#you haoran

[igotsnothing]

Beginning/Previous/Next

[lizhly-writes]

hey you know what completely different au of my own fucking original work my brain has occupied itself with now?

au where my girlboss female lead trips back in time and wakes up at age 16 and accidentally gets the interest of her villain fiance because her 10 extra years of life experience made her wayyyy less hostile and wayyy less likely to start a fight with him. it confuses him so much. what's jiang mingxi without constant anger and the desire to punch someone in the face. he doesn't know what to do with this. they have a sparring match for class that DOESN'T devolve into insults and clawing at each other and it throws him into shellshock.

[thewildfl0wer]

Habia ido varias veces al aeropuerto de Seúl, en sus recuerdos de infancia, al dejar al tío de Yohan, al recibir los familiares de Haoran...pero la noticia de que Haoran iba a tomar un camino en solitario, dejar el contrato con CABERNET, de forma tan repentina, puso nerviosa a Emily Choi. 

Las “chiminis”, su fanbase, estaban también sorprendidas, los periódicos amarillistas de espectáculos hacían comentarios morbosos del por qué de su decisión. Y aunque la reconocieran como la “novia del líder” y el riesgo de que lo malinterpretaran todo...no le importaba. Era su amigo. Ya Yohan debía también viajar...Emily se sentía realmente devastada...

A las 8 de la mañana debía tomar un avión desde Seúl a Beijing. Emily acompañó a los padres de Hao, ayudando a cargar las maletas. Pasar por los pasillos fríos, lleno de locales, hasta llegar al andén. 

—Hao...sé que suena egoísta...pero en serio no te vayas, tu eres mi hermanito.—El nudo en la garganta, los labios temblorosos se hacían presentes.

—Tranquila noona, sabes que siempre estaré contigo, ahí en tu corazoncito. Nos veremos de nuevo y me verás triunfar, ya lo verás. Si visitas China te recibiré de brazos abiertos y más si viene Gryuri, incluso si llevan novios...Pero eso sí,  otro novio que no sea Hotae... hasta yo dudo un poco... si realmente te quieres casar con él...— Le tomó la mano con gentileza. Emily notó el temblor de su mano, y sabía el por qué...solo había viajado una vez cuando era un bebé.

—Yohan se preocupa bastante por ti...Sabes que no te puedo obligar a estar con alguien Emily... pero creo que el es un buen tipo. Hemos hablado y me alegra que vivan juntos y se conozcan hace años, incluso más de lo que llevamos siendo amigos tu y yo...al menos estaré tranquilo que con él no te pasará nada malo...— Sonrió algo nervioso, tomando más aire de lo usual para hablar.

—Haoran...no es necesario que estés sonriendo incluso cuando estás triste...estás conmigo, no delante de un escenario o una cámara....puedes ser tu mismo conmigo...no te juzgaré — Abrazó a su amigo con mucha fuerza, mientras sollozaba en su amplio pecho. Le guardó las partituras para que pudiera cantar y tocar al otro lado del mar, doblado como una galletita de la suerte, en la chaqueta del muchacho. —...solo te pediré...que contestes mis videollamadas ¿si?—

—Claro que si, tranquila...Las quiero mucho, no saben cuánto...seremos triunfadores, noona, más pronto que tarde! No dejes sola a Gyuri ¿si?...yo las quiero mucho...— Le limpió las lagrimas de sus mejillas con delicadeza. Incluso si ya estaban llamando para abordar el avión, unos segundos calmando a su noona...iba a también él irse a China tranquilo, a comenzar de nuevo.

[astranauticus]

not to beat a dead horse but im watching todd in the shadows' debunking james somerton video and for some reason the one that really got to me was him disproving the 'detective chinatown 3's box office numbers were faked' claim with just .... no? it was just a really popular movie?

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Currently Watching - September

aka The Masterlist

Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊

Regularly updated during the month, latest update 11.09.2024

A little link to my favorite bl-tropes-collection 💙

gif-requests are open, but you'll need to have some patience🌼

Here you can find all of my gifs.

At the end you can have a look at what we can expect in September with a MDL link and a link for a trailer (if avaible).

This is guaranteed to contain spoilers!

1. 4 Minutes 🇹🇭 (6/8)

Such an interesting series. Still a little bit confusing, but yet I am intrigued. Just how did Tonkla know that Great was the one who helped with his bother's murder. Why was is videotaped. This doesn't make much sense to me, but I bet I missed something. Interesting what can go wrong if you decide to take another path.

2. Cityboy_Log 4.2 🇰🇷 (18?/23)

This one is getting a little bit too staged and too boring. There is not much happening. It doesn't mean you have to fit in a jealousy plot or cheating, just let them do stuff. And those "upsi-we-got-caught-moments" are so staged and just not good. I don't like them. And please give the throuple some scenes where they acknowledge they like each other. Don't play with us like that!

3. First Note of Love 🇹🇼 (6/12)

This week we dealt with the aftermath of Orca coming back to Taiwan and the huge pressure lasting on Sea's shoulders. There is still not really a romantic spark between those two, it is more of a fan and his idol or a older brother caring for his younger sibling. And yet next week we get a confession and some romance... I don't know how to feel about it.

4. Happy of the End 🇯🇵 (4/8)

This week got dark. Damn. The whole episode four was a hurtful flashback of Haoran's life. And he had a fucked up life. And some of that he projects onto Chihiro, even though he is the only light in his life right now. But he doesn't know better, so I don't blame him. It was hard to watch, but it is something that happens everyday everywhere... we just don't look.

5. Hidamari ga Kikoeru 🇯🇵 (11/12)

We are 11 episodes in. I was trying to love it till the end. Yes, this is not just a story about Kohei and Taichi. There is so much more to it. But nothing is really told till the end. We just get snippets. We get snippets of how Taichi deals with the abandonment from his parents, but no real conflict or conclusion, but we know this affects him. We see a friendgroup, and don't get me wrong, I like Taichi's friends, but we don't get a real deep connection between them. Maya was put in there to be the drama, the villainess. Her story might have been interesting, but she is in no means a likable character and her story is going where? What was her purpose? Still don't get it. And the main plot. Where is it going. We got the first half of the series where Kohei and Taichi building a really strong connection and of course we whitness Kohei falling for Taichi. And with the second half I thought we see how those two work around it, how Taichi comes to terms with his own feelings for Kohei, because we already got the hint that he likes him too! Why was there no communication between these two at all during the last couple of episodes. It was all misscommunication. A trope I really don't like. And still today was no real talking between them. Just beating around the bush and changing the subject. I don't need smut or even a kiss in everything I watch. But I want some clearity and some good writing and most of all staying true to the characters! And this is not it anymore.

6. I Saw You In My Dream 🇹🇭 (9/12)

Okay. They are cute and I love their communication, from noth couples. Everything is going real smooth, so I guess the next episodes are going to be a little bit rougher. But this week we got a little bit consent and heart-eyes and soft touches and I really liked it here!

7. Jack & Joker: U steal my heart! 🇹🇭 (1/12)

I loved that we got this flashback of their past and how those two poor souls try everything to make people proud of them and end up in their own prisons. And yes, I am a War addict and I am finally back to my stuff on my screen and I couldn't be more happy!

8. Kidnap 🇹🇭 (1/12)

Okay, it is the first episode and Min is already head over heals with Q. With this paste we'll have the first break-up on episode five! And I like it! The show so far is quite alright. I am looking forward to their dynamic and the humor of it and of course I want to see how everything's going to turn out.

9. Seoul Blues 🇰🇷 (5/8)

When I said I want some drama, I didn't mean that! I hate this ex-story. He comes off like a real asshole, but they have a weird tension. But there was just the drama with the ex-girlfriend. And now there is the next hurdle in the way. Just give them an episode to relax and enjoy their new love. Argh!

10. The On1y One 🇹🇼 (7/12)

"You know, I've always felt that Guanyin Mountain by the Danshui River is quite efficacious. As long as you wish sincerely to it, it will certainly come true." And after that sentence you get this look on Wang's face!? Oh, he doesn't want them to be brothers. He is wishing for something closer, more intimate! And Tian too! And now they want to live together. I can't deal with the show! It is so good! The looks, the chemistry, the story, exquisite!

11. The Trainee 🇹🇭 (11/12)

And they're dating! They are cute together. I like that Ryan is encouraging Jane to go after his dreams- He build up his confidence and now Jane is ready to start something new. I really like this dynamic! It is a very pleasant turn of events. Ryan is such an interesting character. He is kinda shy and inexperienced, but can voice his needs and wants really good. I am looking forward the last episode.

12. Word of Honor 🇨🇳 (20/36)

Do you still believe I'll come back to this one? It is a really good series, but I can't motivate myself to dive into it right now 🙈

Finished in September

Series

Takara no Vidro 🇯🇵

We had our final today and I loved it! The fact both of them missed each other and communicated this. Taishin likes it when Takara opens up to him, because it makes him feel special and closer to him. And I get that. Takara is a person who doesn't talk much about himself, but who has so much anxiety and Taishin wants to share those burdens, because they are equal, because he wants to take care of Takara too. I started this series without any expectations and with mixed feelings, but it slowly became one of the gems of the week and I was so looking forward to this final episode! A really good 9 out of 10.

Movie

Short Film

Dropped in September

Looking forward to in September

Live in Love - Trailer (Sep 1st)

Happy of the End (Sep 3th)

Kidnap - Trailer (Sep 6th)

The Hidden Moon - Trailer (Sep 7th)

Jack and Joker - Trailer (Sep 9th)

Unlock your Love - Trailer (Sep 11th)

The Time of Fever - Trailer (Sep 12th)

Love Sick - Trailer (Sep 14th)

Bad Guy my Boss - Teaser (Sep 15th)

Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Sep 17th)

Chaser Game W2: Utsukushiki Tennyotachi (Sep 20th)

Uncle Unknown (Sep 20th ?)

[lychniis]

0. his garment is covered in dust. // a foreigner's god

synopsis. bingyin finds himself with a broken child and a fuller house ( and you...you are a little lost ).

themes. ( 2.14k ) implied parental death, landslides, one traumatized child, brief mentions of grief, reader's nation of origin is left ambiguous ( though my indulgent ass does lowkey hc the sumeru gang ), grumpy old men. the chapter is relatively tame. no zhongli yet hehe. PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS WITHIN THE CHAPTER LIST.

this work has been marked mature. readers below the age of 18 / ageless blogs, do not interact. any individual who is not a legal adult or has an age indicator on their page will be blocked without further notice.

# chapter list ノ ao3

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"open thine eyes and see thy god is not before thee! he is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path-maker is breaking stones. he is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!"

― GITANJALI 11 , RABINDRANATH TAGORE.

There is a story the young ones love — of the heavens, a god and a chariot of gold filigree. 

It was told to him in passing once, when he asked about a streak across a painting ( the rice paper had blotted at the edges with ink. The grass had bled into the fallows ). The painter was an old man. Too old, perhaps, to be holding a brush and hobbling to the stepped terraces of Qingce. But Bingyin could appreciate that flavor of stubbornness that steadied those trembling fingers. The man talked about his children first, then his wife, then the fallen sun and the yawning chasm. He listened in turn, because stories were meant to be heard and now he tells it to his audience.

Today, there is another to follow the usual. The sun chariot was a mainstay. The children like skyward carriage crashes for some reason ( is it inherent violence? A sadistic pleasure in divine accidents? He is worried ) and they liked dragons more. So this one has a dragon. 

A dragon encrusted with cor lapis and a mountain cave that cloistered its coiling wreathe. 

It was an undulating, glimmering thing. The skin puppet he carved out and painted was long, segmented and his hands ached navigating the way it flies and flies and flies ( dragons fly a lot. Far too much for his tastes. Damn dragons ). 

But Bingyin could see the clapping through the thin screen, hear the laughter. He keeps singing. He sings about the flooded plains and the guided people and the mountain erected at the harbour’s head. Then he sings about how the dragon retreated into Jueyun Karst once more, curling under the cavernous tunnels like jade pressed to the earth.

His voice is hoarse when he stops and the cheers ring out. The puppets were tucked away. He stretches out his arms and feels the throbbing press on before it fades. It was another day of work for him. Tomorrow, he’d be working the tea slopes then returning home with a new story to tell and it would grasp and grind at his mind till he writes it down and forgets it’s existence. Perhaps he’d make a few new puppets, perhaps not.

This time though, when he gathers the last of his spoils, he sees Haoran lingering by the wooden seats, and you, still too young to properly let your feet touch the ground below. Bingyin had seen that look on your face, and he’d seen the mud caking your shoes and hem. They shouldn’t belong to a child. Not those eyes. Not those distant, dead eyes. 

“Is there something you want?” he tries to pack faster despite this. His drum rolls to his feet. Bingyin tries to right it up again, half flailing like a winded octopus. 

“Yes.” Haoran nods with a solemn set to his mouth. Why does he look like that? Bingyin thinks with a frantic shriek echoing at the back of his mind. He peers into his mora bag, at the glint of metal peering back up, then at you wearily. Why am I being stared at? Stop. Stop staring. “Could we have a moment of your time please?”

“No. I’m busy now. You should have been quicker.”

“Please.” 

Oh hell to it.

Bingyin puts on a show of tempered frustration and glares at Haoran with his lips pressed to a harsh line. He needs to crane his neck up a bit. That foolish boy was a head taller than him with a gangly set of arms to match. You are attached at one end like a leech struggling to keep up. “Alright. Don’t waste my time.” 

“Okay.” words stumble over themselves. “Do you recall the rains a few days prior? They were particularly heavy weren’t they?” 

“Yes.” he wasn't stupid. He could see rain just fine. 

“Well…” Haoran casts a glance at you. There is pity there. It’s cloying and it’s unpleasantly thick. You seem to disappear within the shadow cast upon you, small, so small and so fish eyed. “There was a landslide at Juehyun Karst and a few travelers were caught within it. This little one lost their parents.”

Haoran’s voice drops to a whisper. He talks about it like it’s forbidden. A taboo. A cover up. He doesn’t mean it. Bingyin can’t quite judge a fool’s pragmatics and Haoran was well intentioned in keeping you separate from something dour. But Haoran’s pragmatics were meant to be judged at this point because he was, in fact, terrible at it.

“They can still hear you,” Bingyin points out. He is right. You can. You are trembling. His story was about the Karst too, wasn’t it? He wonders if you heard it and he hopes to the wayward gods that you did not. “Why are you telling me this?”

“They meant to come to Chenyu Vale. They meant to come here…them and their parents. They were tea farmers…” Archons. “Yes, yes I'm getting to it. Their parents knew your wife.”

Bingyin stills. 

“My wife?” he repeats.

“Your wife…oh don't look at me like that Mr. Bingyin.” Haoran helplessly looks between the two of you. Bingying shuffles in place, discomfort edging his stance. He feels flayed open. 

“And…?”

Haoran blinks. “I…well…that’s all I suppose. We were hoping…they’re still a child, you see…”

He knows what he’s asking for. He knows why he’s asking it. Bingyin seizes up and his throat runs dry. He thinks of the mora tucked away in his cupboard and the supplies it would buy for the week. Just enough for two. Not three. 

“No. Absolutely not.” he decides then and there. 

“But.” Haoran begins a protest. Bingyin cuts him off. 

“We have no time for children,” he states.

“You could ask your wife first — ”

“And she’ll say the same thing.” His words are sharp, metallic, cold. They shudder against the impact like a weak knife. “We have no time for children. Find someone else. A relative. Where are they from?” He doesn’t bother listening to what comes next. The conversation is dead at this point. Still the footsteps behind him persist between Bingyin navigating the stone walled houses. There was white at his periphery and the mountain green of Haotan’s hanfu and the flashes of your clothes after. A perpetual annoyance

Stubborn little —

“You wouldn’t abandon a child!”

“I don’t even know them!” 

“They have no one else!”

“You seem eager to find them a home. You have a perfectly decent one!”

Haoran throws his hands up. They are drawing gazes at this point; the beady eyed, nosey sorts. People will be talking after this in the rumor mill. “Someone needs to go to the harbor to sell your tea. I cannot ferry the youngling with me on my travels!” 

“You’re just a coward! I’m old and frail and near death! I can't keep up with a child!” he spares a glance your way. “No offense kid. Strangers and their dangers, I suppose.” You almost look pensive as you nod. Maybe you being ‘perceived as a threat’ was taken as a vague flattery. Bingyin can’t quite tell. He swears under his breath. There is a bitter aftertaste. He despises it, how his movements slow and let Haoran and you clumsily keep up.

( He’s worked his craft and walked these beaten paths for years. Bingyin still can’t quite call himself jaded. Not yet. )

“Their mother was one of her students.” Haoran continues. “We managed to salvage a few belongings and there was a photo…” He fumbles, unfolding a faded bit of paper. Bingyin recognized the younger face of his wife sidled up next to a smiling girl ( she was dead now. He looks at you again. You don’t look at the photo. You do not want to ). He gives pause, lets that bat around his mind.

( He remembers the letters. He remembers Nayao talking about a visitor. His stomach lurches. It’s unpleasant. )

Finally, he speaks. “You can stay for tea. We will see what we can do.” 

Haoran’s shoulders sag. “Oh.” and there is relief there, clear relief like witnessing the rainclouds shadow scorched lands. “Oh thank you.”

Bingyin only shuts his eyes and utters a sound of defeat.

The walk home took longer than it should have. Your shoes kept getting stuck in the mud and your small hands were caked with it till the lines of your wrists. Bingyin tries not to mind. Children stumble and fall and he watches you straighten yourself up with a near robotic stiffness and pace after him. He half wonders if you died in that landslide too. He half wonders if you were just a ghost. 

Nayao, perhaps, was the softness you might have needed, between Haoran’s awkward comfort and his own brittle countenance. She lets you clean up by the basin and warm up by the stove and let the pleasant heat of tea brew spot your skin. By the time Haoran had left, she was already reaching for the mat and spare sheets.

“So he wasn’t lying then?” he asks. 

“No.” she replies. He rests his hand on her shoulders. There is a weight to her voice. She seems ready to cry and she almost does, between her furtive wiping. “I did know her…”

“I suppose we’ll be caring for them, then.” Bingyin reasons. Because there was a cruel world behind these walls and no other face to have you. Nayao had made up her mind. Bingyin knows he can’t protest. She had the same stubbornness that painter did. 

He visits your little space with a blanket. You were curled up and a little shaken and swept, and still quiet. 

“Thank you.” you mumble. It’s the first words you tell him. Bingyin jerks his head. 

“Don’t. It’s the least we could do.”

Your hold on that single photo tightens. You’re shaking, shaking, shaking and Bingyin knows that you want to cry. Not now though. Not in front of him. “You’ll be living with us. At least until another relative comes to take you…if there are any.”

“I can do things.” you continue, half rambling. It’s almost obsessive. “I can work…my father was in a tea farm too…Mr. Haoran told you right so of course you do, and I helped him a lot. We grew lots of things and…and…”

Bingyin considers you. His lips press. “I think that’s child labour.” he admits. “No, it actually is. And it’s quite illegal. Do you really want to do that?”

You fold into yourself, hands clasped and trembling. You look raw, scraped hollow. “I don’t want to stay.”

“I know.”

“You’re really mean.” you sniffle, wipe at your eyes and squeeze them shut. “And you lie.”

Bingyin tilts his head. “Did I lie?” he intones. He didn’t speak to you much before this. There was no room to lie.

“You lied about the dragon.” you repeat. “You lied about the dragon in that show. There’s no dragon there….otherwise…” you trail off. The tears start prickling through. Your shoulders hunch and your nose prickles, fighting back against it. You sound sad, raw, lost. “Are they really gone?”

“Seems so, yes.” he tries to be as kind as he can. However there is so much he could be kind about with a question like that. Dead means dead and sugarcoating it meant rubbing salt over an unwanted wound. He is brittle, a little rough, yes, but he is not soulless. “And that was just a story. It’s not real. I’m sorry if it made you sad.”

“There is no dragon then?” you seem heartbroken, saying that. .

“No.” He shakes his head. “No, there isn’t a dragon. Just a few vishaps, yes but they spend their days letting the sun burn their backs.”

“If there was….would he have saved my parents?”

Bingyin looks you in the eyes. “Maybe. They said he was a god. Can’t be sure if gods exist, but I think he would have.” They don’t exist though. There were a few who did believe, perhaps. Once upon a time, he did too and those stories were a greedy mouthful after mouthful of assurance. But if Liyue did once hold gods within its mountain scathed scape, Bingyin assumes they were long gone.

You lay down against your mat. Bingyin lets you be, lets Nayao soothe you with some cut fruit and a few kinder words. You take them quietly, delicately picking at the sunsettia flesh and the sweet juice till a half empty plate was politely pushed away and you face the wall. 

When they both leave you be, they hear a faint sob ring out. Nayao leans her head against his shoulder.

They linger by the door and let you cry. 

❪⠀🔶⠀❫ AINE SPEAKS ;;

before we start, a word of warning : updates to this fic will be SLOW. i am a full time college student so juhgfvcvghj gg i won't have the energy to write a whole chapter in a week tbh XD.

but jhgfvcvgbh here we are! the prologue! gg! it was in my drafts for SO LONG!!! thank you for taking the time to read this! and a special thanks to @silentmoths and @euniveve for veta reading this chapter for me ( and sitting through my mad ramblings because gg guys you two have the patience of a saint ).

either way my little brainrots for this fic were plenty and numerous and slow updates aside, i do look forward to writing the little bits and pieces! i just hope you guys stick around lol.

AINE | 2024. do no plagiarize, repost or rework this piece.

[sgdlr-asdfghjkl]

Link Click Musical update 178

(criminally underdocumented yet eventful week + important announcements🌟)

Official updates: (first, let me mentally take your hand, okay?) So it was announced that on June 20th Ding Xingchen is going to graduate from the LC musical cast, meaning this will be his last time performing as Cheng Xiaoshi.

I've researched this extensively, so I can assure you, that even though it's sudden he's okay 💕 It was a matter of scheduling, apparently he has other work scheduled and couldn't stay in Shanghai (thanks Elara for help with research).

I promise to prepare a post focused on him, bc I will be missing my little brother Xingchen so much ;w;

Oh! Remember to check weibo tommorow (main tag + wmh and ghx tags should do). It will be 200th performance day 🎉We don't know what they are planning so it can be full of surprises >>

Links in replies: the latest Sapphire Pyro's yt video (go watch it please! it mentions both of LC musicals and I was a consultant 🥰) + srb&wyh encore to bless your eyes

June 9th, night: Shu Rongbo, Du Guangyi, Zuo Yiping

Not much is known abt this performance, but Du Guangyi is glowing as always :>

June 10th, noon: Shu Rongbo, Wu Yihan, Qiang Dongyue

The bois were finally reunited 🥺💖Wu Yihan was so giddy. He missed a line in 'Pursuers of Light' and laughed so much he had to sing with his back facing the audience. Shu Rongbo turned him around and pinched his back when they were hugging (no hiding on his watch >:[

June 10th, night: Cao Muzhi, Wu Yihan, Qian Anqi

I couldn't find videos from then, but lots of pictures thankfully 😌

^ They are so siblings 🥺💕

^ Wu Yihan turned away again, Cao Muzhi was trying to move him but he got a side hug instead ><

June 15th, noon: Ding Xingchen, Yang Haoran, Yan Lehuang

I don't know what they were doing except:

Housekeeping note: We (@wrathyforest and @/_Setsuna_iro_ on twt) are making another postcard to hand out to the actors (Cai Qi, Wang Minhui & Deng Xianling). So I'm asking all the LC musical fans to comment a name of your country and we'll include it somwhere on a postcard. To send them love from all around the world 🥰

Sorry for lack of details about the performances, these lineups don't get enough coverage 😔

Byebye 💕

[spinchip]

Idk if you’re still taking prompts but maybe some nice emperor au stuff? Freaking love the au.as for the actual prompt uhhh…. Zanes first year vs his last year in the never realm maybe? Or ooooh some angsty post-staff collapse when he lost the staff and started falling apart

“The Emperor is a good man,” Sorla says, voice heavy with respect, “If your friend has come through his halls, he will have surely fed and housed him. And if he has not visited the Emperor then I'm certain he would do his best to help you find him.”

They’re sat around a large, crackling fire in Sorlas home, nursing tea and a modest dinner she’d prepared herself as they’d all warmed up in her living room. Akita and Kataru had delivered the letter they’d been sent with once Sorla had finished her own plate, and she was reading over the official document with wise eyes even as she spoke. The envelope had been sealed with dark blue wax, the emblem a simple snow flake, and the siblings that had found the ninja had been taking their duty to deliver it extremely seriously.

“What’s it say?” Kataru asks, trying not to peer over he shoulder to read along. Akita peers over her shoulder to read along.

“My presence is requested at the palace. He needs to put his affairs in order for an upcoming visit.” Sorla hums.

“Oh, who’s coming? The dignitaries from the Western Archipelago? The Emperor and I were discussing the trade offer they had sent us not too long ago, perhaps they've decided to come negotiate in person.” Kataru ruminates, “Or maybe it’ll be Lord Haoran.”

“Ugh, I hope it’s not King Desperate.” Akita throws herself back in her chair, “He needs to get the hint- Emp’s not interested! Move on!” she makes a shooing motion with her hand.

“He didn’t specify.” Sorla hums, “So I suppose I will be accompanying you all on your journey to the palace.”

The Ninja all exchange a glance before Lloyd starts slowly, “Listen, about that… it’s not that we don’t trust you, of course, and thank you for taking us in and for dinner but… it just seems…”

“Too good to be true.” Nya finishes with a wince.

Sorla laughs kindly, “Ah, I understand that. When he first appeared in our lands many years ago, i believed the same thing. A ronin with no lord to promise his honor... I was skeptical of his motives, but I assure you the Emperor has proven himself a thousand times over. He is a good man, and a steady one.”

Akita leans over the table into Lloyd face, “Want to hear how we met?”

Closing his eyes, Kataru grimaces at the memory, “Our clan had been displaced in territorial skirmishes with Vex around this period, chased off our land and living in temporary settlements. We were originally based in a village further north, but we chose to retreat past Mala-Wojira for the safety it offered-”

“We were Attacked!” Akita launches into the juicy part of the story, cutting her brother off mid sentence. “Vex sent the Krag out to destroy us! The were 20 feet tall, ready to wipe us out or force us to comply-”

“They were not- they get taller every time you tell the story!” Kataru claps a hand over his sisters mouth, “Krag are typically 9 to twelve feet tall, twenty is ridiculous- and it wasn’t just Krag, but also some of Vex’s loyalists who set fire to our tents and attempted to destroy our rations- EW don’t lick my hand!”

Akita takes advantage of Katarus disgust to pick up the story, “It was looking bleak until… the Emperor swept in! With a sweep of his cape he extinguished the fire completely! before chasing off Vex’s cronies with just a single, sharp look!”

They blink at Akita, the story sounding… less than plausible.

“We were just young kids at the time, and we thought we could help. We ended up getting caught in a really bad spot.”

“...Between a rock and a massive burning wall of fire,” Akita agrees, losing some of her bravado at the memory.

“The Emperor walked through fire to get to us. He saved our lives.” Katarus' voice goes light with awe and reverence, “He is amazing, okay? He’ll help you.”

The ninja exchanged another glance, “You’ve convinced me.” Cole says for the whole of them, cracking a smile, “Maybe he really can help…”

“You wont regret it!”

“We’ll set off on the journey back tomorrow morning, once it has stopped snowing. For now, we should rest.” Sorla offers them each a blanket and pillow, and the ninja settle down quietly. Akita and Kataru apparently have a personal room here they typically use, but the rest of the guests are regulated to the admittedly soft carpet.

“Do you really think he’ll be a good guy?”

“With our track record? Probably not.” Jay comments dryly.

“We’ll just have to keep our guard up… remember, this is for Zane.” Lloyd laces his fingers worriedly over his chest.

Cole nods along with the others, “For Zane.” They all agree softly, before the night falls silent.

[potahun]

help whenever mxdzt posts from you popped up on my dash i assumed it was another acronym for like, a webnovel or donghua or something but i only just looked it up and learned it's a cvariety?? anyways please go ahead and pitch it to me/ramble if you want because i am intrigued

THANK YOU FOR ASKING AAAA <3 sobs a little bc mxdzt/明星大侦探 is so niche here but to be honest, i think it is one of my top comfort shows if not The comfort show and i usually feel very alien to the term 'comfort show'. it feels fair to say mxdzt is one tho TT

Concept:

It IS a variety show, you're right. It's like a reality show but mostly a murder-mystery show, initially co-hosted by CCTV presenter Sa Beining and the He Jiong, the He laoshi himself that everyone and their mothers know ...except, for once, they're not there hosting as the top MCs they are. They, and the guests, 85% of which soon became regulars, are playing a murder-mystery game. Each episode, each of the guests embody a character within a story, and a murder (or several) happens, that the players have to solve together. Among them hides the murderer (or several), who is the only player allowed to lie, and whom the other players have to try and vote out at the end. Also among them, one player will be the Detective, who has an extra vote, and has to act as a leader of the good guys.

(Side note: From S4 onwards, there is also a Detective Assistant, who's basically a smart non-celebrity helping to take notes, sometimes having a minor role to move the plot along...In time, the team of Detective Assistants have gotten their own spin-off show called 名侦探学院, because they're a riot (Xiao Pu is my favorite))

It's almost jarring the 1st time you watch it if you know them as celebrities, because the show starts and they're in-character right off the bat. They break in and out of character, sometimes to laugh their heads off, but mostly, they act a role with different levels of seriousness throughout the episode, so it's a very different vibe from regular c-varieties where they're themselves :D At the same time, it's clearly a reality show in which those people are extremely familiar, casual and silly with each other. Players often refer to each other only by their last names in the show for this reason, so that it refers to both player and character.

So yeah, there is 开始推理吧 with Zhou Shen and Liu Yuning, and there is MXDZT, which is its still enduring predecessor. mxdzt is pure murder-mystery without the escape room element. But it does have a lot of times where the guests are really pulled into the story, and events happen in-game, moving the story along. And oh boy, those are intense stories sometimes...

General facts:

Each season has 12 episodes, and there are currently 9 seasons. Most episodes are stand alone, even when verses are recurring, it's fine to watch them out-of-order. S8 is the only exception where it introduced a central character and a story that tied half the season together (TT<3). Another exception is the season starters and finales (eps 1-2 and 11-12 of each season) which tend to be stories in two parts with a deeper mystery behind the setting.

From S1 to S6, Sa Beining and He Jiong were the main hosts, with regulars being the likes of Zhang Ruoyun, Da Zhangwei, Wei Daxun, Bai Jingting, Wang Ou, Yang Rong, Gui Gui, Wei Chen and Liu Haoran. After S6, Sa Beining left due to CCTV not allowing him to work in other channels' shows :( but more regulars returned or joined, like Wu Xin, Qi Wei...An array of people I didn't know much before watching but all grew to love.

The show functions using rounds of group discussions and evidence-searching time, and then final votes, to get to the murderer and reveal the story. Players will not speak about themselves unless triggered by the right evidence, but once evidence is found, they cannot lie about it...unless they're the murderer.

Charm points?

The stories...While S1 was still simple, MXDZT evolved rapidly over time and by S4-S5 became a mammoth of story-telling, creatively exploring a whole range of themes like smiling depression, societal obsession with beauty and its tragedies, toxic masculinity, generational conflicts and reconciliations in families, mob mentality, the danger of cults, and the individuality of thoughts vs collectivity etc etc...in more and more depth, through intricate stories with memorable characters and great delivery and wild plot twists. There are always clever ways in which something will trigger a character story, mixing story and gameplay, and it helps that most of the players are actors: sometimes, they do get invested in their own characters! The range of acting goes from exaggeratedly bad for laughs to heartwrenching and elegantly grave. You thought it was a donghua I was babbling about for that reason in part, bc it's as much variety as it is about stories TT The show reuses its verses sometimes, too, so it's always a pleasure to see the running gags or the expanding lore.

The laughs. As the seasons progress, the show did go from a simple game to building real poignant, and deep stories with a message, some of which have made me cry ;~; BUT all the while being an absolute laugh-riot full of Ace Attorney-style names (pianist called Zhen Huitan? sketchy doctors called You Maobing? a man called He Baodan?) and so many PUNS and jokes and a loving post-prod that is so good at putting the right captions and effects. Not only this, but the show is not afraid of swerving back-and-forth between outright crack and the most touching storyline. Emotional whiplash is a big thing in the show. But when it's funny, god, it's FUNNY. and it is So often funny...

Cast. As mentioned, most of the cast rapidly became regulars. The show requires a lot of IQ, focus, thinking and also relative eloquence, and just a set of skills that isn't for all celebrities tbh. So those who stayed did for a long time, and grew comfortable with each other. I rarely watch a variety in which the cast has so much chemistry and are so chill with each other. They casually ship each other (so many ships), poke fun, develop their inside jokes... He Jiong x Sa Beining alone was the epitome of a self-proclaimed married-and-divorced-and-remarried-and-re-divorced miracle. It's also difficult to explain before watching but it's a very refreshing feeling to watch them slip in and out of character, giving this seamless mix of players being themselves, and also a character within a story and a fictional universe.

Gameplay! You can solve murder too as you watch! You can figure it out along with the players. But if you don't want to, you can just watch and wait for it to unfold! Both are ok!

Freedom to cherry-pick: While 9 seasons can be daunting and the episodes are Long TM, the show also makes it incredibly easy to watch out of order... or just watch the ones that intrigute you.

Episodes Recs:

IF you are a looking for an episode to start with, my rec is always S5E1 and S5E2, called Pianists on The Sea. You can skip the piano competition at the start of Ep1 (it's so incredibly cringe and lasts 10 mins. i love those idiots but it's so cringe). S5E1 is a murder-mystery as we know it taking place on a cruise, but what's wrong with the boat...and then S5E2 is just. oohhhhh my god. so much is wrong with the boat. The reason I pick this one is that it illustrates very well the kind of breadth the show has ;W;

Also, S6E1 and S6E2 Midnight Hotel which packs an absolute PUNCH.

I would recommend watching S6 as a whole, every ep is fun. Same with S8, which punches me in the gut again and again.

I also have my other rec lists here (with some explanation on the premise of eps recced) and here (i believe this was before S8 broke my heart (positive)) if ever helpful.

Voilà, here is my rambling for MXDZT, thank you for giving me the opportunity to babble about it <3 I haven't encompassed everything that makes this show wild and incredible, but it has to be lived. One thing is for sure though:

MXDZT is a show in which anything, and i mean literally anything, can happen.

And it's beautiful <3

[lopsushi]

Hi, I have an ask for you about Struggling Dad AU, I just love my little honey baby, Houran~ and the ask you answered totally loves it.

So, if Wukong was overprotective of Macaque when he was pregnant with Houran, it got me this funny idea! Imagine Wukong baby-proof the whole FFM XD. Can you imagine that!! And he probably would get aggressively angry if he sensed an unwanted visitor approaching and he goes ape shit on them.

Haoran won’t be born yet cause he far into the au so it’s mostly Yan Hao.

But! Wukong wouldn’t baby proof the island since he did have Yan Hao on the island when he was a cub. Also Macaque would be there this time so mama Macaque would be hovering his baby. Also yes he would get very protective if an uninvited visitor come to his island when Macaque is preggy.

[dangermousie]

Let’s do a Goofus OR Gallant verdict for filming dramas because why not. I might make it a regular thing actually because I love being a judgy bitch.

Take a look at these photos of Victoria Song and Ding Yuxi in the currently filming Fight for Love, the adaptation of Mo Shu Bai’s amazing Mountain and River Pillow:

Verdict: Goofus!!! Oh God.

They are both so unutterably (but I will try to utter anyway!) wrong for the roles! The sole drama I liked Victoria in was Ice Fantasy directed by (surprise surprise) Guo Jinming, who has an almost Li Muge level of getting actors who usually can’t act to act. Ice Fantasy came out in 2016. It’s 2024 now. But also her usual vibe is all wrong for the FL and she ain’t exactly an actress of any range so…

And Ding Yuxi. First and before discussing his suitability for the role, what the FUCK has the man done to his face? The amount of fillers in those cheeks makes me wonder if they can be classified as organic matter any more. I used to find his looks very appealing because he did not look cookie cutter like so many celebs but I guess the pressure got to him. And now he’s like a male version of Peng Xiaoran - a formerly stunning and unique looking star who had work to look as forgettable as possible.

But also, he’s so wrong for the role. He is (was?) a better actor than Victoria but this role needs someone a hell of a lot younger looking (the whole point of the arc and the tragedy is that his whole family is killed in battle when he’s not even an adult - it hits because he takes on everything when he’s on that cusp and has to grow up in a trice. He has little experience and is the baby of the family. No, I am not saying to cast a 15 year old but DYX, especially this new plasticized DYX who looks like he’s on his second wife, is just all wrong - especially since there is a certain intense/vulnerable duality which is vvvv internalized and he lacks - if you want to think what this role would need is someone like Liu Haoran or Wu Lei or if they couldn’t afford them, Zhang Yao.

Anyway, my favorite web novels continue to get awful adaptations. About the only one of my faves that looked good was The Prisoner of Beauty and we all know what happened there.

[saelterlude]

Gushing About Zhu Hanbin and Jing Yanqiao in The City of Musicals S2

The City of Musicals (S2, at least) is kinda like The Voice. 24 musical actors, 3 troupes, covering musical numbers, elimination every episode. Season 2 focuses on young/fresh talents.

I was on a Zhu Hanbin(LG musical actor) binge and got really into this show once I found out his frequent CXS counterpart, Jing Yanqiao, is there as well. Now seems like the right time to make this post since JYQ's birthday is soon (April 13th!) and everyone barely knows him so, to begin here's a cute interaction they had on weibo after what I can only assume is a Link Click rehearsal.

You can access the full episodes here. But I'm going to discuss and link each performances under the cut.

Oh yeah, before I start. I have notes of the context of some performances (not including them bcs I only researched some and not all), so if you like any of them and would like to dive deeper or just wants the context in general just ask and I'll share what I have. (That said, the 10th is Ied so I might be busy and took a while to answer)

Scouting stage (Ep.1-2)

They are sorted into groups of three and perform together as the same character.

For Forever from Dear Evan Hansen

Performed by Sun Tiecheng, Zhu Hanbin, and Wang Haoran. I love ZHB's expression in this performance, it's very innocent and hopeful but also with a hint of hurt? It fits the vibe of the song. It's a really nice, soft and hopeful performance. ZHB's expression really paid off since he got scouted into 2 troupes. Funfact, ZHB and Wang Haoran are classmates lol, they didn't know the other auditioned on this show before they got sorted together. Their third teammate felt very awkward lol.

Dans Le Noir Je Vois Rouge from Le Rouge et Le Noir

Roughly translated to "In the dark, I see red" performed by Alladin, Jing Yangqiao and Tian Ye. It's very good, dark and angry vibes. It's from a French rock musical so yea I really like it. I know I wanted to highlight JYQ but the original rap that Tian Ye (right) arranged is definitely the best part of this performance. The three of them worked really well together. Also, Jing Yanqiao was asked if he felt pressured performing with his seniors (he's still in school) and he answered yes, but most importantly he was intimidated by their heights. so cute lmao. Don't worry JYQ, you're still taller than ZHB. This is also 1 of the only 2 groups where all three performers get scouted.

Sidenote: I found the original song and I've been translating it to practice my French lol. In fact, I found a recording of the whole original musical.

Round 1 (Ep.3-4)

Each troupe prepares 2 Duo performance and 1 solo performance.

No Longer Human from No Longer Human

Performed by Sun Sankai and Zhu Hanbin. Yes, as in the Osamu Dazai novel. ZHB played Yezang (Oba Yozo) the protagonist of the novel and Sun Sankai played Osamu Dazai the author. So this is an existential conversation between author and his character. That's probably why this set design is creepy, but in a good way! An amazing duet, very powerful vocals from both of them, a very nice listen. But damn those hands are wobbly and every time I watch them climb up it, I worry if its gonna fall. Also, camerawork feels like something out of a 2nd Gen K-pop music show lol. And ZHB is barefoot for some reason... If I caught it properly it's bcs he's scared of falling off the hand? I need to double check but understandable.

Therapy from Tick, Tick..., Boom!

Performed by Jing Yangqiao and Feng Difei I couldn't find the cut version of this performance so you would have to do with the timestamped link of the full episode. This is such an adorable and fun performance. I love the cutee original phoneline choreography they have and how their voices work together. Also, JYQ and Feng Difei playing couples and going on a date bcs the coach tells them it would help their chemistry. Why are they lowkey kinda cute though. The post-performance interview of this reads like a blind date interview istg. The interview keep asking questions like what JYQ got her for her BDay and if they have made each other mad like the characters in the musical, etc.

Round 2 (Ep.5-6)

There are 2 troupe duo performances, and 2 cross-troupe trio performances.

The Other Side from The Greatest Showman

Performed by Sun Sankai and Zhu Hanbin. This one is so good, soooo good. I already liked the song before but their voices fit this song really well. Then you get to see, ZHB can dance y'all. I like how energetic this performance is, they really ran around the stage and walk across the table. Special mention to Sun Sankai who practiced that hat kicking trick to perfection, he got to a streak of 100 successes during practice. And to the bartender too, I love his expressions.

In A Crowd of Thousands from Anastasia

Performed by Jing Yangqiao and Feng Difei Yes, it's these two again, playing a couple again lol. Yes, they also went on a date again to prepare for this performance. (In fact, they're paired in a new musical "Love Myth" airing next month) Truly giving off a romantic, magical, and almost fairy tale-like feels. I love how sweet it is. The mini-them also did a good job with their performance. Fun fact about this one, JYQ played in Anastasia musical before this show and is still currently playing in Anastasia, both as Dmitri, just like he did in this performance.

It's Not Me It's You from uhh pretty sure it's an original rap based on disney villains. So it's from Disney, I guess.

Performed by Jing Yanqiao, Zhao Qianlong, and Zhou Mohan. I can't take this performance seriously, not with those outfits LMAO. JYQ as Gaston looking like Winnie the Pooh instead, I can't. That said, the rap is really good, I like the flow, I like the beat, it's great. I jusst, those outfits lmao. Even JYQ posted on his weibo how the outfit simply wasn't it. I can add the photo he took in the rb but pls just watch the performance.

Round 3 (Ep.7-8)

Each troupe prepares 2 duo performances again.

Disappear from Dear Evan Hansen

Performed by Jing Yanqiao and Zhu Hanbin. Yes, they both performed together in this one! I couldn't find the cut version again, sorry. IDK why, maybe it's copyright? For now, timestamped link. I can't explain why, I really like this performance and I really like their dynamic. Their voices also goes nice together but I know that already from watching them together in the LC musical. So yea, this is good. Though, ZHB being projected as JYQ/Evan's hallucination of Connor is kinda goofy looking. Also, so far ZHB has been kind of type-casted as the innocent boy or bright-eyed young man in need of guidance type so to see him playing a more aggressive/leading character (though not by much) is nice.

(JYQ doesn't have that problem, literally he was scouted by the troupe bcs they feel 'he's young and thus can be molded into anything'. ZHB did have to help him perfect the anxious boy act for this performance.)

Quarterfinals (Ep.9)

A trio performance from each troupe, along with a single cross-troupe performance.

Believe in Miracles from Ultraman (yes, the superhero show)

Performed by Sun Sankai, Zhu Hanbin, and Jing Yangqiao. Original skit. Both JYQ and ZHB act as students to Sun Sankai's teacher. The song sounds vaguely familiar to me, maybe that's why I like it so much. It's very fun, rock vibes. JYQ intentional voice crack in the beginning cracks me up. It's a very energetic song too, makes me want to pick up a guitar and jam along. (No, IDK how to play the guitar beyond the basics lol). It honestly looks like they were an idol group or something. (LC Idol AU anyone?)

Goodbye Cassini from Cassini

Performed by Zhao Qianlong, Zhu Hanbin, and Tian. I'll be honest, not a big fan of the skit, it is better enjoyed as just a goodbye song to a beloved space probe, but I am a huge fan of the song (Original ver. here with subbed lyrics, it a got more opera? vibe to it. both ver. are very good though.). I've been randomly humming 'Goodbye, my Cassini~' for days. I am so tempted to make a fic based on this song. Tian (the girl) really carried this performance with her angelic vocals, it's so great and heartbreaking. Her heartbreak at having to leave her friends behind and knowing full well they're never going to meet again. If you're watching this one, I highly recommend you wear your headphones. Trust me, it will cleanse your ears. And if you want to skip straight to the song? 5 minute mark.

Semifinals and Finals (Ep.10)

The semifinals are duo performances of an original musical number. The finals are a solo performance from the top 2. They are available on spotify and youtube music.

The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman

Performed by the top 4 contestants: Zhu Hanbin, Miao Mengqing, Jing Yanqiao, and Zhou Mohan. I don't have a lot to say about this one. Really nice performance, a bonus to a great episode. Yeaay, both of our LC boys got into the top 4!

Assassin

Performed by Jing Yanqiao and Miao Mengqing To be honest, not the biggest fan but maybe that's just me not being a fan of historical drama in any form. JYQ used a fake facial hair, so that's something too I guess. That said, it's pretty nice to listen to and the dance/sword fight choreography is really cool. (Though as someone who used to do choreographed fights, I feel kinda dissapointed it's more sworddance rather than swordfight.) Miao Mengqing's voice is really powerful, just listen to her. Unfortunately JYQ was eliminated here, but he reached the top 4! I'm proud of him. He also learned the choreo and to play the uhhh (it's 1am, lookup instrument nme later) in only a week. So that's cool.

Don't Believe him

Performed by Zhu Hanbin and Zhou Mohan. This one I highly recommend. This song is an emotional banger and I've been listening to this on loop for days. The choreo and staging is good too, although there's one part that I think is a bit goofy (thankfully it's not too distracting). The fight/struggle choreo they did here have more power than Assassin so I really like it. Really cool, makes you wanna punch a bully, I love it. ZHB played a bullied kid and Zhou Mohan plays ZHB's 'perfect' dream self who wants to keep him in this dream world and away from the hurtful reality. This song (as well as Assassin) is available on spotify and yt music, but the live version is 10x better because it captures the emotion better. You can hear ZHB's desperation and sadness as well as Zhou Mohan's anger and frustration, it's great.

Lonely Mountaintop from The Devotion of Suspect X

Performed by Zhu Hanbin. It's good, I enjoy it. Though as a final song I do kinda wish he picked a song with more power? IDK. It's still good though, it's emotional, I love the build up, the set design is pretty, and the song fit his voice really well. ZHB won 2nd place with this song. Congrats on your hard work!

Miao Mengqing won first place and honestly? She deserved it, she's so good. But this post is focusing on our LC actors ZHB and JYQ so uhh. Please watch her final performance singing "I Have Nothing" here, it's so great, she's great, I love her voice so much.

Fun fact, JYQ did not vote for ZHB in the finals lol, he did it right in front of ZHB too and I'm pretty sure at that point they were already announced as cast in the LC musical. (Sorry ZHB, but I too would vote for Miao Mengqing there)

Last bonus (which I'm not gonna link) before we end this post. In the 3rd episode, around 20minutes in Zhu Hanbin and Jing Yanqiao did an advertisement for their water sponsor together and they're very awkward, it's funny to me.

[lizhly-writes]

utterly non-canon thing in my villain fiancee cnovel. in which i give our mc his original older sister back.

Yang Haoran had really thought he’d forgotten what Andrew Li’s family had looked like.  He had tried so hard to keep their faces in his memory, but they’d grown blurry, anyway.  Had his mother had short hair?  Long?  What was the shape of his father’s eyes?  The shape of his nose?  His chin?  

In the end, he couldn’t remember.

But the girl coughing smoke in front of him…

He hadn’t needed to even think for even a second to know who she was.

“Haha, this is not what I was trying to do,” the hallucination that is his older sister says in English, rubbing her temples.  “Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, what even happened…”

“Li Yizhen?” Yang Haoran says blankly.

She jolts upright, flashing an awkward smile when she catches sight of him.  “Um!  Hi.  Yeees, that’s me!  You’ve, uh–” she switches to vaguely American-accented, vaguely Taiwainese-accented Mandarin “– you’ve heard of me?  Like, exclusively by my Chinese name?  That’s kind of funny, since I… have no idea who you are. Sorry.  Have we met before somewhere?  Like, ACA stuff, maybe?”

She smooths a lock of hair behind her ear, does it so not a strand is out of place.  She’d always been so careful about her appearance.  Hair always perfectly straight, clothes always wrinkle-free, as if she printed herself out on paper instead of getting ready in the morning.  That was just the kind of person she was – clinical perfection in her dress, as if to make up for the general imperfection of everything else about her, as if the perfect knife-edge of her eyeliner could hide the shadows under her eyes she never bothered to cover up.

Always the insomniac, his sister.

“You need more sleep,” he says.

Claire Li lets out an agitated groan. “Everybody tells me that!” she cries, throwing her hands up in the air.  “Why does everyone keep telling me that!  Do they think I don’t know?  I want to sleep, too!  It just doesn’t happen!” 

He really thought he had forgotten.  It had been so long.  But this – like this, all the memories are coming back to him.  

“Uh.  Hey, are you crying?” Claire Li says worriedly.  “I mean, that’s a dumb question, clearly you – I mean.  You know what, I’ll just shut up now.” 

…Well.  He supposes he really is crying.

“Um.  I mean.  Do you… do you need tissues or something, I’ve got a pack in my pockets if you want it?  Ah, here it is!”  

She holds out the pack of tissues like a lifeline.  Yang Haoran stares blankly at it.

“Uh, just… just hold out your hand.  Just take the tissues.  Here, I’ll just –” she inches forward gingerly, pokes tissues against his hand.    

It’s real.  

She’s real.

"Shit, are you crying harder.  Hahahaaaa aaaah no, help.”

[thebiscuiteternal]

Can we have some more on what Nie Dad and Huaisang's relationship was like? Or what happened with Nie Dad and Mingjue's mom?

So, like, when I did the first Reverse Nies timeline, the relationship I pretty much had in my head was Stoick and Hiccup, you know the whole "No more of... this."/"You just gestured to all of me." only with the added angst of Huaisang's mama having died in childbirth.

Nie Haoran... he loves his son. He does. But at the same time, he finds himself struggling with that, wondering if maybe he's just fooling himself, because sometimes he can't help looking at Huaisang and thinking "Leiyun died for that?"

So he doesn't step in to defend Huaisang during a lot of times he should, and he can't stop expressing his disappointment in Huaisang's general everything even though he knows he's not being fair or a good parent and Huaisang doesn't deserve this.

Finding a mutual hobby in falconry and the care of the birds helped considerably, because it more or less forced Haoran to actually see that Huaisang did have things he was very, very good at, and would even be beneficial to a sect leader!

But Huaisang was never going to properly bond a saber or be capable in a battle, and Haoran just couldn't accept the affront to their ancestors that presented.

He loved Leiyun. He was trying to love Huaisang.

He went looking for a more fitting heir anyway.

Enter Linsong! Unlike Leiyun, she was a tall sturdy woman who also loved training falcons and hunting in general and was very good at it. She was practically already a Nie, except she'd been born to Lanling gentry. After never being able to secure a husband there, she'd taken to living on the road and doing as she pleased.

It was almost love at first sight for both of them, but Linsong had grown too accustomed to the wanderer lifestyle to ever settle down for very long. So when she got pregnant, they both agreed that, boy or girl, their child would go live with Haoran in the Unclean Realms, with all the proper papers to show they were a fully legitimized heir.

He never told Huaisang.

His last lucid thought as he lay in the infirmary, before the rage took him over for good, was that he should have told Huaisang.

[leahsfiction]

Sweet-Talking Li Bai

诶 大侠 中圣花醉 银河上之客人 hey you swashbuckler,[1] wine-besotted flower-lover,[2] wanderer among the stars[3] –

快点下来跟我聊一会儿[4] come down so we can talk for a second.

等什么，老骨头在下界之内闷死了 please. my old bones gets lonely down here --

ascend how many thousand cloud stairs?[5] you want to ask an old man to --

alright! alright, forget about that forget that we're Du Fu and Li Bai this nameless raft will do us[6]

do you remember when we slept under the same quilt in the same bed and I still (with a mind running on verse)[7] wouldn't stop composing drunken nonsense and you dragged the blanket over our heads (exposing my poor bloodless feet with their veins and bunions) and we started giggling like great foolish children

thinking back, I do think our breathlessness (you inhaled wrong and started to cough in deep barks, I flung the mass of cotton off and put it to rights) better than most kinds of verse the moments of not knowing what to say beads of each other's spittle and breath on our beards -- well it wasn’t poetry it wasn’t significant dreams[8] it wasn’t meaning or allusions or the story of ambition the slice of shining red atop the pouch of your eyelids and the way the excellent unfiltered wine tends to give you gas, your guts gurgling and moving about in the silence

-- alright then! You tell me what it means O Angel of Poetry[9]

我咋不把这事编个诗？ 等你的写完了送给我看啊 -- yeah you bet I'm making a poem out of this. I want to see yours when you're done.[10]

---

Footnotes

1: A reference to Li Bai’s reputation as a wandering swordsman in his youth; purportedly he killed someone, although this isn’t certain.

2: From Li Bai’s poem 贈孟浩然 “A Farewell-Present to Meng Haoran”: 醉月频中圣，迷花不事君。 “Moon-drunk, every night you attain new mysteries / Flower-dreaming, no more days of serving the throne.”

3: From Li Bai’s poem 月下独酌 “Drinking Alone Under the Moon”: 永结无情游，相期邈云汉。 “Forever connected, mercilessly left to roam / Until we meet far away among the stars.”

4: Informal speech.

5: From an anachronistic “Qixi Festival” by Li Qingzhao: 云阶月地 “cloud stairs between the moon and earth”.

6: From both the above “Qixi Festival” and Du Fu’s 江上值水如海势聊短述 “A short post: The river was raging like the ocean”: 故着浮槎替入舟 “An old raft will do me, no need for a boat.”

7: The above poem by Du Fu (江上值水如海势聊短述) ends with the poet wishing to find a like mind to wander and compose poetry with.

8: Many of Du Fu’s poems about dreaming of Li Bai allude to his worries about the exiled poet’s fate, as well as the question of what worldly ambition or efforts to serve the country is truly worth.

9: One of Li Bai’s epithets was 诗仙, “Immortal of Poetry”.

10: I really, sincerely mean it. SEND ME YOUR LI BAI RESPONSE RP.

[allthelittlecreepycrawlies]

With A Flap Of Wings, Part One

(okay. here we go.)

Warnings for the overall story: Implications/mentions of suicide, miscarriage.

Tags: Nie-family centric, alternate timeline, time travel fix-it, ghosts, suicide, everybody lives (I know how weird it sounds having both, you gotta trust me here), no-war timeline

----------------

Nie Huaisang sits and stares at the closed stone doors of the tomb that contains the bodies of nearly all of his family, or at least their sabers.

All except for his brother, who remains trapped in that heavens-damned coffin.

The pile of aged papers in his lap rustle in the chilly breeze, but he barely pays attention, even though the pages are the answer to one of the many questions that had been plaguing him since the first time the ritual to purify his brother’s soul had failed. 

Since the first time the time-jumping ritual had failed.

He can't remember how many times he's cast it, using his own blood to dive into the past, only to inevitably be flung back here no matter how deep he went or which events he changed.

But now he understands. 

All of the monsters and ugly twists of fate that had targeted his family... they had only been symptoms of the disease. 

He is the cause. 

He, the ill-omened child who killed his own mother with his first breath, is the one who brought calamity on all who ever knew him, death and misfortune dogging his steps before he could even walk.

This, all of this, is because of him.

But he can still fix it. 

Maybe none of the other attempts had worked, but that was because he hadn't known where to weed out the rot threatening the garden. 

Now, he does. 

Closing his eyes and bracing himself, he draws the knife from his belt for what he desperately hopes will be the last time.

–- 

Nie Leiyun is six months into her pregnancy –one month away from what would have been her death from hemorrhaging during an arduous childbirth– when she staggers and has to catch herself on a table, suddenly overcome by a horrible throbbing pain in her guts. 

But it's when the pain stops, everything inside her going unnaturally still, that she actually starts to panic and sinks down to sit on the floor, trying to call out and unable to make her voice work. 

A maid rushing to help her back to her feet is the first to see the blood starting to stain her robes and the stone beneath her, and she’s the one who screams for the healers when Nie Leiyun can’t. 

Despite all their efforts, the healers are only able to save one life. 

Once, in a timeline that has just been erased, it was the child. 

This time, it's the mother.

---

The grief that falls over the sect is heavy. 

No one seems to be more crushed by it than Nie Mingjue. 

All of six years old, he had been adamant that he didn't want a sibling and had complained to anyone who would listen. Babies were stinky and dumb and boring and either cried all the time or made messes everywhere. Gross.

And now the baby is dead, dead and gone, and no amount of hugs or kind words can convince the boy that he hadn't somehow wished his little brother away. 

Nie Haoran and Nie Linsong are gentle with their wife and son's grief -it had been Linsong's own struggles with having another child that had prompted the second wedding, after all- and it's Linsong who makes a fateful suggestion one night as the two of them are sitting by the fire one evening, Linsong spoiling her falcon with some extra preening assistance and Leiyun mending some clothing. 

"The only reason you put your search on hold was because the pregnancy was becoming too harsh on your health, wasn't it? Why not pick it back up again now once you've recovered a little?" 

---

Three and a half months later, Nie Leiyun hears rumors of a high-ranking courtesan in Yunping who has been making waves among the cultivation gentry. This by itself is nothing new, she has investigated over a dozen other women who ended up in the brothels like she originally had and have since risen to some level of fame, some even attracting the attention of sect leaders like she had. 

But none of those women had been outright carrying her long-abandoned surname of Meng. 

She does her best not to get her hopes up, but luck is on her side for a change, and three days after she first hears the whispers, Nie Leiyun -Meng Xiu- clutches her sister Meng Shi in a tearful embrace. 

She doesn't know how to feel about the tiny boy that her sister introduces her to. He is not yet two years old, so close to her Sang-er. 

They could have grown up cousins. 

Friends. 

But now- 

She wipes her eyes and puts aside her selfishness. Yao-er can still be a cousin and friend to Mingjue, and he and her sister both deserve far better than this place. 

She takes them home.