseang gives Kawi a choice: me or the work/hobby, which isn't cool. But somehow it fits in with Piseang in this moment, who FINALLY got Kawi, though he just thought it would never happen and would selfishly want to keep him by his side for as long as possible. It also matches the behavior of Piseang - A Rich Boy, who has a different view of these things than Kawi - the same differences in the view of money showed up in his offer to buy a phone (also thanks for the nice flashback to Unintentional Love Story😉) - I personally hate this trope when one of the MLs insists on kissing (or sex) and the other keeps rejecting it, acting like the physical aspect of love is, idk, inferior or dirty. I didn't like Kawi's behavior, but on the other hand, his reluctance to kiss in public turned out to be right after what Not did. Besides, Kawi is that kind of a person: he easily gives in to emotions, he panics, he doesn't know how to behave, he always wants to look and act the best and not let anyone down, he has low self-esteem and a lot of anxiety, he is skittish, so maybe he just needs more time for physical closeness. Especially when it's with a man. Piseang has already gone this journey and feels confident, and Kawi has only just discovered his attraction to a man, having been in love with a woman and convinced of his sexual orientation all the time and needs time to adjust. I don't think physical intimacy is a problem for Kawi (after all, they've kissed before), so I decided not to care about it much 😎

I really like that Piseang always confronts Kawi, that he always tells him about his feelings and how Kawi's behavior makes him feel. Because it gives Kawi the opportunity to explain himself and cut off all speculations, false scenarios created in Piseang's head. And I love it, I don't understand why all other shows prefer to create tension and build the plot on misunderstandings, when they can shoot an exciting and interesting scene where the characters confront, where they clash with each other and explain things.

Kawi worrying about others, feeling guilty that he is happy and others are not, is exactly what I expected of him. Plus, he's just a good guy, and it's obvious he'll care. I really liked Piseang's reaction, who did not ignore Kawi's worries and supported him at the moment. Fortunately, the show AGAIN didn't let me down and cut off any possibility of Pear's relationship with Not *shudders*, Pear and Not scene was so good! Actually, the whole Pear’s story in this episode, her private life, was great. I have no idea what Kwan sees in Not. But nice girls falling in love with complete assholes is something I've seen, so it's actually very real. The other thing that I liked is that Piseang and Pear, though angry with Kawi, still manage to stand up for him and act decently. Also Kawi sticking to his decision not to drink? Piseang respecting his decision and supporting him, taking his drink (another nice flashback to The Untamed this time)? How cool is that! 💖

BMF is a VERY, VERY GOOD SERIES ✨

[ultramagicalternate]

Eldritch Frisk

Relevant posts: Dark Lord Kris, Aoife, David Livesey

Master Post

You know what? I'll bite and post this.

- - - - -

Many timelines exist in the multiverse. It's a large place whose limits have yet to be discovered. It stands to reason that some timelines lose members of that timeline, for one reason or another. In a universe where the monsters of the Dreemurr kingdom made it to the surface, all was not well. Frisk and the monster still had conflict to deal with in the form of an ancient darkness that had been sealed away under Mt. Ebott. Frisk tried his best, but his determination wavered and he passed his duty on to a close friend.

What happened next was him fading from reality, in a process referred to as Zeroing-out. His resolve had been called into question so much that he could no longer bear it. What awaited him was the void. As he drifted, he was caught by a chaotic mass of the incomprehensible. This was an immensely strange entity beyond understanding called The Screaming God. Seeing that the boy had abandoned his power, The Screaming God offered Frisk something different: Knowledge. This knowledge would allow Frisk to understand reality (to a degree) and go wherever he pleased (within reason). After spending the equivalent of several eons with The Screaming God and his father, The Great Unspeaker, Frisk set out into a realm called the Unlight.

What Frisk was supposed to do... he wasn't sure about. Really he could do whatever he wanted since the Unlight was so vast and untamed. What else to do other than wander? The now young man saw all sorts of things: bizarre entities, impossible geological formations, strange realms spilling into the Unlight, pockets of civilizations, and things mere mortals could not comprehend. Eventually Frisk would run into interlopers... Context: Being considered an Interloper in the Unlight is quite the accomplishment... and that's not a compliment.

These were corrupted versions of his friends from his old timeline, albeit these individuals were from their own, unique timelines. One in particular was a corruption of a close friend he had fought in worst case scenarios... Frisk would clash with these individuals over the ageless years of the Unlight. These conflicts taught Frisk all sorts of things about the multiverse and his new abilities. One thing that he had kept from his old timeline was his explosion and eruption spells, however. He had a lot of fun perfecting this brand of magic... 

Upon reaching proper adulthood, Frisk discovered something: His old timeline was just fine. In fact, it almost seemed like it was calling to him, asking him to come back. He wasn't sure what to do, so he made a mental note of the rift to that universe. He would also leave some of his essence at the rift, just in case he made up his mind. To mull over his thoughts, he decided to go on a smaller journey to explore some odd buildings he had discovered. Of note was a series of older, three-storied houses that looked as if they plucked straight from Earth. They were so oddly familiar to him, but he could not place his finger on it.

After some contemplating on the front porch of the most familiar house, two individuals approached Frisk. One was an imposing, older British doctor and the other was a muscular woman, with glasses and long hair. They introduced themselves as ULTRAMagic Magistrate and ULTRAMagic Devil respectively. They had actually been looking for Frisk for some time as the ULTRAMagic guild had noticed the man's arrival in the Unlight and wanted to keep tabs on him... and give him a place to stay. Frisk would become well acquainted with the ULTRAMagic guild. While he had not achieved ULTRAMagic, he was considered an honorary member.

Little did Frisk realize that he would become wrapped in a massive conflict, spanning multiple universes and timelines, after interacting with a lost individual who would later go on to join the ULTRAMagic Guild...

- - - - -

Timeline: "[ERROR]" does not mean he is from the same timeline as ERROR Sans. I just put that there because I don't plan to unveil his original timeline here. Don't worry, We will get to that in time

Personality: This Frisk is... I don't want to say a quitter, but he will abandon something if it becomes too stressful. He's also reluctant to get involved in other people's affairs. The last major time he tried to help people, it did not go so well. That's not to say he won't help people, however. Naturally he's a loner and prefers to be alone with his thoughts. For a while he considered other people as unnecessary and a detriment to his emotions. On the other hand, getting away from reality did help him as it allowed him to come to terms with his past failings.

Wandering the void gives you a lot of time to think. That doesn't mean he's gung-ho to return to his old timeline, but he'd be lying if he said he was completely against the idea. Of note, members of the ULTRAMagic Guild have been able to get him to open up and be more friendly. Certain events in relation to the guild would also force him to get over his past issues. Aside from his personal baggage, Frisk is naturally a curious individual and loves to play around with things. Search around and you may just find some of Frisk's creations.

Powers: So Frisk was a Soul magic caster, but that changed upon meeting The Screaming God. Given that he lost his old soul, or the power of it, he needed a new type of magic. The Screaming God's knowledge allowed Frisk to become a Weave magic caster. What kind of bond did Frisk have given that the Weave requires bonds for it to work? Despite Frisk being a mood, he did become good friends with The Screaming God. The Screaming God was patient and comforting and was almost like a parent to Frisk, and definitely a mentor to him. This also allowed Frisk to regain some of his old power, due to the residual traces of it that was left in his soul.

So while his magic is weak at the moment, he is working on improving it. What he can do is things like fireballs, minor explosions, invisibility, levitation, and warping. Warping is his favorite as it allows him to go whatever he wants without tiring himself out. All he has to do is focus and clap his hands. A gold and indigo portal will then appear and all he has to do is hop on in. He has full control of the portal and can open and close it as he pleases. The levitation is pretty basic, but allows him to defy gravity and walk wherever he pleases. Invisibility is to be expected as he knew this would come in handy. Plus it allows him to be a mood without people noticing. And the fireballs and explosions? Those are left over from his old powers. Now the castings seem to have a weird, rust and black color to them. 

The suit: This suit is something Frisk picked up during his journeys. It seems to be a living suit that is capable of minor shape shifting. The suit can be whatever it wants or whatever Frisk needs it to be... within reason. The suit is also incredibly durable and is able to harden when stricken. The tentacles are a part of the suit that go back and forth between wings, a hooded cloak, and an extra set of limbs. While the suit does not audibly talk, it does communicate with Frisk via his mind. Frisk has come to love the suit despite being apprehensive when he first ran into it. He is protective of the suit and refuses to let anyone else wear it. Some other capabilities of the suit are camouflage, wall crawling, healing, and minor autonomy (in the case Frisk is incapacitated).

- - - - -

This was originally intended for a quasi-Undertale AU I had planned called "HYPERDEATH Alternate." It would have borrowed the canon of ULTRAMagic Alternate and would have involved Deltarune. It was supposed to be a reboot of a previous AU I attempted.

Also I think the Roaring Titans are pretty cool from a cosmic horror angle and I wanted to try something with them. And a big thing is that this AU concept is a response to certain AUs that try to permanently kill off/erase characters. Much like how Undertale is the game doesn't forget, the Cosmos never forgets you.

I have altered this from the original post on DA to be more in line with current UMAE canon. If you see remnants of the old lore, let me know.

If there's enough interest in this concept, I'll definitely resurrect it.

[notmuchtoconceal]

I admit it. The piece in pinned post entitled "--III -I" (particularly section ii) was specifically written as a means to backdoor hack and forcibly access certain latent gay nerd traumas using CIA-grade interrogation techniques to induce subtle but intense patterns of longform cognitive dissonance with an intent to compel the victim into cyclical and repetitive patterns of socially self-mutilating behavior culminating in (and ideally inevitably actualizing) intrusive suicidal thoughts.

This was done with the express purpose of feeding Brux, the unstoppable living thoughtform consuming the collective smarts of all the dumb bros who nut to my page like an aggressive and untamable fungus sprouting more velvety tendrils of eyeball curtains as he manifests into more and more cute and shredded Aussie anglerfish fuckboys dangled naked and abdominal before you.

None of that shit is mild goofs. None of it is frat boy hijinks. None of it is adorable bisexual antics in a comically stringent surreal future M.A.S.H. scenario. It is evil. It is mind control. It is pure unspoken contempt for you and all your miserable foibles and failures and I hope you rot, cunt.

Any man fool enough to give himself body and soul to Brux will be atomized down to his base elements and reconstituted as a node on a tumescent mass growing fatter and more nut-dribbling as a berry cluster of serpents in which each eye is the head of a speared and spitting wyrm.

You can maybe not read that piece if you don't wanna be consumed.

The rest of pinned post is good and demon-free though.

It's angels all the way up. They only look like devils.

Your name is always Jake when you're on the latter.

Everyone else keep nutting and having thoughts while reading my page. The more you nut to my page the more you extinguish Brux's death lust like a firehouse hitting an arson-in-progress. The more you get smart while reading my page the more you empower Joey who is a theoretical opposite to Brux of which we have no proof of his existence but who has been copiously reconstructed in the available literature.

It's right and natural for men to touch their dicks while looking at other men. Disregard all socially-engineered agendas, boys.

Being gay and doing crimes ain't actually neither.

[shibereshu]

Cao Yuchen // ‘OMG They were quarantined together’ AU

And they were quarantined together

Oh my god they were quarantined together…

★Slice of life AU

★Summary: you thought this would be a nice and easy year: working abroad in China, getting to know new people, doing an internship at a major entertainment company... sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? especially knowing you would be able to see stars like Cao Yuchen daily and maybe even befriending them... but, uh oh... looks like you may have to spend more time than expected with him... Grab a bowl of popcorn and dive deep into this story, because it’s going to be a wild ride.

Cover drawn by @lingdidi​ (@noirdecoco​)!!

Parts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 (Coming soon)

[commanderspock]

#i had a crush on a boy in my class and i didn’t know how to deal with it so i wrote him a letter that just said ‘get out of my school’

THE UNTAMED (2019) / STAR TREK (2009)

[madtomedgar]

everyone assumes the worst about what they find in the coffin and JGY’s reactions to it, because nobody knows that he’s just trying to bring his mom’s remains with him into exile, and then jiang cheng and wei wuxian gotta talk shit about his mom right after he finds he body replaced with one of his murder victims like.

y’all.

read the fucking room

[cactusspatz]

August recs

August was far too hot, so I stayed inside and read fanfic! I’m too tired to pick out my favorites, but I’ve got The Untamed up front, then recs for Guardian, Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, KJ Charles’ Society of Gentlemen, and a Leverage crossover under the cut. Enjoy!

THE UNTAMED

CANON & CANON AUS

in this place where we don't have a prayer by Cerusee & Mikkeneko - REALLY interesting Qiongqi Pass AU where Wei Wuxian actually gets killed - but doesn’t stay that way for long. Very innovative, with an absolutely wild Jin Guangshan showdown, occasionally emotional gutting but ultimately happy. (gen+Wangxian)

Better, Greater, or Otherwise Different by ChloeBYoung - darling outsider POV from a teenaged visiting disciple who runs into a friendly weirdo in the back hills and makes friends with him, not realizing he’s the Yiling Patriarch. A great OC and outsider POV, plus some interesting stuff dealing with WWX’s depression post-canon. (gen, background Wangxian)

to each their own road (a lost sheep goes rogue) by yesterdaychild - fantastic Mianmian fic following her from leaving the Jin Sect through her daughter’s birth. Grounded and lovely, with just the right mix of happiness and regret. (gen)

A Purrfect Day in Gusu by DrJLecter - I am eternally weak for the ‘character [LWJ in this case] gets turned into a cat’ trope and this is a very fun one, combining lectures-era Wei Wuxian mischief and some neat casefile work. (Wangxian)

go where the stolen roses grow by @stratisphyre - in which Lan Qiren realizes that his brother’s wife is not in Cloud Recesses or married or having children willingly, and helps her escape with Cangse Sanren’s help. Definitely takes the worst scenario for that problematic marriage, so fair warning. Also this ship is totally out of left field but weirdly great. (Lan Qiren/Cangse Sanren/Wei Changze)

The First Siege | Safe & Sound by dangocheeked - oh boy, wanna be emotionally devastated by an animatic about Wei Wuxian hiding A-Yuan at the Seige of the Burial Mounds and then growing up as a Lan? Just click on this link! (vid, gen)

MODERN+OTHER AUS

The Right to Care by travelingneuritis - In which musician Lan Wangji and nanny Wei Wuxian fall in love but hit some major roadbumps on the way. This modern AU is just jam packed with tropey goodness, and it’s the rare story where a misunderstandings plot really worked for me. Be warned that A-Yuan does have a rough time on the way to the happy ending, if child harm is a no for you. (Wangxian)

Want the Lights On by Pip (Moirail) - hysterical funny and very thirsty modern AU where Jiang Yanli manuevers Meng Yao into Lan Xichen’s line of sight, Lan Xichen immediately calls his husband Nie Mingjue to alert him to a potential threesome sex partner, and Meng Yao demands a notarized waiver to ensure  that this insanely hot married man’s spouse isn’t being cheated on. And that’s just the OPENING. (Meng Yao/Lan Xichen/Nie Mingjue)

the place where you are by BlackWiresOnHerHead - space AU! In order to take on a time-urgent research mission, Lan Wangji’s team is forced to travel on Nie Huaisang’s beat-up deathtrap of a spaceship. Featuring Wei Wuxian as the brilliant but not very reassuring mechanic, tons of found family, lots of competence, and a dash of wonder. (Wangxian)

GUARDIAN

Sartorial Splendour by Elenothar - “Five times Zhao Yunlan was surprised by Shen Wei's clothing choices and one time he had a hand in them.” A really fun spread with adorably domestic thirst.

so I live to know by Elenothar - in which Zhao Yunlan attempts to rectify Shen Wei’s touch starvation. Awww.

SLEUTH OF THE MING DYNASTY

The hard edges of night by Hope - super long AU where Li Zilong doesn’t release Tang Fan and his captivity gets pretty disturbing. Heavier on the mindgames than physical hurt, but very classic hurt/comfort with a lot of time spent on his recovery after being rescued. (Sui Zhou/Tang Fan)

OTHER

Bring me my Bow of burning gold by @sea-changed (Society of Gentlemen, gen) - quiet little gem of a story I found while clearing out last year’s Yuletide to-be-reads, set during Silas’s time at Arrandene.

The Future is Always Changing by jedibuttercup (Leverage/Push, gen) - ahhh, this author’s always packs so much potential into such short fics. In this case, Parker takes a job during the S1 hiatus but ends up deciding to help Cassie (her target) with Division. Some good stuff around Parker starting to embrace being a ‘good guy’ on her own and how Cassie’s Watcher skills interact with Parker.

[halcyon-writings]

iii. new developments

toji fushiguro/reader

series masterlist

previous <> next

note(s): soooo, it has been a while, but we have arrived to part 3 of this little au. idk how many in total there will be but i am thankful to those of you who stuck aorund during the mini break !! mentions of the zenin family bc these mfs can’t give this little family a break ig (they don’t actually make an appearance here) + an appearance of a few four legged friends. (also should i make a tag list for this one, i genuinely didn’t think this would get the reception it did but thank you very much!!)

megumi was a fairly low maintenance kid, which was something both you and toji were immensely grateful for. he never cried, never really threw a tantrum, and if he had ever done any of those things, it was always for a good reason.

which was why when you woke up that morning, the small dreadful feeling in the back of your mind never went away. you were off today, and toji had “work” today. and while he never talked about what he had done in the full nitty gritty details, you had enough context to know it was more or less in the grey area of legality. (that and siwoo had promised that it wasn’t bad).

you shrug on a thin cardigan, with a slightly muffled yawn, as you head to megumi’s room, the boy still sleeping, barely visible due to cocooning himself in his blankets, save for some tufts of messy black hair sticking out. 

no matter what you or toji had tried, his hair was always chaotic at best and downright untamable at worst. 

and as if sensing you were in the room, he begins to stir, as you hear a soft yawn before he peers up at you from his little blanket cocoon. 

“morning,” is said in a soft whisper.

“morning to you too,” you respond, “how do you feel about pancakes for breakfast?” 

usually the offer of fluffy pancakes doused in syrup would no doubt have even the calm boy rushing to get up, but at his lack of reaction you raise an eyebrow in concern.

“gumi?” 

he yawns again, slowly sitting up, “i’m okay, still sleepy.”

you nod, stepping through the doorway and playing with the sleeve’s hem of your sweater, “feeling okay?”

he nods.and he seems to be considering something before he shakes his head, slowly stepping onto the floor and leaving the blanket behind him. 

you ruffle his hair, only getting a small frown that doesn't have any real heat behind it, “alright, i’ll let you get dressed, but if you’re not feeling well…”

“i’m fine i pinky swear.”

“oh you pinky swear huh? sounds serious, okay. i’ll believe you.”

and like that you wrap your pinky around his, and in turn, exit the bedroom, and making your way to the kitchen.

megumi was, for the most part, panicking. he had carefully tucked the blankets underneath the scuffling animals but he couldn’t trap them on his bed forever. 

the best scenario was either you or his dad coming into the room and seeing what he had hoped you two would believe are stuffed animals, but the worst case scenario was seeing a small petting zoo of white rabbits all over. 

he holds his head, maybe practicing so early in the morning wasn't the best idea...

but then he hears your voice calling him and the rabbits, as he doesn’t realize are extensions of himself, stand on their hind legs, noses sniffing the ear and only becoming more excited once they hear you, before jumping around. 

megumi panics. 

the last pancake is flipped, returning to the hot pan just so that it can brown a little further. you take the dish already with a stack for the two of you to share and bring it to the table, your own cup of coffee in your spot, steam still rising slightly. 

you hear megumi’s footsteps, and then little thumps. you raise an eyebrow. immediately ruling out that it wasn’t the worm, as toji had brought it along with him. 

‘just in case,’ he had said yesterday evening, before leaving. he’d probably be back if not even a bit later in the day, you’d probably save him some, probably. 

the thumps continued.

“megumi?” you call. no response, but the thumps continue. so you do what you always planned at the idea of someone breaking into your home (or even god forbid it was your husband’s relatives, you think with a shudder), you decide to go and check it out. 

you call him again. 

only a rushed answer is your response, you check that the pan is off of the burner and everything is off, before heading to your son’s room. 

when one goes to their child’s room, sure you expect a mess, after all, you don’t expect it to be flawless or anything. but you certainly do not expect the sight you’re currently seeing. well, of the several sights really. 

some of megumi’s books scattered on the floor, a plush thrown in one side of the room and another near the door as it bounces off of your foot, his bed was in complete disarray, with blankets and pillows strewn about and you have to consider anything but feather pillows with the amount floating in the air. your eyes grow wide as you survey the room one more time. 

rabbits, like living breathing, rabbits, everywhere. while you’re no sorcerer, swearing away from that, especially with toji and his former career choice. not that you blamed him. 

“i don’t know what to do,” is a quiet murmur as megumi looks around at the animals excitedly moving around his room. 

inklings of your own childhood training have you kneeling before him, taking his hands in your own. giving him the reassurance you hadn’t received. 

“it’s okay,” you say, “just take a deep breath, can you do that for me?”

a shaky nod.

“it’s okay, you’ll be alright.”

you swear you hear him whimper as you hug him tight. your hold around him tightens, you and your husband had to have a chat when he came home. 

“now come on, we have some fluffy pancakes waiting for us.”

toji likes to think he’s a collected person. never letting anyone under his skin and never showing any sort of reaction.

but when the worm lifts its head from the perch on his collarbone, and hisses in the direction of your apartment building, he’s fully alert. the cup of espresso (which he totally blames on you for getting him addicted by the way) left abandoned on some trash can. he wasn’t a neanderthal after all.

an incredulous sigh left his mouth, someone really had the guts to go after you two, hm? well, at least he would make sure they’d regret it. 

only, he doesn’t expect the sight he’s welcomed to. the front doorway was empty, that wasn’t unusual, yours and the kiddo’s shoes were there. but the poignant silence was just a bit disquieting.  

you scramble over, your arms holding shapes he couldn’t even see, your mouth ajar with surprise.

“oh hey honey!” you’re out of breath, adjusting your arms for what you were holding, “i didn’t hear you come in, uh, are you hungry? we have some leftover pancakes...”

you’re not sure if his laughter is directed towards you, or at the way you carefully look at the ground while trying not to step on something, familiarity of their master’s other parent gaining their curiosity. while on your end you’re saving the mental image of the rabbits sniffing and running around your man curiously.

but the atmosphere breaks when your expression becomes slightly serious, “it’s his technique, that’s the zenin’s isn’t it..?”

toji is silent, his lips thin, eyes unreadable and you feel your worst suspicions confirmed. 

“toji.”

“yes, it is.”

the walk past the small living area is silent, you both walk past your son, who’s already settled onto the couch with the remainder of the little animals, watching a cartoon. at least you were certain the conversation would be in private then.

you were no stranger to the way jujutsu families worked. the only thing you could be grateful for was the lack of prominence of your family. but the zenin? they were on a very different level, and not in a good way. 

while the both of you had made it a thing to simply ignore your families and their ties to sorcery, megumi’s technique soon made you both realize that mistake, and that it had to be rectified immediately. 

hurried whispers were exchanged between the two of you. your hand trembled, your brother did owe you a favor…

sensing your train of thought, toji grabs your hand, “we aren’t giving them the satisfaction,” he says easily, as if deciding what you both were going to make for dinner and not something that could potentially damn megumi’s future given his inherited technique. 

you purse your lips, about to speak when you notice the door slightly ajar. megumi, your usually nonplussed child, looked between you both while his hands nervously fiddle with the hem of his shirt, one of the small bunny rabbits pawing at his shoe, trying to comfort him in some way, the sight makes your heart squeeze painfully. 

“it’s my fault,” is no question, and before you can assure him otherwise, toji already is kneeling before him, a rare tenderness in his eyes reserved for very few, his hand resting on top of the boy’s unruly hair.

“no, not your fault kid, it will never be your fault,” his eyes widen in surprise when he feel’s smaller arms wrap around him in a tight hug, usually teasing the messy haired child for such a show of affection, toji wisely kept quiet. instead, he stands, son in his arm while another gives your hand a squeeze.

despite your uncertainties, you know that deep down you were all going to get through this together, somehow.

and when your son crawls in between you both later at night, burrowing underneath the blankets, there is no protest from you both, instead, megumi falls asleep better with the two of you holding onto him a little tighter. 

in the morning, you realize that maybe the numerous rabbits were not the problem, but instead it was the pair of dogs nearly pushing toji off of the bed, curled protectively around the young boy. 

“is there more?” you ask megumi with a yawn, rubbing the white dog’s head gently as it leans into your hand.

the boy strugs, cuddling into his dogs for warmth and you can’t help but throw your head back and laugh.

[stellartales]

zhongli ▪︎ glazed moon

pairing: zhongli x traveler!reader

genre(s): comfort + mild angst + fluff

summary: liyue harbor is once again preparing for another festival — the mid-autumn festival. but somehow she simply couldn't bring herself to join the others in the celebration. definitely not when her heart is aching in melancholy for her missing twin. — | m.list

background: this scenario takes place during the mid-autumn festival - as quoted from wikipedia - it is the second-most important holiday after Chinese New Year with a history dating back 3,000 years, when China's emperors worshipped the moon for bountiful harvests.[2] The celebration is called Chuseok (autumn eve) in Korea, Tsukimi (moon-viewing) in Japan and Tết Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival) in Vietnam

this event celebrated by the chinese is usually spent eating mooncakes and drinking teas. lanterns are also an important aspect of this festival. unlike the yuanxiao fesitval or mingxiao festival (which is the fictional festival featuring best boy Xiao in GI) where lanterns are released into the sky, lanterns are hand-held. this is a festival i celebrate every year hence i'm familiar with it — feel free to read up about this on wiki!

a/n: don't mind me, this is just a random idea that popped in my head. i'm in the mood for some angsty stuff these days so just had to get it out. Flute version of 无羁 (Wu Ji) from the drama 'Untamed' was the song which inspired my angsty mood while typing this. pardon my errors (I may have missed them and i kinda wrote this on a spur sooooo yea)

Please do me a favor and reblog this. Thank youuuu ❤

the vitality of liyue harbor has always been astounding; an envy of the seven nations.

bright, bustling streets even in the darkness of nights was enough to show the nature of the city.

though, today it was a different kind of bustle. stores were already closed; even the nocturnal businesses that one would only see at night.

the moon had been bright and round the past few nights while the people busied themselves for another festival to come.

— the mid-autumn festival, an annual festival celebrated by the people of liyue or at least that was what zhongli explained yesterday when he extended an invitation to her to join him and others in moon-gazing today.

tonight, the moon shone bright and full in the clear dark sky, seemingly more so than the previous nights.

strategically rooted to the ground of a spacious balcony overlooking the gentle waves below, the stone tables were in a perfect spot beneath the brilliant moon.

colorful mooncakes of various flavors and teacups filled with steaming tea laid before her.

she sat at one of the round stone tables with some funeral parlor staff and of course, zhongli himself who has been rather busy ever since she arrived—

the cheerful chatters and laughter drew her eyes away from the empty seat beside her and to the tables across theirs.

his archon days were over, he said.

he was simply trying to experience a mundane life as 'zhongli' now, as the geo archon had put it when she expressed her surprise at his involvement with a festival fabricated by the mortals' minds.

and indeed—

her gaze idled on him.

— he was doing it too well.

illuminated by the golden glow the table lanterns emanated, the cordial and relaxed atmosphere was warmed by attentive eyes and smiling lips.

all on him.

apparently, some things never changed. whether he was rex lapis or zhongli, he carried an alluring elegance and charisma. clinging to every word and his occasional hand gestures, they were like moths drawn to a flame.

she could understand why; she liked hearing him talk. she would have gone over too, if not...if not for this weight on her heart.

it has been nearly a year since she was in teyvat looking for her twin. these few days in the harbor, the full moon was a constant reminder of how time has passed, and yet...

a heavy sigh escaped her. a longing gleam waned in her eyes as she lifted her gaze to the sky.

they used to talk and eat under a full moon just like this, a bitter ache clenched her heart.

her teeth sank into her lower lip as it trembled.

please...not now. her hands curled into shaking fists as she tried to hold back the tears threatening to leave her eyes.

not now. not at this party. she silently pleaded with herself, her squared shoulders shaking. it took all her willpower to not let the dam break.

but one managed to escape her anyway.

—shit.

she was up on her feet fast and slipped away from the party as subtly as she could.

stumbling out of the party half-blind with tears wasn't exactly the best situation to remember about the cloak meant to keep her warm on an autumn night.

luckily, she didn't end up falling off the stairs she currently sat on.

autumn in liyue was typically not cold, but tonight seemed especially so.

she shivered to the chilly breeze brushing against her back. goosebumps crawled across her skin, particularly on the areas her dress failed to protect against the cold.

she couldn't quite bring herself to go back for the cloak. not with the mess she was now.

the sight of the round moon above wavered in her vision as tears quietly trailed down her cheeks.

under the vast, seemingly endless night sky, she felt small...

— her knees were drawn closer to her chest, curled fingers digging into her dress.

...and extremely powerless.

where is he? why can't she find him? is he even in teyvat? Is he even...still alive? does he even exist anymore?

—a dreading sense of hopelessness echoed in her heart and summoned another wave of tears wavering her vision.

under this wide, endless sky and its luminous moon, she felt alone, truly alone in the presence of the joyous cacophony of laughter and playful yells coming from the festival she left behind.

a nasty voice prompted by the noise taunted her — of how no one would notice, even if she were to walk right out of liyue harbor right now.

drowning in harsh, relentless thoughts, she failed to notice the gaze of a pair of wise, golden eyes on her back, soft with concern.

long legs covered the distance between them in a quiet, graceful stride; the gentle clacks of his loafers whenever their heels hit the ground slipped past her notice too.

not even when he climbed down the steps to settle himself next to her, a step above hers.

not even the inevitable proximity between their bodies caused by the short stairs spacious for one but narrow for two.

only until his coat was off his shoulders and wrapped around hers—

"why the tears on the mid-autumn festival?"

—she jolted with a sharp gasp, her widening eyes snapping over to him.

the calm and prodding gaze that met hers was accompanied by the tender brush of his thumb across her left cheek, right under her tearing eye before switching over to her other.

"zh-zhongli?"

she stayed stunned, unsure she was feeling so because someone noticed she had left or was it because of this simple gesture.

zhongli has always been a mentor-like figure to her. his words, his wise gazes, the comforting pets he occasionally gave on her head and back had always reminded her of how she was a mere child in his eyes.

but tonight...this, nothing about the gentleness his hand or his eyes emanate felt normal. or was she just delirious?

the strange stutter of her heart caused by the hand on her face, the blush heating up her cheeks made her tear her gaze away from his, flustered.

zhongli let his hand drop back onto his knee, but his eyes stayed.

crossing her arms to hold onto his coat sitting on her shoulders, she thought hard to recall his question.

"i can't help thinking about my brother, that's all." she looked back at him, smiling.

a smile he thought reminded him of the moon when it was not yet full — a quiet light melancholic with vague sadness.

"don't worry about me, i'll be fine." she slipped a glance over her shoulder in the direction of the festival. "you should go back there, zhongli, they need you. what's mid-autumn festival for liyue without you?"

she moved to remove the coat from her shoulders, but a hand wrapped around her wrist stopped her.

"but what's mid-autumn festival without you, my dear friend?"

zhongli regarded her intently, his eyes boring into hers for a second before shifting to focus on his coat.

there was something else in his eyes when they return to hers; it came and went in a flicker. "...keep this on, it's chilly today."

"thanks..." she murmured, her shoulders sinking as she yet again returned her thoughts to her brother.

"aether..." the pain she guarded showed on her face. "will i ever be able to see him again?"

tears started to well up in her eyes once again.

"i'm sorry, zhongli, i'm so sorry..." a quiet sob broke through, "today is supposed to be about the mid-autumn festival, and yet...here you are, listening to me."

zhongli's mouth opened then snapped close.

he always knew what to say whenever she was in a pinch. however, it was tears this time, and he wasn't exactly sure about what he should do about his body's urge to extend his arms out to her.

he was already more than a thousand years old.

as the former geo archon, he was the immovable rock. emotions and impulses he used to hold within himself in his younger days were buried deep under the sands of time...or at least they should be.

so where did this come from? was this strange stir an inevitable part of being a mortal?

"you know what?"

her movement to rise from the spot beside him turned his head back to her.

resolute hardened the glint in her tearing eyes, "i don't want to hold you back any longer,"

her fingers curled into a shaky fist, nails digging into her palm.

"....the people need you. i-i think i should just go bac—"

his hand flew out before he could think any further; his body was faster than his thoughts this time.

her next breath puffed out of her, in surprise and bewilderment as her body was tugged and cocooned by a breathing warmth before she could understand what happened.

and when she did, her eyes flew wide.

cheek pressed against his neck, she found herself held to his chest. she could feel his chin atop her head and his arms around her.

he was beside her a moment ago, and now he was behind sharing the same step as her, broad enough to accommodate them. was she the one who moved? or did he?

she didn't know how but she couldn't find the energy to care —the scent of musk and lingering tea engulfing her was an alluring comfort that made her want to stop trying.

so warm. really, really warm.

and so was his voice. "...but you need me." a hand caressed the back of her head.

there was a pause before a feigned cough ensued. "i meant, this."

[mangacat201]

𝐓𝐀𝐆 (𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄) 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑

Got tagged by @hedgewyse whom I was very happy to get to know better via this tag game, thanks a lot! Sorry it took so long to respond, I needed to get on tumblr on the laptop where I can actually type up text and I had a lot of things going on this past week that kept me LOL.

Favourite colour: Blue.

No explanation, not particular reason why, it’s just always been blue. All shades from deep purple to almost white. But I have a special place in my heart for the word ‘turquoise’, which I feel is just so the most. 

Currently reading: Oh good gosh, my open doc reading list is so long, I will constrain myself to the most recent things...

“(Love is)The second oldest profession” The 9-1-1 Buck/Eddie pornstar!AU I knew I needed but kept for a special occasion

I’m also reading “Achtsam Morden” a national German bestseller and the first actual like physical book I’ve picked up in probably four years. It’s hilarious and murdery and perfect

I’m listening to “Blood & Paper” by Kevin Hearne (whom I recently got to meet at a book signing event when he was visiting here and a friend asked me to spontaneously tag along - best decision in ages) Love the audiobook version read by Luke Daniels, he’s a whizz with the accents.

“Hide the drums (there’s fire in the sky)” latest installment of the Magical Marriage Ribbons-Verse, the Untamed Mega Saga, for which the author starandrea has been posting a chapter every day since May 31st 2020, so 805 consecutive days as of now without missing ONE. It boggles the mind. (I’ve started reading when the verse was ... oh I think about three parts in, I haven’t missed one too since then)

Last song: “The Greatest Show on Earth” - Nightwish, it’s my soundtrack for my daily yoga practice (no I am in fact not joking), so it doesn’t really count last leisure listening was the soundtrack of ‘Robin Hood - Das Musical’

Last series: Ooofff... ok, so many balls in the air at the same time. I’m watching “The Sandman” of course, as you do and loving it. Also “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” which is THE MOST(tm). Recently finished my rewatch and catch-up of “Manifest” and rewatched a couple of episodes of The Devil Judge with a friend who just started and that I got into it, remembering why I can’t be normal about those boys (and how delightful it is to rewatch with someone experiencing sth for the first time). Of course went down the magnificent and batshit crazy rabbithole that is Kinnporsche. Also, “Tomorrow” which is definitely my fav K-Drama of 2022.

Last movie: Day Shift - Fun and a nice remix of vampire tropes that you don’t really see on top of each other a lot. But it felt more like a set up to a movie trilogy I don’t know if it’s made enough impact into getting, so the premise might have been served better as a mini series? ...The Gray Man, which was solid and enjoyable and absolutely bonkers with how hilarious it was to watch Chris Evans have a ton of fun playing straight up, no holds barred, unredeemable villian. Ryan Gosling can stay... Ana de Armas is queen bee.

Currently working on: My last day of vacation :sob: and of course my WIP/plot bunnie enclosure excel spreadsheet (yes, I do not do things by half until I halfass writing them). Anyway, actual words or plotty thinky thoughts were put into:

- The Devil Judge a/b/o PWP (that has, so far, about 5k of set up and no porn) with a Jung Sunah made them do it scenario and non-traditional dynamics (yeah, idek...)

- Vincenzo Inception fusion - Jang Han Seo wakes up from getting shot to a curious set up of sleeping people around him (really really wanna write this one but the premise is so vast I’m afraid of flaming out again)

- three separate 9-1-1 Buddie fics of varying size and scope that reaches from one’s in love the other isn’t and confessions make things complicated (or do they), the fall out from the truck bombing goes the other way for Buck & the “Eddie deals with his 5B-issues by discovering shibari”!AU (do NOT try this at home-therapy)

- The Untamed - Blades of Glory!AU

pheeeeew. hooookay, wow, that was interesting, hope your learned something about me. I’mma tag some people, but please, feel free to participate at your own leisure. @hattalove, @the-marathon-continues-nip , @iskarieot, @themostglorioushour, @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels , @fondofeveryprickle, @ahhhnorealnamesallowed, @sam-t-a, @b612sunsets

[windblooms]

genshin scenarios – playing with their hair

genshin boys × gender-neutral reader. scenarios of albedo, diluc, kaeya, and zhongli and their s/o’s interactions when their hair is down.  suggestive warning for kaeya and zhongli.

- ̗̀ albedo ̖́-

"is something the matter?”

after a tedious day in the labs, albedo comes home to you with slightly glazed eyes . . . and with his hair down.  it’s an unusual sight since, as long as you’ve been in a relationship with him, you’ve never seen him style his hair.  you know he prefers keeping parts of it up, because otherwise the strands would obscure his line of sight.

it’s just – ah, it’s a bit hard not to stare – and you have to shake yourself out of your fascination because, well, damn.

“ah, no.  you just . . . you’re really pretty, albedo.”

your boyfriend merely cocks his head to the side, hands pausing in the midst of hanging up his coat on the rack.  he regards you with a hints of perplexity on his visage, although he isn’t put-off by your unorthodox description.  if anything, he seems innocently intrigued by your word-choice, and after composing himself, resumes in undressing to a simple vest.

you make your way over to him, and he receives you with open arms, settling his hands on your hips and with eyes locked with yours.  you’re beaming, still enamored with how endearing he looks.  archons, he looks like a cloud come to life.  even if his hair is a bit messy, for some reason, the untamed look suits him. 

“pretty?”  the blond tests the word in his mouth, measuring how it feels.  it’s only a second later when he arrives at a consensus, and a simple one at that.  “i’ve never been addressed as such.  i would think that word is more suited for you . . . you’re radiant.“

- ̗̀ diluc  ̖́-

he greets you in the morning as usual, with slacks and a dress-shirt, as you begin to prop yourself up on the mattress.  dawn has barely broken over mondstadt, but diluc doesn’t mind – he hasn’t for the longest time, ever since he inherited the winery.  it’s been common practice, and he’s only here to say good bye before the work day commences.

“where do you think you’re going at this hour?”  the ragnvindr heir gently pushes a hand to your shoulder, voice with the warmth of a hearth and bouncing with a low laugh at your insistence.  “sleep in more.”

"but diluuuuuuuuuc,” you whine, tugging on his sleeve.  you’re still half-asleep, and diluc can tell by how you take a bit longer to voice your thoughts than usual.  “wanna . . . ”  another second passes, and diluc is amused by the thought of you passing out right on the pillow mid-sentence.

“. . . wanna play with your hair.”

ah?

the stoic ragnvindr is briefly taken off-guard by your wholesome request solely because he didn’t think you’d be able to see his hair down, with the curtains closed and such.  but, well, contemplating it now, what little light that seeps into the room is directed at him.

“you can do that another time.”  he leans slightly onto the bed with a knee, his vermillion locks swaying before his body as it falls from its perch of his shoulders.  you moan yet again as your back finally collapses on the bed, adverse yet unable to breach his resistance. 

the mumbling continues, and diluc decides to humor you by lingering longer.  “like fire.  the nice kind.  the kind during winter.”

the nice kind, huh?

diluc’s fingers graze your cheeks, and he presses a chaste kiss to your temple before pulling the covers back over your body.  despite your earlier protests, you quickly snuggle back under them.

“i’ll be back at lunch.  sleep well.”

- ̗̀ kaeya  ̖́-

“can’t keep your hands off me, hm?”

like a chemical reaction, your face flares up at his suggestive words.  for three sweet seconds, kaeya thinks that you’re actually going to pull away in a fit of adorable chagrin – with your voice stuttered and hiding your cheeks behind your hands – but in a change of scenario, you actually force your hands to linger on his hair, combing through the strands more instantly than before.

“don’t make me.”  your threat is as spirited as the mondstadtian winds, nipping at his ears as you compose yourself.  however, even though your voice is firm, he can hear the gradual smile that begins to ease itself on your face.  

“haha, i won’t, i won’t.  continue, please.”

and that you do.  you’re careful with his hair, never pulling to harshly.  even though he can’t see what you’re doing, he can feel you gently ordering his hair into thick strands, before overlapping them with one another.

kaeya patiently sits, taking care to slouch slightly so you won’t have too much trouble reaching for his hair.  in the corner of his eye, mondstadt is quiet behind the window, the sun having long set.  the only light that illuminates the room is a tinted electro crystal and some candles on overhead light fixtures.  

it’s a peaceful evening.  tranquil, as all things should be in the city of freedom.  despite knowing how he likes to keep his hair down at night, this evening he took you up on your cute proposition.  “just want to see if you’d like it,” is what you said, leaning against his shoulder.

so, let you he did, and he admits to himself that your fingers feel comforting as they stroke his scalp.

expectant, the calvary captain awaits your verdict as you scrutinize your finished work.  you finally pluck a mirror from the drawer, and as you brush it in front of his shoulder for him to study, he can’t help himself but laugh at the hair-tie with an embedded snowflake. 

“my dear, you should’ve told me that you’re into hair-pulling much sooner – ” 

“say one more lewd thing and i’ll move out.”

- ̗̀ zhongli ̖́-

when your lips leave his, they find a new home next to his ears as your fingers toy with the clasp of his hair-tie. 

“will you let me?”

zhongli mumbles a quick reassurance – he says “of course” as if your request is the most natural thing in teyvat – before your palms brush against the strands of his hair that fall to the small of his back.  he holds your gaze with his own, treasuring each flicker of your irises and the lush hue in your cheeks and the way your lips curve up, up, and enamor him as well.

as his tresses fall and settle, his forehead gravitates towards yours.  you have to stretch up a bit to meet him, although with soft laughs, you both fall to the couch with your legs around his waist.

“you’re more charming than you know.”  your words are as soft as your hands, skimming over his hair tipped with gold.  “at least more than you give yourself credit for.”

another rise in his chest, and the archon chuckles at the intake of your sincerity.  with deft fingers, he feels the slight tugs against his scalp as you overlay strands of his hair with others you’ve ordered together.  “i’ve been called many things over the eons.  admittedly, ‘charming’ hasn’t been one of them.”  

you mock raise an eyebrow, yet your visage holds nothing but good faith. without his funeral parlor coat, zhongli appreciates (and even finds himself leaning into) the warmth exuding from your body. 

your hands have made their way to his shoulders by now, winding around his arms to reach the end of the braid on his back, and your head dips down to give yourself more leverage.  sweetly, zhongli pecks the top of your head, steadying your body by securing his palms on your waist.

you finish your craft moments later, bumping the top of your head under his chin. 

“i’m thankful you think of me in that way.”

[rainbowsky]

Did DLS Out DD During a DDU Recording and Make Him Cry?

This has been making the rounds on Twitter and YouTube and even Tumblr, for a while now. Fancam footage of DLS making a boyfriend joke and then leaning in to a supposedly upset DD and trying to smooth things over.

This whole thing is based on fancam footage taken during the recording of the DDU 20190825 episode. In this episode dating was being discussed using four beautiful young women, DD and QF along with two handsome young guests as a backdrop.

The subtitles of the fan cam present a scenario where DLS supposedly refers to DD as ‘not needing a girlfriend because he already has a boyfriend’ and then leaning into a supposedly emotional DD and apologizing, trying to calm him down; saying viewers won’t understand what was said.

Let’s take a look at the video:

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The full fan cam footage that this out of context clip was taken from can be found here.

If you watch the episode and the complete fan cam footage, you’ll see that this happened during the segment where they were being asked to comment on various dating scenarios. An announcer would present each scenario in a multiple choice format, asking the women to choose between four options based on the type of guy they’d most like to date. For example:

How would you like the boy you like to invite you for a meal on the weekend?

A] Save your weekend for me. Do not say no.

B] You had breakfast at 7:50 this morning and lunch at 12:30. It’s already 7pm now. You have to eat meals on time. Why don’t I take you out for dinner?

C] I tried to explain my thoughts when I look at you, but I failed. So do you have time for dinner with me this weekend? Let’s talk about it.

D] Get out. Dinner.

My opinion

We should always, always be suspicious of anything that is presented without context. 99.9% of the time, when someone removes context they are doing so to mislead audiences. This clip is a perfect example of that. The video creator appears to have removed important context in order to make the clip better fit the narrative they’re trying to sell.

In this segment of the episode, the hosts and guests were seen commenting on the options as they were being read out. The comments DLS is making appear to be in response to something the announcer has said. I don’t think the comments have anything whatsoever do to with DD.

I also don’t think DD looks even remotely upset. Certainly not near tears. Some fans seem over-eager to claim DD is crying. We’ve all seen DD cry, but it’s exceptionally rare and only happens in very personal situations. This doesn’t qualify. It wouldn’t qualify even if everything the video creator claimed was true. DD would be more likely to get angry than cry in such a situation. He isn’t doing either of these things.

Whoever made this video simply doesn’t ‘get’ DD’s personality at all. The people who buy this are similarly unfamiliar with him.

I invite everyone to use your own eyes and your own judgment. Ignore what’s being claimed, ignore the framing you’ve been given of the scenario by me or the video creator, and instead just watch the clip. Does that look like a man on the verge of tears to you?

Second and third opinions

I asked the indispensable @potteresque-ire and @knivescharade what they thought of the clip. I didn’t tell them anything about my opinion, but simply sent the clip and asked their thoughts - are the subtitles correct, what do you think of the lip reading, etc.

@knivescharade

wow, for this person to put this analysis in i would say that lip reading is a very difficult skill. and to try and lip read someone like DLS, who speaks like a bullet train and doesn't really enunciate SUPER well (unlike Han-ge, for example) ... i would say the interpretation is only very vaguely possible at best.

i know both the cand int fandom have a major something for how WYB keeps swallowing around XZ, but honestly. WYB tends to get throat issues. i think swallowing has become one of his habits at this point. so... in conclusion... there are already lots of major, amazing, and irrefutable candies in the fandom already, let's not bother with such iffy ones :D

he is indeed saying that "this man has a boyfriend", but i cant quite remember which part of the show that was in. i watched that episode, it was something to do with love and having 4 guys paired with 4 girls or something like that, and listening to 'types of guys responses to etc etc' so DLS wasnt saying that WYB has a boyfriend - he was saying that 'this man', the one whose voice was playing in the audio, has a boyfriend.

That tracks with my interpretation of what was happening.

@potteresque-ire

Unless people have learned the dialect, Mandarin speakers cannot understand Cantonese, and vice versa. This is why I don't support or wash auditory candies, especially if it involves someone from Northern China (such as DLS, who is a Beijing native). Their local accents make their Mandarin even more difficult to understand.

This dialect restriction is actually not specific to a me, or other Hong Kongers. Someone whose family is entirely from Northern China would be equally prone to making mistakes if they're asked to lip read southern Chinese.

Lip reading also removes tonal consideration, which makes everything that much more uncertain. Have you heard of the Mr Shi Eats the Lion story? This is why, even if I hear some similarities, I'd hesitate to say X has to be saying ABC. Context is important.

Cantonese speakers are especially picky about tone. Mandarin have 4. We have 6 or 9, depending on who you ask. So... I may be more picky than I should be that way too. And I don't want to spoil anyone's fun 😊

The translation was correct in the sense that it was faithful to the Chinese words in the clip I saw, which replicated what DLS said accurately. But the video itself was from a fancam. Where that fancam happened (and got cut off) was at Q3 at the Q & A segment, starting ~9:34 of the official YouTube clip.

DLS said what he said half way through the voiceover of Option A (very precisely, right after the words "I'm the only one"). Technically speaking, therefore, he wasn't talking about DD.

However, it was also a little strange why DLS said what he said. If you watch that segment, all options have a certain personality attached to them. C was very talkative / pretentious. D was connected to DD because it was blunt and direct. A was the so called "overbearing CEO" personality... which is common in het romance dramas but isn't one that has been connected to the gay stereotype. And so, DLS's timing of saying that ... is curious.

Dd did look a little ... I wouldn't say upset, but tense after DLS said that. Maybe it's because that comment kinda came out of nowhere (because of its curious timing), and so it would be read as hinting at something. But that comment is harmless, wording wise.

Alternate theory

I’ve seen some talk from fans about a different theory for why DLS said what he said. Fans say the announcer for option A was Bian Jiang, the actor who did the voice of LWJ in The Untamed. They say that DLS was making a joke about LWJ not needing a boyfriend because he already has one. That actually makes a lot of sense to me as well, and if that’s really Bian Jiang, then I’d say that’s the most likely explanation for this entire thing.

Conclusion

It’s my firm opinion that DLS was not talking about DD having a boyfriend, nor was DD ‘near tears’ in this clip. Whatever DLS said to DD after that, it almost certainly wouldn’t have been ‘words of comfort to placate an upset DD’.

The Bian Jiang theory fits best, but we don’t need to know why DLS said what he said to be able to conclude he wasn’t talking about DD.

Cute DD candy from this episode

If anyone wants a better candy from this episode, look no further than when he emerges from “door #2″, chosen by one of the women as someone she’d like to date based on the food he’d picked out, and immediately launches into “I want to take a man back to my place and hide him.” A LWJ reference (which DLS and Wang Han clarify with him because they appear baffled by what he just said), but still a tactful, perfect rejection of this woman he’s being paired with. 😅