#of course ming looks good in everything but still this was great

[finallydelight]

Hiiii! I was wondering if you could write about ming´s first rehearsal after her hiatus and the members´ reaction to it. It was mentioned that she hat lost weight and couldn’t keep up with the choreography🥺 i love your writings btw💕

We’ll Figure Something Out | Ming Chapter

warnings: this chapter has mentions of weight loss, fatigue, hospitals, etc. vomiting is also present in this chapter. so, if you're not comfortable with any of those, I recommend to skip this one and take care of yourself, my darlings ❤️‍🩹

author’s note: thank you so much for the request, honey ! I hope you like it and let me know what you think of it ! 🫶

November 1, 2022

Ming quietly walked into the practice room, Seungcheol's right hand firmly on her shoulder, his left one occupied with holding her bag. The members warmly welcomed them, happy to see her again in the practice room after what seemed forever.

''Hey, what did they say?'' Jeonghan asked the pair, appearing at Ming's side as soon as they had stepped in the room.

Before they walked in, Ming and Cheol had made a visit to her doctor. The company and members wanted to make sure she had medical approval to start rehearsing again. Cheol insisted on going with her, not fully trusting her to go by herself. Ming was very desperate to join the members again on tour, he didn't want to risk her lying in case the doctor said she couldn't join them yet.

Her grandmother's hospitalization had taken a huge toll on her. Ming barely slept, barely ate and kept all of her worries to herself. Overall, she wasn't taking good care of herself, physically and mentally, prioritizing her little brothers. Once she had returned to Seoul, she had lost a lot of weight, her skin looked pale and she hadn't genuinely smiled once. Obviously, it had made the members extremely worried seeing her in the state that she was. It wasn't the first time she had undergone a great loss of weight, but it had been a while since the last time.

Of course, they took care of her as well as they could. Mingyu became her personal nurse and gradually was getting her back to her regular eating routine. Next to cooking, he carried her around the dorm on his back, although after just a few days that was stopped by Jeonghan who said Ming needed to build her strength again.

''He said I could resume my activities again if I wished to, but that I need to take everything very slowly and shouldn't do anything that is too intense for me.'' Ming copied her doctor's words, a soft smile gracing her face.

The members made sounds of excitement, Soonyoung and Dokyeom even going as far as clapping for her. The staff were also very delighted to know she would be joining them again, being fond of the young woman.

''Let's start stretching then.'' Hyerim told the group, clapping her hands together. She made her way over to where Ming was taking off her jacket. ''How's your knee doing, Yerm?'' She asked her, looking down at her legs.

Ming hesitantly answered. ''If I don't put too much pressure on it, it's totally fine.'' She had taken a small tumble in the bathroom, losing her balance due to a lack of energy. She injured her knee and was forced to wear a knee brace for at least a few weeks.

''We're gonna see what your limits are today, so please,'' Hyerim pleaded, ''please, don't overestimate yourself, if it's too much no one will blame you for sitting on the side.''

She nodded at the stage director's words. ''I know, I'm gonna be careful, unnie.'' Ming assured her, knowing there's no time to fool around.

''We'll start with Left & Right! Ming-ssi, you mark through it and see what you can do.'' Their instructor said, motioning for the staff on the side to get the song ready to play.

Ming walked to her starting position, happy to be back performing with her members again even if it was only a rehearsal.

Seungkwan tapped her shoulder. ''Yerimie, be cautious, okay? You can just step out if it's too much.'' He wasn't too entirely sure about Ming practicing again, still not thinking she had recovered enough. She patted his shoulder, offering a tight-lipped smile.

She took her spot next to Jeonghan, who briefly grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. ''Don't force anything, please. Don't be like me with my arm.'' Despite the joking nature of his comment, his stern face told her he was very serious about it.

A simple nod was given to him. Ming looked down at her feet, a sudden wave of nerves crashing over her.

Their choreographer counted down and the song boomed from the speakers. Ming slightly flinched, not expecting the music to be as loud as it was.

As she went through the dance, she noticed her stamina had greatly weakened and that even without fully doing the choreography, she knew it was impossible for her to perform on tour.

However, Ming kept going. The will to prove to everyone that she could do it was stronger than her worries about possibly injuring herself more. Eventually, the song ended and the loud breathing of the members was the only sound to be heard in the room.

Hyerim slowly walked over to Ming, taking in the physique of the younger woman. ''How are you feeling?'' The stage director caressed her arms and looked deep into her eyes, creating a sort of safe space.

''I'm tired, but my knee didn't hurt or anything, so I think I can continue for now.'' It wasn't a lie, her knee felt fine and she was tired, but she downplayed it.

Hyerim and the other members that had heard weren't entirely convinced by Ming's answer, but they gave her the benefit of the doubt.

''Alright, one song and then you take a break.'' She told Ming, holding up her index finger. The older woman looked around at the members. ''What song should we do now?''

The members' eyes glanced at the three leaders that coincidentally stood together. ''Uh, World? Mansae?'' Jihoon suggested, not being too sure about it.

''I don't think she should do Mansae, too much jumping.'' Soonyoung noted, not thinking it was a good idea to do a dance with too much energy.

''Let's do Mansae then!'' Hyerim concluded, stepping back to the side of the room. She motioned to the members to get in their positions and for the staff to start the song.

Ming went to her space in-between Mingyu and Minghao, who gave her encouraging smiles. ''Take it slow, alright?'' Minghao peeped over his shoulder at her.

''Yes.''

Like earlier, the song started and everything was fine in the beginning, but once the first chorus hit, everything started going south.

The fatigue settled in, and all her energy and strength seemed to just have disappeared. Her limbs felt heavy and it became a huge task to just not fall to the ground. With even the slowest movements, her vision became blurry.

Normally, after the chorus is done, she waits by the wall to wait for her part to come up, but instead went for the door and opened it. Between the hallway and their practice room, there is a small space to leave your bags and coats, but the members barely use it. In the corner of the small space is a small trash can, she reached out for that and her entire breakfast of that morning seemed to leave her body.

She felt someone grabbing her hair and holding it together, making a ponytail. Another hand rubbed her back, soothing her. ''It's okay, don't work yourself up.'' She recognised the voice as Cheol's.

Ming sat herself down on the ground, once her stomach was emptied. Cheol sat down behind her, calming her down by putting his arms around her and moving her side to side.

''Oppa, I can't do it.'' She began to sob, covering her eyes with her hands. The man behind shushed her, caressing her arms. ''It's gonna be okay, Yerimie… just focus on your breathing now, okay?'' The leader was trying his best to prevent her from having an anxiety attack.

Jun had walked over to them, holding a water battle and some tissues. He opened the bottle and handed it to Ming. ''I know it's not gonna taste good right now, but it's important to drink some water.'' With the tissues he wiped her face clean, some traces of the vomit still evident around her mouth and on her chin.

When Jun was done, Cheol motioned for him to go back to the practice room, leaving the oldest and the second youngest alone.

''You're okay, little one. Maybe it's a little too early to perform again.'' He told her, there being no way he would let her perform on tour again if that would be the outcome after every show.

Ming shook her head, but quickly stopped as it gave her a headache. ''Noo~ I don't want to stay here all by myself again, I don't like it.'' The separation anxiety every time the members would leave had never been this bad.

''We'll figure something out, little one. We'll figure something out.''

Taglist: @seolboba @cosmicwintr @mythicalamphitrite @billboard-singer @stopeatread @still-astray @sakuurra @multiplums @giverosespls @seongwhaffels @kimhyejin3108 @smoooore @smh-anon @cixrosie @allthings-fandoms

#ming.svt #kpop oc #kpop au #kpop addition #14th member of seventeen #seventeen 14th member #seventeen female member #seventeen female addition #seventeen x oc #seventeen added member #seventeen addition #seventeen oc #seventeen female added member

[hannahhickok2007]

Turning red 2 the blaze so far this went really well

(Disney pictures logo plays, then the pixar logo)

(Fade when the camera flashes)

(The happy new year 2002 photo the 1st turning red movie one was on screen) 

Mei the number one rule in my family 

Jia, honor your parents!

(It flashes to  in the photo mei at the 4 town concert after the ritual we see mei in her panda form)

Chao there are the Supreme  beings that give you life 

(It flashes to photo when mei was touching Ming’s pregnant belly when she’s was pregnant with meis sister fang lee and priya Miriam abby and Hannah standing close by it )

Mei there sweated and sacrificed so much that can put a roof over your head.

(Flashes to photo when mei and pregnant Ming singing 4 town and her belly puts the CD player headphones on Ming’s ears )

Chao food on your plate.

(Flashes the photo to when Ming was holding fang when Ming was in the hospital bed with mei pryia abby Miriam jin Hannah Tyler  Vivian lily Helen auntie Chen auntie ping and grandma wu standing besides her)

Jia: An epic amount of food!!

(It flashes the photo  to when fang was a baby with Mei holding fang while Mei  was grumpy )

Mei it least thing you can return is 

(The photo flashes to meis high school graduation we see meis graduation hat said 07 meaning mei graduated in 2007)

Jia every single thing you ask.

(It  photo flashes to when mei was  just got married in her wedding dress)

 Chao Of course some people like be careful

(It photo flashes when mei pregnancy photo shoot happens with Chao standing by her side)

Jia honoring your parents sounds great

(and the happy new year 2024 photo the camera   zooms to the near end)

Mei  and if you take it too far well  you might not  honor yourself 

(Record scratches)

Mei( looking at the viewer) luckily I don’t have that problem.  (Jumps off screen) 

(While the upbeat music playing we see mei making Jias breakfast which is congee ) 

Mei if you don’t know  I'm Meillin lee ever since I turned thirty five and about twenty two years ago  when I first became a red panda. Everything changed like I got married and started a family of my own. Jia breakfast is ready.

Jia coming mommy 

Meillin you know Jia today I think the weekend starts a little early hours are changed so we can worked earlier 

Jia  yay I’ll get my clothes now

Meillin (grabs her daughters pj shirt)  oh no no you don’t eat breakfast first 

(After that mei ungrabs her daughters pj shirt Jia went to her chair and eats her congee) 

Jia (sadly) ok mommy 

(Scene cuts to meilin in the temple  was going sweeping together)

Meillin all about the hustle And Bustle and I’m right Jia 

Jia alright let’s do it

(The temple duties music starts)

(Mei and Jia brooms touching the bristle from the brooms)

(The Disney pictures presents on the screen along with a pixar animation film and then the words said turning red 2 the blaze)

Meillin  (off screen) so if you don’t know my besties I’ll tell you as you know Miriam has a daughter named Maria   now which it’s chaotic and it’s messy . Priya it’s now a graphic novel author of many graphic  novel books, one of them was when I was 13 when I turned into a red panda. And she had a daughter  Named Nayera  who wasn’t keeping her at first. Abby has 2 kids but unfortunately a few years  her husband died abby why why *crying* and also here some good news now Abby’s taking over her moms hair salon. Hannah works here  where she works as ceo for making her own products And had a daughter named Harper while Tyler is a basketball player   and had a child of his own as you don’t know when I was 13 Tyler moved away shortly after we became friends.  His family moved to Florida. His parents retired there with my mom. He has a son named Tyler jr his mom is named Stacy Tyler jr also had a sister named Stella nicknamed the mini omg girl. Stella:omg 

Meillin anyway it’s March 8th there is still a chance for an amazing life  I can have. what could go wrong 

 Chao  (just walked next to her) Um honey 

Meillin yes dear 

Chao (as he flaps his arms) there’s a blazer behind you 

Meillin what how do you know 

(There are blazers ready to hit meillin)

Meillin wait what 

(Later jia and Mei fight with brooms to get rid of the blazers) 

Jia  it’s good nothing you blazer the kids who trying to get my mommy pregnant 

Meillin (as she turned into her panda form) I’m telling your mothers!!

Jia mommy watch out!

Chao (in the slow motion) noooooo 

Jia (in slow motion) mommy stoppp let it gooo

Meillin in (slow motion) ahhhh 

(While in slow motion meillin hits the blazer in the back of her in her panda form ) 

(And then meillin got pink eyes after she turned into a human)

Chao mei mei  can you hear me?

(The scene cuts to the next morning when meillin was sleeping holding

Wilfred and then woke up as the 4 town song nobody like u plays)

Song: (as it vibrate) You're never not on my mind, oh my, oh my

I'm never not by your side, your side, your side

I'm never gonna' let you cry, oh, cry, don't cry

I'll never not be your ride or die, alright

Let's call it what it is, it's a masterp-

(Phone touches from meillin  make the song stop)

Meillin* yawn*

(Meillin walks to the bathroom when at the mirror)

Meillin  (as she put her hand in her swollen belly) man I need to cut down on cheeseburgers 

Meillin  ( in her mind) maybe somethings inside me  maybe I’ll look outside my shirt 

(Mei lifts up her pj shirt when her baby who later to be Jia’s sister  was kicking)

Meillin (as she turned into a red panda) ahhhhhh!!

(Mei almost pass out when Chao lift mei)

(Mei poofs back into a human)

Chao honey are you ok.

Meillin  Um um  i'm gonna to have a baby

Chao Um congratulations?

Meillin maybe we should tell Jia at breakfast anyway what time it’s it

Chao it’s might be 6:25 am you woke up 10 minutes ago maybe Jia’s will wake  up at 7:30 am maybe about 8 or so 

Mei ok 

(Later that morning Jia is already awake and it’s gonna eat breakfast)

Jia (sips her old baby cup and then puts down her cup ) mom why it’s a baby cup in my juice. I just need a bigger cup.

Mei Jia the baby chopsticks for baozi buns and for rice it means something.

Jia what it’s it 

Meillin we’re gonna to have a baby.

Jia a baby?

Meillin yes Jia 

Jia I knew it mommy I want to become a big sister since I was 4 years old 

(And so they tell everybody via computer video chat.)

Meillin hi guys 

(Computer beep when priya miriam abby and Hannah  start to be on screen)

Pryia (on computer) hi 

Hannah (on computer) Hello,  say hi to my bestie's  little baby friend (making baby noises) the wittle baby growing inside. You need my  friends.

Meilin Hannah 

Hannah (on computer) yes

Pryia (on computer) I heard your baby talking like this (baby noises). My cutie waby person 

Hannah (on computer) guess what I’m pregnant 

Priya (on computer) me too

Miriam (on computer) I’m pregnant  that’s exciting for me

Abby ( on computer) yay I’m expecting a baby too

Meillin same here  anyway why aren’t your daughter  running on the screen like she used to

Priya because she’s isolating  herself 

(On Miriam’s on the computer screen her only  daughter appeared out of nowhere)

  Maria I don’t know  I was on the computer hi moms  besties 

Miriam Maria   I’m busy!

Maria sorry my bad 

(The scene cuts to a few days later  at meis house where they decided to help Jia for the new baby)

Jia mommy can I go to school tomorrow 

Meilin no not for sometime 

Jia why 

Meilin maybe the pregnancy blaze 

Jia what kind of blaze is  some sort  of a huge fire in the city 

Meillin *growls*

(Meillin poofs into a red panda)

(We see meillin running on all fours and then mei jumps into Jia ) 

Meillin( in her panda form angrly ) you  stupid little girl you can’t say that word stupid stupid stupid  stupid 

Chao honey your hurting our daughter 

Meillin:( in her red panda form) what?

Jia *cries* daddy  mommy hurt me 

Chao now history repeated itself anyway do you  remember when you were pregnant with Jia 

(The flashback starts with pregnant mei hurting her sister fang)

Mei you are responsible for our future we don’t need kids until I’m ready 

Fang so  I got an a plus on this  year-

Meillin don’t do it again 

Fang *cries* mom 

Ming (off screen)  mei mei!

(Flashback ends)

Chao honey it’s time 

Mei (in her panda form)  time for what

Chao you know something like a sun yee story 

(The scene cuts to the temple)

Chao our ancestors follow the blazers as treatment of infertility 

Jia , it all started with sun yee, one of our ancestors. You know something that happened. The real 1st recorded event didn't happen in the world until the end of the American revolution. By 1804 pregnancy blaze caused the world human population to reach 1 billion. And by 2002 the panda spirit binds with the blazer caused to have fang remember that’s?

Meillin In her  panda form what  the heck are you serious  it’s a curse it’s all your fault stupid curse stupid stupid stupid 

Jia it’s a blessing 

Chao Jias right calm down 

(Mei poofs back into a human)

Mei sorry 

Jia mommy it’s grandma and aunt fang coming soon 

Mei i don’t know yet

Jia  I got an idea for the pregnancy routine 

(The scene cuts to the living room)

Jia this idea where grandma and auntie fang cousin lily and Vivian wants to help your baby’s room Vivian could make food fang is in charge of cleaning lilly is watching the house whenever  we are at the hospital grandma is helping you pray to sun yee while  in labor.

Meillin ok that’s a good idea

(Smartphone rings)

Meilin huh what’s going on 

Chao mei mei honey  it’s your mom and your sister 

Meillin I’m not here (hiding on the couch) 

(Meillin lies of the Couch in her left side position due to her large belly)   

Meilin  (on the phone) Mom fang  Hello. How's everything you two in Florida? 

Grandma Ming : [while packing her suitcase] mei mei . I know about your baby 

Meillin: I was just about to call you, but everything's fine. [hesitantly] I'm gonna handle my pregnancy on my own.

 Auntie Fang : no no I will come with you guys 

Grandma ming : [scoffs]  she’s right The way you "handled" yourself  and your family being on the news?

Meillin : No one knows anything. They barely saw me and my family!

Grandma ming : I'm on my way with reinforcements 

Meillin no I can Handle it 

(Drops the smartphone)

Meillin *sigh*

Chao what’s wrong mei 

Meillin oh nothing it’s just my stomach is really bothering me.

Chao (as he touches her pregnant wife’s belly) my sweetheart would be a cutie.

(the next morning at the meis room we see Hannah Miriam  pryia abby and their  kids along with meillin)

Jia mommy?

Meillin hi Jia

Jia what’s going on

Meillin Jia we’re in a besties conversation about our babies 

Harper mommy i felt the baby kicking 

Hannah  not again what’s wong my waby friend

Maria I drew me and the baby 

Miriam aw it’s so cute

Miriam where’s Nayera

Priya she is in Jias room isolating herself

Jia to Jias room 

(Meanwhile at Jias room)

Nayera ugh too much instant noodles 

Jia hi 

Nayera ah you scared me 

Jia what’s wrong 

 Nayera it’s been a while since I inoslate myself due to stress and anxiety from the this pregnancy  blaze  I have to survive on learning to cook myself eat instant noodles making chai, London fog, Indian food, making my mom's meals,  doing chores and even cooking dinner for my family *crying*

Jia don’t cry it’s gonna be okay 

*sniffs* thanks 

Jia my name is Jia what’s yours 

Nayera my name is Nayera

Jia hi nice to meet you

Priya there you are

Nayera ah mom your big 

Jia relax she expecting a baby 

Nayera ( as she touch her moms pregnant belly) oh I can feel my baby sister kicking 

Pryia yes the baby likes you 

Nayera Right 

(Later that night  the besties already left Jia is getting ready for bed)

Jia mommy?

Meillin yes 

Jia when the baby would come? 

Meillin, maybe three months.

Jia I can’t wait to meet my new baby sister um can I talk to your belly mommy.

Meillin ok Champion. 

Jia hi little baby I’m your sister Jia mommy is gonna be with you forever and ever (kisses her moms belly)  hey the baby’s kicking!!

Meillin yeah the baby likes you 

(Jia puts her head off from her moms belly)

Meillin night jia 

Jia night mommy 

#turning red #Turning red 2 #turning red 2 the blaze #sequel fic #sequel ideas #turning red fanfic

[rondo-of-blog]

Change Alone is Neutral

Today I watched Street Fighter: The Movie. The live-action one, where Ming-Na Wen is Chun-Li and Guile is French.

For the uninitiated, Street Fighter: The Movie bears a surface-level resemblance to its namesake (or, the sequel to its namesake, rather) but diverges dramatically in various ways. Balrog's a good guy, Chun-Li's a journalist, and Zangief's... still a good guy, but he's VERY confused & susceptible to propaganda - relatable, amirite?

Now, when movies based on video games get talked about, the prevailing narrative is that they would be just peachy were it not for how many pesky CHANGES get made in the process of adapting the source material.

The primary audience for a video game adaptation ought to be the fans of the source material, after all, right? No Street Fighter fans went to theaters to see Street Fighter: The Movie in hopes of seeing, I dunno, Ryu entering into a found-family with his small-town cop bestie.

That all makes some amount of sense, but the truth isn't as simple as "is change good or bad?" That's yet another binary contrived to make sense of a chaotic world that defies description at its most beautiful.

No - to get to the heart of this, we're gonna have to take what I think I'll call a "step into the grey." Leave black-and-white behind and focus on what's in between it all.

So Street Fighter: The Movie is different. So what?

For one, it means we have an hour and 42 minutes of Balrog getting the heroic turn he's not gotten in the games in his 30+ years of character history. What they did to poor Grand L. Bush's hair in the film aside, I'd call everything in his depiction in the film a step up.

Gone are the constantly bugged-out eyes, gone is the characterization that (in the words of the Street Fighter fan wiki) paints him as a "greedy American boxer who loves booze, gambling and women." In the film he's a consistently-sympathetic figure who the audience is meant to root for, along with Chun-Li and E. Honda.

Now, is there anything wrong with Balrog being a villain in the actual Street Fighter games?... Not on its own but, in lieu of opening that can of beans, I'll just say it was refreshing to see him portrayed so positively.

The film setting itself apart from the games also means that the face of the damn series, Ryu, gets sidelined in favor of Jean-Claude Van Damme's Guile.

Now, am I gonna sit here and say I didn't enjoy Guile in the film? Of course not - he gets some of the best lines in the film and has an absolutely-magnetic presence on-camera, and Van Damme does an excellent job with the material.

... However.

Guile has never mattered like Ryu has mattered in Street Fighter. Ryu is the one on the covers, front-and-center, and would it have killed the film to let the big Hollywood name actor take the role of a memorable side-character (à la Ben Kenobi) while a fresher face - in this case, Byron Mann - takes the lead? I don't think so!

Just look at the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie! I hear it did pretty good doing pretty much that!

Does every movie need to be the same, then? Obviously not, and Street Fighter: The Movie would inevitably have been very different if Ryu took on a more central role. Could it have been closer to the games? Perhaps. Would that have made it better? Were the writers on the film even equipped to write a good movie centered around Ryu?

All questions I will happily shrug in response to, because I wasn't there and I can't know about things that never happened.

That's just two examples of where the film made changes to the source material as it adapted it into a movie, anyway. One positive and one negative, at least as I've presented them so far. But, getting back to the grey, let's take another look at both.

Balrog's heroic turn is nice and all, but it's not automatically good on its own. Its execution is what truly makes it great. Conversely, while I dislike the principle of him being sidelined, Ryu is still a lovable character in the film - even as he and Ken are randomly con men.

This is all very basic stuff, I realize. "Thing isn't bad on its own, it can be good if it's good" isn't exactly setting the world on fire for philosophizing. It's good to talk about this stuff anyway, I think, since it can be so easy to forget the simple things sometimes.

As far as change goes, has something I like ever changed to be something I didn't like? Of course! Several times!

When people get bogged down in rigid binaries though, which I see happening often, it can be a pretty awful scene. Conservatism is founded on a resistance to change, flatly painting any change taking place as straying from a grand old path - or 'GOP,' if you dig acronyms... and enemies of basically everything good in the world.

When something changes, that can be an opportunity to take a look at what you liked about it before so you can figure out why you don't like it now. Did it change, or did you change? If it changed into something you don't like, does that make it worse or just different? All questions that can lead to a better understanding of what you love.

I don't ask that you love every change that comes your way, all I ask is that we not flatten the conversation. Real-life exists on more than two dimensions and, while 2D can be fun for video games, I like it better this way. :)

#step into the grey #street fighter the movie

[crowning-art]

TGCF SPOILERS FOR BOOK 3! LIKE MAJOR SPOILERS

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

HOLY WHAT THE HECK, THE CHAPTER I BEGIN ON AND THE CHAPTER I ENDED ON WERE LIKE ON TWO DIFFERENT ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM

Xie Lian's extremely overdramatic reaction to anything embarrassing is sooo on point! Like yes, I too would say "Die! Just die! If he can’t die, then just dig a hole somewhere and pretend to be dead!" if I embarrassed myself in front of my crush or smt lol

I- UGHHH DWDHOWFNL my heart literally feels so FULL whenever I read about some cute hualian moments, but you gotta understand, it's not the declarations of love or the acts of chivalry, it's the small, subtle stuff that just consume me, like the simple understanding...

Xie Lian wasn’t dumb. He knew that Hua Cheng was giving him an easy out, but he could only follow along and mumbled vaguely with his head bowed.

Omg the whole talk they have at the beach?!?! There's just so much in that convo nfqofnoqi and like it's incredible how much every sentence means when you just look at ALL that context behind it. Like when he's thinking about why the person Hua Cheng likes doesn't like him back yet (UGH THEY ARE SO STUPID I WILL SCREAM),

Maybe it was because he felt the other party didn’t have good taste, or maybe they were taking it all for granted.

and it's like, are you self-projecting? do you feel like you are taking Hua Cheng for granted? but also, after everything he went through, to have someone believe him or just care for him, despite being a scrap-collecting god, it was something he took as granted when he was at his height, and it's just...wow.

and this,

After a pause, he continued, “There was also a period of time in my life that wasn’t easy, and during that time, I’d constantly think: if someone should witness the version of me who rolled in dirt and couldn’t get up, but could still love me for who I was, it’d be great. Still, I don’t know if there’s anyone like that, and I daren’t show that part of my past to anyone, either.

Like I know it's a meme/quote but the one where it's like 'If you can't handle me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best' fits so well, and the reason why certain memes kick off so well is because of how much truth is in them, y'know?? and we see that reflected in this so well lejnfownfogn

and of course

OF COURSE

OF FREAKING COURSE

THIS GOLDEN LINE, THIS INCOMPARABLE LINE T-T

“To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is you, and not the state of you."

It just summarizes everything previously stated so beautifully.

ANd like, this part?

Hua Cheng didn’t say anything more, either, and laid down inside the coffin. Xie Lian entered too, and pulled the cover closed. As if a light was blown out, they sunk into darkness.

It just reflects their whole story so nicely? Like the whole world around them being a coffin; so dreadful, so constrained, painful, grieving, and yet in all that darkness, they had each other and it's all that mattered...

It's all that they needed to survive...

(But also lmaooo Xie Lian plzz calm your thoughts LOL)

I LOVE HOW BLUNT HE IS

Pei Ming pulled out his sword and said leisurely, “Yeah. There’s the coffin wood, but where’s the deceased?

Hua Cheng smiled, too. “If you’re so concerned with who’s dead, I suggest you go kill yourself.

OMg this part was legit straight out of horror movie level SO excellent

Xie Lian blurted out, “My Lords! I FOUND IT! LOOK…”

Just then, his pupils suddenly shrank. Something new was reflected within the Black Water Lake.

A shadowy figure had appeared soundlessly behind both him and Hua Cheng.

It's hurting me so much seeing Shi Qingxuan taking so much care of Ming Yi at every turn and the part where he went 'It's not fair Ming YI has to suffer so much when he has nothing to do with it' and Im like boiiii, OOHHH BOIIIII You have nooo idea

No idea at all...

(Unknowingly, he even took care of the actual earth master bones after they fell and I'm like EYYYYYHH)

Like it wasn't his fault the fates were switched but like inheritly, it was his fault and it's just...does he really deserve all that pain? Just for existing? Just for his predetermined fate?

UGh GOD HE'S SO CUTE HERE

Xie Lian knocked on the doors and called out brightly, “Pardon the intrusion! We have, by accident, offended bluntly. We deeply apologize.”

No one answered. Xie Lian steadied his mind and slowly pushed open the palace doors.

Based on Xie Lian’s years of experience, even if there was something inside, it wouldn’t come out and greet them the moment the doors opened. Yet he had to eat his own words. Upon the first look, there was something petrifying.

In the grand, spacious centre of the entrance hall sat a person. And this person, dressed in all black, its face snow-white—was a corpse.

Instantly Xie Lian shut the doors soundly.

He thought, “Did I maybe open the doors incorrectly? Something like that shouldn’t show itself so fast?”

He had wanted to try greeting again and start over, but Shi Wudu had already walked past him and pushed open the doors, humphing.

AND HERE TOO WBILBFILWBF

The group of them surrounded that haunting skeleton and started examining it. Xie Lian spoke up.

“First, it’s a man.”

“We see that,” the group said.

(Can't stop laughing cuz one of the best ways to identify a male skeleton is by looking at the pelvic region and I'm just imagining all these heavenly officials doing that and it's HILARIOUS)

I have strong, bad feeling Water master will not be passing his third heavenly calamity this time....

As for what the consequences of that would be, we are to find out...I think quite soon :/

I forgot about the Reverend of Empty Words there for a second lol

AND UGGHHHH WHY DO I KEEP LEAVING IT AT CLIFF HANGERS?!?! (ok I do it so I have something to anticipate and look forward too) BUT LIKE WHYYYYYYY

The one behind you, several hundreds of years ago, his original name was He Xuan. He cultivated into a Supreme, and changed his name to Black Water Demon Xuan. He devoured the Reverend of Empty Words and sent that creature to find you. He imprisoned and murdered the real Earth Master, and took on his name, assuming his position in the heavens!!!”

Just as the words left his lips, his entire person suddenly froze.

A hand had slapped onto his shoulder without warning

LIKE OMG THIS IS INSANE WBIFBWOFJOW THIS MAN IS ALL OF THEM BUT ALSO NONE OF THEM?? He's actually just He Xuan, like wow. And it's crazy that He Xuan was powerful enough to kill a heavenly official, but also kill the og demon dude, like wow that's insaneeee

I'm worried

#tgfc #tgcf spoilers #heaven's official blessings spoilers #heaven’s official blessings #hualian #hua cheng #xie lian #shi qingxuan #ming yi #he xuan #tgcf journey #ch 120-123 #wow yoooo this is crazyyyy #LIKE ALL PARTS OF IT

[marzena-doe]

The Sleeper Awakes

I get Kshin is scared but they’re overdoing it. In other episodes, he’s almost never scared and jumps into the most dangerous situations without thinking. Here, he watches the annihilator on screen and talks about being totally scared.

Of course the robot can only be re-programmed from the inside and the opening is only big enough for Kshin to squeeze in... so Dynak sends the 10-year-old boy on a mission...

It’s interesting that Octon and Dynak are both very good with their information - but Ming only thinks about Rick and keeps him occupied so he can’t try to reprogramm the robot.

Rick still has red hair... they weren’t sure about what his hair-color should be at first, were they?

Jedda is in California and can sense Kshin being in danger... (aka Jedda Gordon’s psychic powers)

Cute moment between Kshin and Zuffy - Kshin is very worried about Kisa and Zuffy who are to distract the robot so Kshin can climb inside. Zuffy then kisses Kshin’s cheek.

The Defender logo is on Kshin’s sweater again. The first version of Kshin was dressed this way. So this too was one of the earlier episodes where they weren’t sure about the character designs yet and little mistakes kept slipping in.

Good thing Kshin apparently had lot’s of training! I couldn’t do this! He is climbing all the way up - and while the robot is moving, too!

Kshin stops to check in to see if Kisa and Zuffy are ok - I really like him here!

Bit of parisian fashion from the distant future of 2015 :)

Another scene of the opening. Callistro outright told Lothar what he had to do to save Mandrake - to break the power source.

Lothar saved Mandrake, as he always does.

But can they still save the Earth?

Love seeing the friendship between the three of them!

Yes! They did bring in the pendant of mystery to explain Jedda’s powers. Because Jedda Walker could not use telepathy, they had the pendant give her the power...

... but they never explained where the pendant came from and they just stopped using it later on.

Those two make a good team!!

Rick manages to understand technology that is older than Earth itself within... minutes? He narrows it down to two buttons, red or blue - one stops the robot, the other makes it more powerful. (Why would it need a button to make it more powerful? Who was supposed to press this button? Wasn’t the robot already powerful enough to destroy everything?)

Jedda is really worried about Kshin and talks to him. Mandrake just stands there saying nothing. But fine, maybe that’s because he’s scared something might happen to Kshin. Still - some words of encouragement would have been nice!

Anyway, Rick finds out it’s the blue button just when the robot destroyed Dynak’s shields and Kshin saves the day...

This looks like the mansion but I guess it’s sort of a living room at Monitor. Looks cozy though.

Nothing is ever gonna scare Kshin again - yeah right! Zuffy jumps him and Kshin climbs under the table? Sure...

The episode was... not that exciting. Flash was off talking to his friends (who later got to keep the reprogrammed annihilator to protect their planet from Ming), the Phantom was... elsewhere (hopefully saving people), Mandrake walked right into Ming’s trap and used the powers of the universe on a mere threat of Lothar’s life, Lothar was just standing there until he finally sprung into action, the kids were kept busy by Ming on purpose (but showed great teamwork later on) and the “Kshin is scared” theme was layed on too thick. I like the idea of Kshin being scared and then having to step up and overcome his fears and it just doesn’t fit with the behavior in the other episodes. The three teens do stand out positively in this episode, working together really well. Not one of the best episodes but it tried.

#episode commentary #The Sleeper Awakes

[lumau]

Here is another puzzle piece of the Froststorm vintage arc. Some day soon I will come up with a title, I promise.

mild warning for mentioned transphobia

❄🤍🖤❄

“Lord Li Ming, I am sorry to disturb you. His majesty the king would like you to receive this, please.” The bow with which the servant handed him the small black box could not quite hide the curiosity with which she eyed him. A curt and polite, but clearly dismissive “Thank you” from Li Ming discouraged any further interest though and she quickly left.

After the first few days in Marseille Li Ming was convinced that, regardless of what he said his intentions were, this was a holiday home to Ao Shun, a space where he could deviate somewhat from courtly customs and protocols, allowing himself more freedom and extending that leeway to his servants as well. And the business he was building up for himself gave a good cover - so far Li Ming had spent most of his time here accompanying Ao Shun to exhibitions, galleries and museums, so they could gather information on the local culture and art scene. The ship tours around the old harbour and to the Île d'If were necessary as well, so that they could give knowledgeable recommendations to potential visiting business partners. As were the dinners at the city’s most renowned restaurants of which Ao Shun insisted on trying a new one every evening. It did make sense. And yet…

Li Ming had never had any interest in joining the other courtiers and staff in their seemingly endless discussions of interpersonal relationships. He rather focussed on his work than on how many people of which status had been sharing minister Zhong’s bedroom of late. Still, he was an intent observer and knew how these situations usually played out. Li Ming was also not oblivious to the more or less subtle cues in the king’s behavior. He knew how it had to look, and why it would be food for gossip, something he generally did his best to avoid providing.

He opened the presentation box, and found a pair of matte black cufflinks on a white silk cushion. They were simple and exquisite. He toyed with them for a moment, absorbed in his thoughts. Then he found it was probably a signal for him to get ready for dinner.

His wardrobe had proven to be put together according to his preferences, just like his rooms. Li Ming was particular about his clothing, but every piece fitted perfectly. While the cut was that of the latest local fashion, he could recognise the work of the royal tailor, who, of course, was well accustomed with his needs and style.

The splendid three piece dinner suit, light grey with the slightest natural shimmer to its fabric, had seemed a little over the top for all his appointments so far. Li Ming considered it for a moment, then, with another look at the new cufflinks and the twitch of a smile on his lips, he took it out and began to dress.

Tonight the location for their dinner was one of the most exclusive gentlemen's clubs, members only - a dinner table had been reserved for them by recommendation from another art collector Ao Shun had met at an event some days ago. Their waiter had shown them to their table in a discreet corner. Li Ming wondered what assumptions he might make about them, but didn’t bother giving it too much thought. He had brought his notebook, and informed his lord about dates for upcoming auctions with some potentially interesting items, when the wine and hors d'oeuvre were served.

After sampling and approving the wine, Ao Shun raised his glass, and Li Ming mirrored his gesture. 

“Ah”, Ao Shun set his glass down again after a sip, and smiled, “Let me see them properly again.”

When Li Ming inclined his head in incomprehension, Ao Shun reached across the small table and took hold of his hand, pulling it slightly towards him to expose his cuffs under the hem of his suit jacket. ‘Alright… apparently touching hands is a thing that keeps happening now.’ Li Ming thought slightly giddily.

“Yes, I knew they would be perfect for you.” Ao Shun said, clearly pleased, and continued to drink his wine. 

The thoughts began racing in Li Ming’s head. For some reason, Ao Shun was still holding his hand. What did he expect him to do now? His grip was not demanding, it was simply casual and warm. Could he move his fingers to return the gesture, and acknowledge the touch? But what if there was no intention behind it? It would seem quite inappropriate. Yet, if this actually was Ao Shun making soft advances to him, and he simply remained completely impassive, he might interpret it as a rejection. And while he could not say what was going on or what he wanted, he knew that he did not want to reject him. 

The waiter made the decision for him, when he approached the table to politely inquire whether everything was satisfactory. Ao Shun’s hand smoothly moved over to his glass of wine instead, and Li Ming quickly pulled his back, aware that his cheeks must have turned deep crimson.

After the interruption, Ao Shun changed the subject back to the upcoming auctions, and no more hand holding entailed. Food was served, glasses refilled and the evening unfolded rather pleasantly. 

When the king wished to leave, the driver was notified and their waiter accompanied them to the door. As a professional, he had clearly picked up on the hierarchy between them, and addressed Ao Shun exclusively.

“Monsieur Ryu, we appreciate your visit, and hope that we will be able to welcome you as one of our esteemed members in the future.” The slightest change went through his expression, as he leaned almost unnoticeably closer. “I am aware that you only just arrived in Marseille, so please allow me this small advice. Next time, Monsieur should want to consider the company of a different associate.” Ao Shun stared blankly at him with the attention that a great tiger might give to a mildly distracting fly that had just landed on his piece of meat. When he did not get any reaction, the waiter added emphatically, “This is a gentlemen’s club, Monsieur.” Li Ming felt the air grow cold around him. He knew where this was leading, and he hoped against hope that Ao Shun either didn’t, or let the matter drop and leave. A small frown appeared on the king’s forehead. “Li Ming is from a noble family,” he said with an air of growing annoyance.

“Ah, excusez-moi, Monsieur. There is no doubt about that, of course.” The waiter bowed, and Li Ming almost breathed a sigh of relief, as Ao Shun gave a dismissive nod and turned to leave, when he continued, “Monsieur, you must see though that there are limits. We had complaints from our members this evening. You will understand, I’m sure, that this is an exclusive establishment.”

As he grew even colder, Li Ming saw the flare of red in Ao Shun’s eyes and felt the tingle of static in the air. He had gotten used to running into more or less irksome issues in public human locations, but it was always unpleasant. Whenever possible, he generally just avoided them. It would be best to simply leave now, and not get drawn into an uncomfortable discussion. Raising a storm on the building would not make things any better either. He unobtrusively took a step forwards into Ao Shun’s field of vision.

“Mr Ryu, the car is outside now.” he politely addressed him with the agreed upon alias.

He avoided looking at the waiter, just like he had ignored him in turn throughout the evening, and did his best to keep his face impassive. Ao Shun’s heavy gaze shifted to him, and a roll of thunder sounded from outside. Li Ming  did not want to show any sign of weakness, which was much more difficult when it felt as if the king was looking right into his core. ‘Don’t cause a scene. Please, just leave already,’ he mentally tried to urge him. After a long, awkward silence, Ao Shun turned swiftly towards the door and with a single, angry snort left the room. Li Ming followed right after him, not dignifying the bowing waiter with any sign of attention.

Outside he took a deep breath and with a sigh of relief he quickly entered the car, before the already lashing rain could get to him.

Li Ming fell heavier than usual into his seat opposite Ao Shun. The air in the small room was thick with pressure and ozone, and he felt the king’s piercing gaze on him.

“I will level this place to the ground,” Ao Shun snarled, and the thunder echoed in his words. In the privacy of the limousine his scale patterns were gleaming on his skin now, and his elongated claws were balled into fists. “Those wretched minions! How dare they question you? The audacity!”

“Please, your majesty, you should not need to be bothered by this matter. It has no significance,” Li Ming said appeasingly, “Those humans don’t matter.” 

“No significance?” 

The fury rang in Ao Shun’s voice and made Li Ming avert his eyes. He felt suddenly exhausted, and lacked the focus to deal with the raging king. He simply wanted to forget about the incident and not waste any more energy on it. “They don’t matter. But you do.”

Li Ming looked up in surprise, and met Ao Shun’s gleaming eyes. Beyond his grim frown lay a deep concern that Li Ming found difficult to bear. He bit the side of his mouth hard, struggling to maintain his calm composure. He felt exposed and weak under Ao Shun’s intense scrutiny. And while it made him uncomfortable and he had to keep his hands from trembling, a part of him wanted more of that care he felt directed at him. He had spent so much time in Ao Shun’s company. He trusted him probably more than anyone. But it was quite different to feel so vulnerable around him.

For a long moment, only the motor and the heavy drumming of the rain against the outside of the car was to be heard. Li Ming’s throat was dry, even if he had known what to say, he probably wouldn’t have brought out a word.

Then Ao Shun blinked, and with a somewhat resigned sigh he sat back in his seat again. Li Ming felt both relief and pity at the break of their connection. They sat in silence for the rest of the ride, and while Ao Shun stared broodingly out into the rain, Li Ming tried to divert his thoughts by recalling the warm feeling of his hand on his own.

#the invisible library #froststorm #li ming #ao shun

[tossawary]

Some random favorite lines (with commentary) of Chapter 23: “Swallowing Your Heart” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” because I’m doing a re-read. Not a full list or full commentary.

-

Liu Qingge shoves him off his sword.

Plot twist! Betrayal! Shang Qinghua doesn’t have time to get over his shock at such an attack before Liu Qingge has caught the riderless sword in one hand and caught the swordless rider over his shoulder.

The Bai Zhan Peak War God flies on to Qian Cao Peak with his new cargo.

Shang Qinghua slaps the man on the back and wheezes.

“Have you done that move before?!” he demands, because that was so fucking smooth it’s offensive. It really does offend him! He’s super offended right now!

“Mingyan,” Liu Qingge says, like this explains everything. “And Fanli.”

It kind of does explain everything.

- 

AN: That LQG effortlessly manhandled SQH in the same way that he manhandles his sister. This is how LQG shows affection. LMY is not a fan of it either. 

-

“Ming Fan is a good sparring partner,” Binghe says as part of his tirade, like he’s confessing something. “But he needs sooooo many compliments to soothe his pride. ‘Oh, I knocked Shixiong over because he’s such a good teacher! Thank you, Shixiong, for helping me practice this move. Shixiong, I really admire how you don’t let the little things bother you because you’re so confident and skilled.’ I think he’s getting better now, but it’s still tiring sometimes. Uncle, some people really can’t take even a well-meaning criticism without falling apart.”

- 

AN: This conversation was definitely a jab at Shang Qinghua relationship with Mobei-Jun, but it also extends to Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu. 

- 

Binghe says that he also heard some Qiong Ding Peak people are here now, but he doesn’t know what they’re doing. Beyond that, not that much has apparently happened while Shang Qinghua was sleeping the day away! Liu Qingge came by, probably to report to his scheming wife, who was yet again totally and embarrassingly correct about Shang Qinghua’s state of being. Chen Xuan, whom Binghe embarrassingly correctly identified as Disciple Dumpling Thief’s Friend, dropped by, but only to say not to worry about the day-in-day-out of An Ding Peak.

- 

AN: Binghe knows Shang Qinghua’s nicknames for his favorite disciples. 

- 

Binghe curls up with his arms around and his head resting on Shang Qinghua’s stomach, while Shang Qinghua rubs his protagonist son’s back.

- 

AN: Either of these characters getting unconditional platonic affection is SO UNUSUAL that it hurts. People need hugs at all ages! 

- 

The kindest option here might be the demon lord coming back sometime in the next few days and pretending the entire interaction never happened. Shang Qinghua will tell the man that it was a human thing, some kind of nervous fit, and beg forgiveness for his lapse in presentation! Well, he probably should, except… he doesn’t really want to do that. He doesn’t really want to go, “My king, my apologies for the mess! Let me, ah, let me just swallow all of those words I threw out there, just chew them back up, gulp them down into some vital organ to rot there forever, so we can never talk about them ever again.”

Mobei-Jun seems to still be his Mobei-Jun, looking at that confrontation in hindsight, and not… not any other Mobei-Jun. People in general seem to have stayed the same, besides Peerless Cucumber being fitted into the picture as some mysterious intruder. All those years of service and loyalty and companionship Shang Qinghua remembers with Mobei-Jun haven’t vanished on him. “All current achievements have been preserved” and all that!

So, part of him wants to go, “So! Those things I said! What about them, huh? Do you have anything to say to any of that, my king? Anything at all?” 

- 

AN: Shang Qinghua wants to OPEN UP and he can’t make himself take that step when his nephew’s life is on the line. MBJ has not made himself explicitly safe yet. Unspoken understandings can only go so far here. 

- 

“Was it something really bad?” Luo Fanli presses, leaning back along his desk until she’s practically lying down on it.

Not in a sexy pose or anything, just in a put-upon flop, kind of like a tired child finding the oasis of a department store furniture display during a too-long shopping trip or a toddler denied candy pouting on the floor of the grocery store. His little sister-in-law is not greatly concerned with dignity, much to her sister’s dismay and the eternal frustration of Qi Qingqi. She says life is too short for it.

“No one died.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, it means that everyone lived through it,” Shang Qinghua explains.

-

AN: Shang Qinghua’s relationship with Luo Fanli is fun. I’m looking forward to putting Luo Fanli in a room with Shen Yuan. SY needs friends. Luo Fanli @ Shen Yuan: “Idk, he’s a weirdo, but he’s uncle-shaped, right?” 

- 

Except when Shang Qinghua opens the soup container, it’s still completely full. None of his disciples - who are very, very good at acting like they’ve never been fed ever in their life - have helped themselves to even a taste. It’s a big pot! There’s plenty to go around! More than Shang Qinghua could reasonably eat by himself! And yet…

His disciples have been way too nice to him lately. He feels like he should be checking his pockets for whatever they stole from him when he wasn’t looking. Did the System replace his bratty disciples with good alternate universe ones?! He hates it, thanks!

- 

AN: This is SUCH a low standard... and yet...! It’s very funny to me how much his disciples not stealing food from a sick man says here. 

SQH: “Why are all my disciples such sticky-fingered brats?!” 

LJH: “Because you think it’s funny.” 

SQH: “Oh, yeah.” 

- 

Wow, Peerless Cucumber doesn’t seem pleased to see him! Shang Qinghua hasn’t suffered a glare that venomous since… well, Shen Qingqiu, maybe? Okay, so maybe the switch would have worked a little bit! But Shang Qinghua is still glad it didn’t happen, even if the System fucked up the rest of reality (somehow, Shang Qinghua still hasn’t figured out how exactly) out of revenge for its own shitty choices falling through.

“Where have you been?” Peerless Cucumber demands.

“Busy?” Shang Qinghua answers, coming closer but not sitting down. “Look, the System just rewrote bits of reality on me because of your fumbled arrival tipping some invisible scales and it has not been forthcoming about the changes. I had things to check on and things have been a bit political. I sent you a message.”

“That message said a lot of nothing,” Peerless Cucumber says, but with less venom.

“Aha, yeah. Well, I’m here now.”

Peerless Cucumber looks frustrated, but finally scoots over so that Shang Qinghua can sit beside him on the bench. Shang Qinghua gingerly sits, giving the kid space.

Shang Qinghua is being super calm for the other transmigrator right now! He’s very calm here! The calmest!

- 

AN: SY really is a scared kid putting up a front. Which works out, because SQH is a dad here (and thinks SY’s insults are mostly just funny). 

- 

Out of the corner of his eye, Shang Qinghua can see a Qian Cao Peak cultivator standing impatiently by the Qiong Ding Peak guard. And… someone bouncing on their toes in a Qing Jing Peak uniform? Speak of the half-demon future tyrant of this world!

“Looks like we’ll have to continue this later,” Shang Qinghua says.

“My assisted meditation appointment,” Peerless Cucumber confirms glumly, looking as though he’s never experienced inner peace in his life and has no intention of willingly doing so. 

- 

AN: I took SY as genuinely having a knack for cultivating and that’s the interpretation I’m using for this fic, especially since I gave the Original Shen Qingqiu health problems that nearly killed him. In an earlier chapter, Mu Qingfang mentions needing to “replace Shen Qingqiu’s entire cultivation system”, which I planted for Shen Yuan getting a free, extremely stable highly developed cultivation system as part of his transmigration later. 

I mean, Shen Yuan manages to weather Liu Qingge’s qi deviation, a great deal of stress, Without-A-Cure, and etc., and he’s remarkably stable through most of it. So I’m leaning towards “a little bit of System assistance” here. The System was going to replace both Shen Qingqiu and SQQ’s unstable cultivation system out for Shen Yuan and a more stable cultivation system. 

SQQ still has a cultivation system. If he didn’t, it would have been mentioned by now. SQQ is repeatedly stated to be improving well in this chapter. I think Mu Qingfang would have noticed if SQQ didn’t have cultivation anymore. 

- 

“Then wouldn’t you be Luo-Shixiong to me?” Peerless Cucumber suggests wryly to the protagonist, who is both about five years younger than him and still shorter. (Mu Qingfang said that their guest seems to believe that he’s newly twenty. Whether or not the kid is editing his age up or down, Shang Qinghua has decided that he’s just not going to fucking think about this fact.)

“Uh,” Luo Binghe says, looking stunned and then to Shang Qinghua for help. Ha, he’s flustered, which doesn’t happen often. That’s adorable.. “...Maybe?”

Shang Qinghua snorts and remains unhelpful. Ning Yingying is actually about a year younger than Luo Binghe is, Shang Qinghua knows, but she’s been a member of the sect for significantly longer. Binghe might have some shidi and shimei soon with the next entrance test and he’s been very excited about that, but he clearly doesn’t know what to do with a “shidi” closer to his young auntie’s age than his own. Kind of weird seniors and juniors are just part of the sect experience, nephew! Get used to it!

“Thank you, regardless,” Peerless Cucumber says.

“Of course,” Binghe agrees quickly.

- 

AN: SQH is probably going to look back on this moment and go, “Hmm.” 

- 

‘You’re very resourceful,” his sister-in-law says slyly.

“I am very resourceful,” Shang Qinghua allows, and in a fit of affection reaches up to pinch Luo Jiahui’s cheek like she’s Binghe. “And I have the world’s wisest and least bossy sister-in-law, too! How fortunate I am!”

Luo Jiahui slaps his hand away with a giggle, turning slightly pink.

“At least you know it!” she says.

- 

AN: I’ve been wanting to make SQH pinch someone’s cheek for ages now. 

- 

“...You looked very scared that night,” Luo Jiahui says finally. “It might have seemed worse to you than it was. If your demon can’t be understanding of one bad night, then it’s… I don’t know if there’s a way forward with him at all.” She fixes a determined expression and says, “If any offers are retracted then we’ll manage just fine without him. We’ll tell Qingge and he’ll help. And so will Fanli. Our family won’t fall apart so easily. Hua-Ge doesn’t have to take care of everything and be everything at once to everyone.”

- 

AN: LJH channeling some “dump him! dump him! dump him!” energy. 

- 

Shang Qinghua has never been able to picture cutting ties after all this time. What would he even say? “My king, I think our arrangement has come to an end. I promised to serve you for the rest of my life, but that was when I didn’t think my life was worth very much.” He can’t see that going over well! It’s never really been an option, anyway, since Luo Binghe can’t not unlock his demonic powers and go to the Demon Realm. The System won’t have it.

- 

AN: If SQH said that to MBJ, that would be a one-hit KO, probably. 

Break the man’s heart, why don’t you?

#tossawary svsss #pride is not the word #tossawary commentary

[threelivesthreeworlds]

MO YUAN AND SHAO WAN in the most recent Pillowbook Extra   :   A Compilation   -   because Admin Ro knows you’re gonna ask, so she’s delivering before you ask ;)

i.

     Though Father God did not like Mo Yuan's hands to be covered in blood and for him to stop war with more war, it had only been seven hundred years since Mo Yuan came between the war of the five clans before he led the celestial gods into victory against the Ghost Clan and the Sprite Clan and ended the battles between the five clans that had lasted hundreds of thousands of years. The era of war between heaven and earth had finally drawn to a close.

      After this, the Ghost Clan and the Sprite Clan became subsidiary to the Celestial Clan, and the weak Human Clan became protected by the Celestial Clan as well, even if they did not need to pay tribute or bow to them. The Demon Clan was also confined to the Southern Wilderness according to the treaty signed between the two clans.

     After hundreds of thousands of years of chaos, the universe seemed to welcome a long reign of peace. High God Mo Yuan was about to perform the investiture of the gods of the eight wildernesses at the peak of the nine heavens, ending the era of the old gods and welcoming the age of the new gods to create stable order between heaven and earth. But during this time when he had little time for anything else, the ancestral goddess of the Demon Clan, Shao Wan, who had always sympathized with the Human Clan, had burned through the Ruomu Door that separated the Realms with the ten billion mortal realms with the soul-fire of a Phoenix and sent the Human Clan to the billions of mortal realms. She herself, having used up all of her immortal power, feathered and turned to ash.

      At this time, the evil breath of the ten billion mortal realms had been placated, but it still soared with burning wind and burned, and was not a place where the Human Clan could thrive. But to this, Shao Wan already had a plan - before she gave up her soul, she went personally to Guyao Mountain to ask for the help of the light god Zuti, who had been in seclusion there.

     Zuti went directly to the mortal realms after Shao Wan feathered at her request, and sacrificed herself to the chaos to give birth to all things so that the Human Clan can live peacefully in the Mortal Realms and helped the Human Clan separate from the Four Seas and Eight Wildernesses of the gods entirely, and thus ended their hundreds of thousands of years of relying on other strong clans and inevitable fate of becoming extinguished with time.

      Shao Wan feathered. The Ruomu door opened. The Human Clan moved. Zuti sacrificed to the chaos. The heavens and earth were shaken, and the four clans gossiped among themselves.

      In the Eight Wildernesses, there were clear-sighted elders within the Sprite Clan that privately agreed - according to Mo Yuan's steely methods and unfeeling heart, since the Demon Clan has lost their leader God Shao Wan, he would, of course, take up arms and horses and raze the Demon Clan to the ground and complete his great work of uniting the heavens and the earth. The Investiture of the gods would probably be postponed indefinitely.

     But, outside the bounds of the predictions of these wise elders, the Celestial Clan did not ready their armor and  set up their soldiers. Six days later, the ceremony of investiture happened on time at the peak of the nine heavens.

     On the day of the ceremony, upon the highest seat, High God Mo Yuan wore white robes and his face was like jade. The handsome god, having changed out of the heavy armor and back into light-colored robes, seemed to have returned to the graceful, elegant young man of the Water Marsh palace of learning who had been like the orchid of the mountain. But it was, after all, different. The cruel fight and killing on the battlefield for seven hundred years had painted the orchid with blood, and that grace that had previously been stainless and pure was now mixed with ruthlessness and the stench of blood. The force and power that was hidden deep within his gaze had become the force of a god king.

      The ceremony of investiture continued for seven days. Since Pangu's splitting of the sky and the earth, after nearly five hundred thousand years, in the eight wildernesses, there was, for the first time, gods at their posts, and in the universe there was, for the first time, a tome of rules that decreed the order the five clans must keep, symbolizing the final end of the chaotic and war-filled era of the ancient time.

     Every leader of the three clans, gods, ghosts and sprites alike, were commanded by the young High God who wore light-colored robes but had such a forceful presence and believed deeply that under the rule of this God King, that era of endless, hopeless war really would end, and a peaceful era would arrive.

     But what no living thing in the eight wildernesses could have predicted was that three months after the ceremony of investiture of the gods and the four clans had begun on the right path, the God King they had placed their faith in and relied on disappeared.

      The gods looked in heaven and earth for him for three years, and no one could find any trace of him. Everyone finally accepted that their God King had vanished, abandoning what he had barely built. But no one knew the reason for why he did this.

      Some young god who liked to read plays in his spare time and had a great imagine theorized to his friend: "Do you think his disappearance is due to God Shao Wan? See, God Shao Wan had only feathered for a short while before he decided to disappear. Legend says that during their time at the Water Marsh palace of learning, he had some feeling for Go Shao Wan......"

     His friend did not believe it and offered a great rebuttal: "What kind of feeling? The kind of feeling between sworn enemies? Everyone knows God Shao Wan and our god has always been archenemies. Even if you said that he had suddenly tired of ruling the four clans and left it and ran, it would be more believable! Look at Bi Hai Cang Ling's Donghua Dijun, that's what he's like. Even though he fought beside our god and fought so well I thought back then if our Celestial Clan managed to unite the heaven and earth, whether our god or Dijun was going to rule, soon after Dijun said he was tired of fighting and wanted to go into seclusion at his old home in Bi Hai Cang Ling."

     The young god was reminded by his friend and remembered Donghua Dijun's actions and suddenly thought his friend was very reasonable, and nodded heavily: "The eight saints of the Shouhua Wilderness each have their strange tempers. Our god is also one of the eight saints, so maybe he had a fit of a strange temper too......"

      The god of gossip, High God Zhe Yan who lived in the Ten Miles of Peach Forest and had been the classmate of Mo Yuan, Donghua and Shao Wan, walked past these two young gods after having turned himself invisible. And hearing this conversation, he looked toward Zhangwei Mountain and sighed, feeling wronged on the behalf of Mo Yuan and Shao wan. Though these two had been in a tug-of-war for thousands and hundreds of thousands of years, those in the universe knew none of these and at the end of it all, and at the end when they spoke of the two, could only call them sworn enemies, as if they were nothing else to each other aside from that, as if they had nothing left, and it made him sigh.  

ii.

     It was a few hundred thousand years ago.

     The Water Marsh palace of learning used to have eight legendary figures, titled the Eight saints of the Shouhua Wilderness by the students. Though there were eight memebers of the eight saints, they were split into two parties - one party was made up of four Celestial Clan members, Zhe Yan, Qing Qiu's nine-tailed fox Bai Zhi, Xiluo who had by now entered the Western World, and Father God's son, Mo Yuan, who was their leader. The other party had three members from the Demon Clan. There was Shao Wan, and Xiluo's younger brother Sejia, and Xie Ming who had by now turned into the Underworld. The ancestor of demons, Shao Wan, was the leader of this party.

     Aside from the four gods and the three demons, there was one saint of the eight that did not connect himself to a party. This figure was Donghua.

     At that time, the gods and the demons were sworn enemies, and so the famous group of the Eight Saints of the Shouhua Wilderness always fought amongst themselves, and as the leaders of the two parties that were always fighting, Mo Yuan and Shao Wan were always on the palace of learning's school newspaper, and so at that time Shao Wwan's name was more well known than Donghua's, but according to martial capability, the one who could fight with Mo Yuan was not Shao Wan, but Donghua who did not get into much mischief and didn't get on the school paper.

     Even though he was a ruthless someone who had overcome everything with his two fists and by his own power to become the ultimate fighter in the universe and turned every demon and sprite he encountered into his henchmen, Donghua did not get up to much mischief in the palace of learning. Zhe Yan thought this was  mostly because he didn't show up to school much. When Donghua sometimes came to school, it was to sleep under the Master's watchful eye. In comparison, though Shao Wan was the school delinquent who frequently got up to mischief, this school delinquent never missed a class.

      Donghua and Shao Wan had been friends since they were very young. Zhe Yan remembered that Donghua, who never really showed up to class, would always borrow Shao Wan's notes for the monthly exam. But why would the school delinquent take serious notes? For the first few years of school, Donghua and Shao Wan both failed every class that required note-taking, such as scripture and mathematics and history, and were only not held back because their high scores in archery and tactics and spellcasting dragged back their score average. From this one could tell that they were truly good at fighting.

     Later, the school newspaper reported that the internal conflicts between the Shouhua Eight Saints were on the rise, and the Master, who had the habit of reading the school paper, was extremely worried. Though Mo Yuan was a gentleman like an orchid, during that time, the Master who had been brainwashed by the paper thought he and Shao Wan would break out into a fight every time he looked at them. After a fearful moment of thinking, he separated Shao Wan and Mo Yuan, who had been sitting at the same table, and made Xie Ming Shao Wan's new tablemate, and Donghua, who had previously not had much interaction with Mo Yuan, became his new tablemate.

     Zhe Yan thought it must have only been because they were sitting close together that Donghua copied Mo Yuan's notes twice, and then somehow tied first of their class with Mo Yuan that monthly exam.

     Even though no one said anything, but most of them thought it must have been the work of Mo Yuan's notes, and the notes suddenly became the most precious item in the whole school. But the next month Mo Yuan got sick and didn't come to school, and no one could borrow his notes, including Donghua. Without Mo Yuan's notes, everyone still had their own, and could barely prepare for their monthly exam, but Donghua was a person who did not take notes and had to find someone's to copy. Coincidentally, Shao Wan, whom he used to borrow notes from, was also not at school, and so Donghua copied Bai Zhi's notes, and then came first again that monthly exam.

     Everyone noticed, and of course, Donghua noticed too, that as long as he wasn't so stubbornly idiotic as to copy Shao Wan's notes, he usually could take the top score.

     Zhe Yan remembered that after that Donghua usually copied three people's notes, Mo Yuan's, Bai Zhi's and Xie Ming's. Because they sat close together, he copied most of Mo Yuan's notes. But aside from copying notes, Donghua seemed to have no special relationship with any of them, and didn't speak much to them except to borrow notes and to return the notes.

iii.

     Zhe Yan thought for a moment, and changed up his line of questioning. "Mo Yuan," he paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, "Even though Celestial Clan's ruthlessness has been building up recently, Mo Yuan isn't a god that likes war. The humble gentleman like the orchid of the mountain has never been a warmonger even during tactics lessons, and this you know as well. Not to lie, seven hundred years ago when he decided to walk onto the battlefield and join the war between the five clans, it shocked Bai Zhi and I greatly. But I heard that the night before he made the decision, he met with Father God and Shao Wan, and so in all of these years, I always guessed that Father God and Shao Wan must have said something to him so that he made that decision, right?"

iv.

     With a clacking sound, a black piece fell upon the go board, and Dijun very uncharacteristically interrupted him: "Mo Yuan decided to unite the five clans originally to stop Shao Wan from opening the Ruomu door and feather for the sake of the Human Clan. But he didn't know that fate could not be defied, and the Ruomu door still opened, and Shao Wan still feathered. Everything he sought no longer has meaning, and so of course he won't stay. A man with a heart like shredded ash has done a great service already to wait until the four clans have gotten on the right path, but you would complain that he left without appointing a successor for the Celestial Clan?"

v.

     Within the Water Marsh, they ran into High God Mo Yuan, who had been missing for a long time according to legend. Looking at Dijun's expression, he hadn't seemed too surprised by the fact that High God Mo Yuan was in seclusion here.

     High God Mo Yuan was her aunt Bai Qian's Master, and so ever since High God Mo Yuan had woken from his seventy thousand year sleep from sealing away the Ghost King Qing Cang, Feng Jiu had seen him a few times. Then, the god had been stolid and reliable, peaceful and quiet, and inspired feelings of respect and admiration at a glance. But the High God they had met in the Water Marsh, though he looked no different than he did in two hundred and sixty thousand years, had a different air around him. If she was to say that in two hundred and sixty thousand years, High God Mo Yuan was a piece of jade, then this deity was like a blade stained with blood, hiding its sharpness for exhaustion and without conflict with the world, or else like an orchid nourished by blood, physically situated in a hidden valley outside of the world and heart in endless hell.

     The history books did not record the reason for which Mo Yuan had disappeared after creating the new age of gods, and so Feng Jiu did not know what this matter had to do with Shao Wan, and when she saw this god in such a state, though she was curious in her heart, she knew it was not a good time to ask Dijun.

#the pillow book extra #three lives three worlds bodhi fate #mo yuan #shao wan #((the rest of the pillowbook extra will be translated as time allows)) #((it's 70 pages....so...)) #((it's the good goods)) #((but you know me and you know I'm slow so)) #((this is what you get for now ; D)) #admin ro translates #((i may have missed a couple mentions but ajf;ldafjksdl these are the notable ones i remembered)) #((not proofread we die like illiterate men))

[sheron-c]

XiSang: Awakening

(The Untamed/MDZS, ~2.2k, XiSang post-canon, sometime in the future, and mostly just pining) The solemn stone alleyways of the Unclean Realm seemed deserted as Lan Xichen made his way through one familiar turn followed by another, in search of the one man he wanted to see before his departure.

Huaisang had disappeared from sight over an hour ago, coinciding with the start of the groups of cultivators setting off for a hunt in the areas surrounding Qinghe. With the late afternoon sun shining on the final day of the cultivator conference in the Unclean Realm, and most cultivators enjoying themselves outside of the sect proper, Xichen had only encountered some servants on his way to the gardens. They bowed and let him pass undisturbed.

As he quietly approached the garden entrance in the innermost space of the Nie sect, a tall shadow separated from the nearby stone gray wall. The bearded man uncrossed his arms and bowed a respectful greeting, but his stare at Xichen was direct and questioning his presence here. Xichen instantly placed him as Yan Ming, a man most loyal to the Nie sect, and a leader of the group of disciples who accompanied Huaisang to official events. Xichen tended to think of him as Huaisang's bodyguard, whether or not the role was formal.

Xichen bowed his head in greeting before asking after his query. "Huaisang wasn't with the hunting party. I thought I might find him here."

This garden was secluded and most outsiders would not have been allowed into the private areas. Huaisang however had made a point of mentioning that Xichen was welcome to treat the Unclean Realm as his home during the week's stay. Huaisang had, in fact, looked quite pleased with each new freedom Xichen allowed himself as his guest. And thus compelled by the obvious warm regard shown his way, Xichen had visited the sect's library and browsed the lengthy tomes there, and stopped by the training grounds and observed a portion of the new training regiment conducted by one of the saber-wielding sect elders.

Busy with the duties of the conference host, Huaisang had not accompanied him, but every once in a while Xichen would catch glimpses of him in the periphery, always speaking with this servant or that about arrangements, and yet always having an encouraging nod for Xichen when their paths crossed, spurring him on to be welcome, to feel at ease.

Making sure the event ran smoothly was an obvious goal, but Xichen felt a personal touch in the way he was being treated. No detail was too unimportant. Nothing was out of place in his elegant quarters, adorned with landscape tapestries and his favourite jasmine incense, nor in the meals that were served throughout the day, not in the evening entertainment. Some of the music performed by the entertainers even held common roots with the melodies from Gusu, and Xichen found it very pleasing to the ear. Huaisang had tried very hard to please him.

If Xichen had been a different man, he might have read it as an attempt to get in his good graces after a difficult year. As it was, he saw only the effort to show that Huaisang was capable, and that he still held Xichen in high regard. Not everything was resolved between them since the events of the Guanyin Temple, but they had moved past the worst of it after some tearful conversations. Xichen chose to trust Huaisang's intentions now and made as much clear upon arrival to Qinghe. His good will was subsequently rewarded by being welcomed more as a beloved family member than a visitor from another sect.

Xichen-ge flowed well off Huaisang's lips and Xichen once more smiled to hear it.

Although no cultivator conference ever went down without heated arguing, somehow they had gotten through this turn with decorum. With a little bit of ingenious planning, Huaisang had satisfied even the grumbling old men used to far more opulence than the austere spaces of Qinghe. So when the conference had wound down and the willing cultivators were offered the opportunity to hunt in the areas surrounding Qinghe, it was a perfect finishing stroke to a brilliant week in which Nie Huaisang had shown the cultivation world what he was capable off in the diplomatic sphere.

Now the man himself was nowhere to be found, and Xichen had a hunch he would be hiding from his guests in one place in particular. As a visitor in days long past, Xichen would often hear complains from Mingjue that the young brother had once more escaped to the gardens and his birds. How much of that young boy remained in the man he knew now, Xichen had yet to see.

He waited while Yan Ming assessed his trustworthiness, before allowing him through an alcove into the exquisite lush garden warded of behind the wall. Teeming with a variety of plants, it seemed at first at odds with the restraint of the surrounding grey stone, before the unity and order made itself apparent. The large rectangular space was full of greenery, tall shrubs harmoniously giving way to picturesque rock formations, and several birds adding a chirping melody from overhead in the branches of a tall tea tree in the center that gave shade to the entire garden.

But the scenery wasn't what drew Xichen's eye. In the very middle of the garden was a human-sized wooden swing, suspended from a sturdy branch of the tea tree. In the garden swing, the young leader of the Nie sect lay innocently sleeping. His head lay on one bent elbow and his fan had nearly fallen out of the other slack hand.

Affection seized Xichen's chest so powerfully that for a moment he couldn't move.

Yan Ming made as if to wake his sect leader, but Xichen quickly motioned for him to stay behind, pressing a finger to his own lips to signal silence. The man gave him a dubious look, but their relative positions in the cultivation world were such that he allowed Xichen to do as he liked, in the absence of any threat to Huaisang.

Xichen approached the bench with silent steps, observing the man laying there carefully. Huaisang had indeed worked hard to make this cultivator conference a success, and he'd planned it almost entirely on his own. It was no wonder he found himself without energy after such a draining week. Even when Xichen stood right next to him, Huaisang didn't wake.

Xichen smiled, as an idea came to him. Crouching in front of the swing, he went to take the boots off first. One boot, then the other, he freed Huaisang's feet from the confinement, then very carefully and slowly pulled his legs up to the swing so he could rest more comfortably. Huaisang shifted slightly in his sleep, which had Xichen freeze in his movements, but in the end did not wake up. Xichen then took the wrist of the one hand that had slid down and tucked it in closer to the man's chest.

He admired his own handiwork, studying the other man. Asleep, Huaisang looked younger, though Xichen could never again see him as that carefree boy that used to get in trouble at the Cloud Recesses along with Wei Wuxian. Too much time had come and gone, and they'd both gone through a great deal. Still, as he looked into that familiar face, eyes tracing the elegant features, the sweeping dark lashes and delicate mouth, he couldn't help reaching out with a hand and brushing his hair once, tenderly moving the stray dark strands back from Huaisang's face.

Afterwards, Xichen rose briskly. His heart beat rapidly. He walked back to where Yan Ming observed the scene with an inscrutable look, and motioned for the man to follow. They left the garden courtyard in silence.

"Let him sleep," Xichen requested when they wouldn't be overheard. "There's no need to disturb him. I can wait in the study until Huaisang wakes on his own." Finding the path back would be easy, he had spent plenty of time in Qinghe to know his way around the Unclean Realm. He would of course delay his departure until they had a chance to say their goodbyes. It seemed impossible to leave without speaking with Huaisang at least once more.

After a moment, Yan Ming nodded. "Zewu-jun, do you require anything brought to you?"

"Just a brush with ink, and paper would be good," Xichen said. "I will write some letters."

Before departing the peaceful gardens, he couldn't help one last look back to where Huaisang slept on, in the tree shade. The moment seemed to stretch with delicious languor until he pulled himself away.

***

Nie Huaisang found himself needlessly straightening his hair and clothing one more time as he strode briskly towards the private study where, after asking around, he expected Xichen to be waiting for him.

Falling asleep the way he had was bad enough on its own, let alone when it meant that his most important guest had to wait around. He'd been so tired after the sleepless night that he had simply lay down on the garden swing for a moment to shut his eyes, not even thinking to let the servants know to wake him, and it had turned into several wasted hours. Someone had removed his shoes while he'd been asleep.

His steps slowed as he approached the study. Yan Ming was leaning against one of the columns outside the door, arms crossed, ostensibly guarding the entrance. He nodded to his sect leader when Huaisang indicated with a motion of the head and a raised eyebrow his silent question of whether his guest was inside. The door to the study was open to let the humid summer air circulate, and Huaisang paused on the threshold.

Xichen was sitting at one of the wooden tables, a brush in hand and his attention on the papers before him. Leaning one hand against the door frame, Huaisang studied his profile. His back was straight and the way he inclined his head held the kind of elegance that Huaisang would envy in another man. In Xichen it just made him sigh. The movements of his fan slowed to a halt as he simply observed the man in silence for several drawn out moments, as if to memorize him.

Xichen was writing something, possibly a letter, and his mouth moved a little as he mouthed the occasional word to himself, lost in thought. Huaisang sighed wistfully again, unconscious he was doing it until he heard a quiet snort behind him. His eyes flickered to Yan Ming and found the man watching him, arms crossed and a knowing look on his face. Face growing unexpectedly hot, Huaisang resumed fanning himself, eyes cutting away to Xichen again. Thankfully, the man hadn't heard their near-silent exchange.

Huaisang motioned for Yan Ming to follow him around the corner, and only then spoke low enough not to be overheard. "Can you check with the kitchen, see if there is any of that loose-leaf tea from Gusu left?" He hesitated, adding, "And maybe those biscuits we got as a gift from Lanling the other day? Have those brought as well."

The man nodded and left, and Huaisang appreciated his quiet discretion. Yan Ming may have had things he wanted to say, but he obeyed all the same, which was all Huaisang asked. He thought back to his cherished guest, enjoying a quiet moment in the study. During the conference, Xichen had been a steady voice of reason. He had to be at least as tired as Huaisang felt himself, and he had seemed relaxed and peaceful just then, as he sat writing his letters; it would be a shame to disturb him. By the time Yan Ming returned with a tray of a steaming tea pot and two small tea cups, as well as the biscuits laid out on a plate, Huaisang had thoroughly convinced himself not to intrude on the peaceful atmosphere in the study.

He picked off the second cup and set it aside on the nearby stone railing. It wouldn't be needed. "Bring that to him, please," he nodded towards the rest of the tray.

Yan Ming gave him an odd look. "You won't be taking tea with Zewu-jun?"

Huaisang sighed, and almost startled at what emotion had spurred it, amazed to recognize it within himself. It seemed his foolish heart still held on to such things; he could not deny the longing nature of that sigh. "Best not to disturb him when he is so peaceful, isn't it?"

"I am sure the Lan sect leader would appreciate the company," Yan Ming argued, looking at him with great significance in his expression.

"Oh, just bring him the tea!" Huaisang motioned for him to go with the closed fan. The last thing he needed was his sect members gossiping about Xichen. It would affect his reputation. Huaisang's reputation wasn't anything remarkable these days, but he was ever so conscious of how highly regarded Zewu-jun was, and how he didn't want to jeopardize that among his own men. He turned to leave. "I'll be in my rooms. Bring him only when he asks about me." If he even would.

Yan Ming looked ready to protest, and so Huaisang left before he would get a chance to be convinced otherwise. He'd brought so much trouble to Xichen that leaving him be in a peaceful moment was the least he could do.

If his unrepentant eyes cut away for one final look at Xichen and another wistful sigh betrayed him, nobody had to know.

***************** TBC? To be honest, I did write half of the second part to this, where they actually get to the kissing, but for now, I think this can be read self-contained.

#the untamed #xisang #nie huaisang #lan xichen #mdzs #fic #mine #post-canon #pining #can be read as gen #at a stretch

[five-rivers]

Swordplay

Phic Phight Phic phor @cyroclastic.  

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Danny touched down at the edge of Mattingly, feeling vaguely like that might be more polite (and prudent) than just flying straight to Dora's castle. He was somewhat nervous. It wasn't often that strange ghosts flew up to him, handed him a letter, and promptly vanished.

Actually, it was never. That never happened. Except now it had.

The letter was from Dora, known also as Queen Dorathea of Mattingly, and it had asked Danny to come at his 'earliest convenience.'

Well, now wasn't exactly convenient, but it was early, and it was the best he was going to get, honestly. His life was a mess, and this sounded important.

Feeling oddly exposed, Danny floated down the streets of Mattingly, hovering just a few inches above the ground. They had paved the roads since he was here last, Danny noticed. He wondered why. It wasn't like ghosts really needed roads to walk on. Maybe they just liked how they looked? Or maybe they had a lot of non-flying traffic.

The town as a whole was much more cheerful and active than the last time he'd been here. There were people out flying, laughing, doing things. They looked happier.

They were however, staring at him. Not blatantly, but he could still tell. Maybe it wasn't so odd that he felt exposed.

But they weren't hostile stares. So. He decided to count that as a positive.

He reached the gates of the castle and was immediately ushered in. The herald ghosts brought him through the green and black stone halls and up to a tower, where Dora was overseeing the placement of a number of large, neon-bright tapestries.

Dora caught sight of him before the heralds could do any announcing. "Sir Phantom," she said smiling, gliding over to him. "How are you?"

"I'm good," said Danny, "um, your majesty." He winced. Was that the right form of address, he didn't know. "What's up? I mean," he tried again, "what did you want to talk to me about?" It didn't look like Aragon had gotten out, which is what he'd initially been worried about, so now he was just confused.

Dora took Danny's fidgeting hands in hers. "I want to knight you," said Dora.

Danny's mind went blank. "You want to what?"

"Knight you. I assumed that you were already a knight when I first met you, but when, well," she delicately declined to mention her time in the human world, "I realized my assumption was false. Of course, by that point, I was accustomed to thinking of you as 'Sir Phantom,' and the matter slipped my mind entirely. However, now that things have settled somewhat, I want to rectify my oversight." Dora nodded sharply. "What do you know about swordplay?"

"Um. Mom gave me some lessons on using the Fenton Machete," stuttered Danny.

"A beginner, then," said Dora. "You'll have to learn. Some traditions are worth keeping. Sir Oswic!"

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The Ming Monks circled Danny, Sam, and Tucker. The three of them had taken temporary refuge in the temple. Vlad had, once again, not arrived at quite the same time as them.

"You will help us defeat the demon?" asked the wizened leader.

"Yes," said Danny. "We will."

"Hey," whispered Tucker, "can you translate for those of us who don't know Japanese?"

"Chinese," corrected Danny. "We're in China."

"Do you know how to use a sword?" asked the monk.

"Yes," said Danny, switching back to Chinese. "But... maybe not like you do."

The man nodded. "You will learn."

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Vlad grumbled as he applied a salve to his bruises. If only his ego was as easily cared for. Everything had been going so well, but then Daniel and his friends had to interfere again. And that map! The nerve of it.

But, more importantly, Vlad had thought he knew everything of import happening in Daniel's life. When had the boy found the time to learn how to fence? When had he learned how to fence so well? Especially considering his truly atrocious grades in school.

How Daniel could still get Cs and Ds when he was so obviously intelligent was beyond Vlad.

Clearly, Vlad would have to be more observant concerning Daniel's activities.

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Danny landed in front of Mattingly Castle after double-checking for trackers and bugs that looked like tiny Plasmiuses. The guards at the gate gave him a little wave, and hit the button that made the doors pull back. Danny smiled. It was always fun to see how Mattingly had progressed in the time since he had last been there.

"Guess what!" he said, excited, "I beat Vlad in a sword fight!"

"Great!" shouted back one of the guards. "Now you just have to beat Sir Oswic!"

#danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2020

[theres-a-goldensky]

26 + 2 Various BL Series Fic Recs

Fandoms included in this fic rec list: Love By Chance, TharnType, Until We Meet Again, My Engineer, 2 Moons, HIStory3: Trapped (plus a bit of bonus Theory of Love and WHY R U?)

I’ve found a handful of good fics for all of these tiny pairings that I am newly obsessed with, and I thought I’d share them with you if you’re also looking for something good to read. Please, if you have recs of your own, point me in the direction of any other good stuff!

As ever, feel free to reblog and check out my other rec lists for the following fandoms:

The Untamed list one and two - various pairings, mostly Wangxian

IT chapter 2 list one and two - Reddie 

Good Omens - Aziraphale/Crowley

Or just head over to my bookmarks on AO3.

(All recs are complete) (I’ve noted pairings, length, and rating, but not any warnings or additional tags.)

** denotes personal favorite

LOVE BY CHANCE / THARNTYPE

1. the count up series by sweetiejelly - Tin/Can - ~34,000 words, explicit - A fix-it fic post-canon where Tin and Can slowly work out their issues with some missteps and learning along the way.

So two weeks later, when Can first does it, Tin doesn't know what to do. For the longest while, he just turns off his phone screen. And then turns it back on.

good night, tin. it's been a while but i promised to say good night. so, good night, sleep well.

Every damn time the text is still there.

In the end, Tin deletes it.

The next morning, Can does it again.

good morning, tin. looks like rain today. don't forget your umbrella.

Tin deletes it.

The texts keep coming.

2. ** LBC Aftermath series by Mara - LBC/TharnType crossover- ~6700 words, mature - Were you too horrified by Techno’s ending in LBC? This author feels your pain and did her part to get some justice for Techno. This fic has zero sympathy for Kengkla, which I deeply appreciated. This will help you work out some of your anger. It features LBC!Techno and the TharnType versions of Tharn and Type. Mind the warnings, since this deals with the serious consequences of Kengkla’s actions.

Kengkla stayed at the house through the morning and Techno was so jumpy he nearly leaped out of his skin every time Kla looked at him or talked to him. Even though Kla had explained what happened and how he wasn’t upset to be dating, Techno still felt weird. He kind of wished he remembered what had happened. A guy should remember how he lost his virginity, right?

Kla grabbed him in a big hug and Techno froze, managing a weak grin when Kla pulled back to smile at him. “I’ve got to go home now. But I’ll call you later. Let me know if you go somewhere.”

“O-okay.” Techno stared as the boy let himself out the front door.

3. 5 + 1 by strokeofluck - Tin/Can- ~3600 words, rated general - This is a sweet story about the times when Pete sees Tin having feelings for Can. 

Pete weighed his options as he glanced back and forth between Tin and Can. Can didn’t seem to be bothered by the whole thing, he even had a shy smile on his face. Or at least, Pete thought it was a shy smile, he had never really seen this kind of expression coming from Can before.

He could let this whole thing go, he supposed, but he didn’t really want to. It was time for him to finally say to Tin: I told you so.

“You were born in Bangkok,” he said, casting a wide net and hoping Can would find himself caught in it.

Can did.

4. That Testified Surprise by Mara - Techno/Tharn/Type - ~7000 words, mature - This is a LBC canon rewrite that stars the TharnType version of all three characters. Type realizes something is not...quite...right with Kengkla and invites Techno to stay with him and Tharn instead of going home drunk.

Pouring Techno into the passenger seat, Type sat down in the driver’s seat and pulled the phone out to check it, entering the passcode. (The passcode was the birthday of Thai national football team captain Siwarak Tedsungnoen, of course. Duh.)

Fuck, it looked like Nic had been either texting or calling every 20 minutes since they got to the bar. What was up there?

Scrolling back through the evening’s texts, Type scowled harder. Loving brother or not, this was fucking creepy. Going back farther, it looked like it was a pattern. Did the kid do anything other than pester his brother about his whereabouts?

THARNTYPE

5. everything he wants by minkit - ~5100 words, explicit - Type accidentally ruins one of Tharn’s shirts and agrees to do whatever Tharn wants to make up for it. Which means it’s porn stretched over the bare bones of a plot, and it’s great. 

Tharn’s hands moved across the bed, slowly, inch by inch and it was frustrating because Type knew they were heading to him, but Tharn took his sweet time. And then they were covering his hands and Tharn’s face was mere centimeters from his and Type could barely breathe. It took everything he had not to lean forward and capture those lips that also belonged to him, but he had a feeling if he tried, Tharn wouldn’t let him. He had that look on his face and Type knew what it meant.

He knew he was in for a long rest of the night.

6. You’ve Got Mail by perthbysaint - ~7800 words, explicit - Type sends Tharn nudes at the most inconvenient times.

A selfie? From Type? Tharn was thanking all of his lucky stars as he happily taps to load the image. The picture loads and Tharn’s phone slips from his suddenly lax grip. Convinced he couldn’t have just seen what he thought he just saw, he picks his phone up hastily and stares very intently at the picture.

It’s a mirror selfie, obviously taken in a changing room, but that thought comes secondary to thighs. Type is holding the camera in front of his face to take the picture, shirt clenched in his other hand and pulled up slightly to show off the shorts. The fucking shorts. He had seen Type in his soccer gear before and yes, Type has most definitely asked for the wrong size and Tharn is more grateful than he’s ever been for anything in his whole life. The shorts are riding up so high they can’t cover more than a few inches of skin, Type’s smooth, powerful thighs on full display. On the inside of his left thigh, there’s a tiny purple mark peeking out from under the bottom of the shorts. Tharn knows exactly what it is because he was the one who left it there just two days ago when he sucked marks into Type’s thighs for a half-hour before he slung Type’s legs over his shoulders and ate him out until Type was sobbing fat tears and begging Tharn to let him come.

7. pet names series by LokelaniRose - ~50,000 words, explicit - A series of post-episode fics that gives us the sex that the show only hinted at, starting with the shower scene.

Tharn prides himself on his self-control. All his passion and intensity is saved for his music, when he’s safely behind a drum kit and can let it all out. He’s never been as irritated by anyone else as he is by Type and all his playground bullying nonsense. Something about the other boy just shakes something loose inside him, rattles at Tharn’s iron discipline until he has to grit his teeth constantly not to just – what? Kiss him? Kill him? Tharn has enough composure (and pride) to put up a front that’s all smiles and wry amusement, but really he regularly skips between one of two daydreams – twisting Type’s head off or fucking him into the ground.

(Tharn is absolutely not going to admit to the third set of daydreams, of curling up around Type when he’s cold or cheering him on at matches or bringing him home to meet Tharn’s father. Nope, no, definitely not.)

2MOONS SERIES

8. ** The universe where we do not commit reckless, unlubricated buttsex by startledoctopus - Forth/Beam - ~8700 words, explicit - This is a great story about Beam giving in and trying to seduce Forth the same way he seduced all of those girls in his past. This Forth is great, and the story retcons their first time to something far more pleasant for Beam.

   "We're heading into a unit on disorders of the spine and I need to review my basic skeletal and muscular anatomy. But it feels stupid to keep studying these weird-looking diagrams and drawings." None of this was, strictly speaking, factual, but an engineering major wouldn't know any different. Beam gathered up all his bravado, walked behind Forth, and began rucking up his shirts as if this were completely normal.

   "What! I..."

   "Shut up, I need to look at a real back so I know what I'll be looking at as a doctor." Forth let him take the shirts off, glancing back at him several times but giving in meekly to Beam's stern look. Forth shuffled the papers some more.

   "All right. Okay, um...Ah!" Beam smirked at Forth's reaction as he ran his thumbs down the nape of his neck.

9. Good Things Come To by sweetiejelly - Ming/Kit - ~4300 words, explicit - Kit gets drunk and reveals more of his feelings for Ming than he probably means to.

"Hmm." Kit closes his eyes and leans his head back on the headrest. "Ming, Ming, Ming. Do you know your name's a kiss? I'm kissing the air everytime I say 'Ming'!" Kit pops his mouth and it pops Ming's mind a bit. "And then I think about kissing you. Why do you make me think about you so damn much? You're so annoying, Ming. No one's ever..." and Kit leans to the side, almost like he's going to conk out or throw up, only to straighten back up. "... made me this crazy."

Oh shit. Ming doesn't know what to do with all of this information. He knew somewhere deep down that Kit likes him. Kit's eyes can't lie. Kit's mouth can't either, the cusses coming out whenever he's keyed up and flustered, and then there are his kisses.

10 + 11. ** how to fail flirt your way into his heart (a guide by Kit) and a little conversation (and a little action please) by sweetiejelly - Ming/Kit - ~30,000 words, explicit in the second part - This story makes a tiny plot divergence. It has Kit put a little more effort into finding out if Ming is really into Yo and then from there, it loosely follows the plot of the show with some key differences. I really enjoyed this.

"Can I have your number?" Kit mentally face-palms. Why? Damn Pha. Damn Beam. Just damn everything, ugh. He has never flirted in his life. Pin asked him out, okay? He doesn't know how to do this. "I'm Kit, Phana's friend," he says, trying to make it less weird.

"I'm Ming. And of course, P'Kit!" Ming flashes him an easy grin and holds out his hand.

Oh right, the phone. Kit shoves it at Ming, nearly hitting him in the chest. Great, he's acing this.

Ming smiles at him, bemused or confused, probably both, and brushes his hand, totally unnecessarily, over the back of Kit's hand as he takes the phone. "In case of emergency, right?" Ming looks up at him from under his lashes and boy, this nong is brazen.

12. ** In Control series by LokelaniRose - Ming/Kit - ~27,000 words, explicit - Kit struggles to tell Ming that he wants something other than the careful, gentle sex they’ve been having. Ming discovers that Kit has some anxiety and panic problems. He also discovers what helps him feel better. [spoilers: these two things are connected.] I love how attentive and caring Ming is throughout this series. The anxious Kit also rings true to the character we saw on the show.

But now that Kit is fretting over things, he might as well fret over this as well. So Ming is great in bed. And let’s be honest, Kit probably isn’t. He hasn’t had a hundred previous partners – okay, tiny exaggeration, but still – and doesn’t know all the fancy moves and techniques and tricks…and just like everything else, in bed Ming is somehow casual and sincere at the same time. He never seems to want anything except what Kit wants, is always happy to do whatever, to take his time making slow, gentle love to Kit. Kit knows that he always comes at least – he secretly really likes it when Ming comes, he’s not quite sure why – but what if there’s more that Kit could be doing, to make it better for him? If Kit was better in bed maybe it would make up for being a shitty boyfriend in other areas, one who can’t be nice in public or talk about his feelings.

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

13. another nightmare fic by itsmylifekay - Win/Team - ~2300 words, not rated - Team tries to sleep without Win and it doesn’t go well. 

Team’s room feels suffocating, the air too thick and the space too dark and the covers sticking to his skin with sweat. His breaths are too loud in the quiet, but the quiet itself is deafening. It reminds him of the water. The muted sounds. The frantic pounding of his heart. (The same one he feels now echoed in his chest.)

Flashes of the dream come back to him unbidden.

Everything is too dark, too bright, no way to see what way is up or what way is down. He’s trapped. Can’t get out. Can’t breathe.

14. ** Different With You by blackrose9212 - Win/Team - ~6900 words, teen - It’s open swim week, which means that the swimming club offers free lessons to any of the students who would like to participate. Team doesn’t understand why his teammates hate it so much - until he does. Great jealousy in this one from both sides. 

“Nice to meet you,” the boy gushes. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to join your group. Auntie said there needs to be at least three people, and no one was sitting across from you two. I’ve been paying attention so I already have ideas. Is that okay?” Team watches as he pulls out his books and drops them onto the table, pushing them a little farther out so they’re nearly touching Win’s notebook.

Team shrugs. “Sure, that’s fine. I don’t think Win has been paying attention so I’m glad you have an idea of what’s going on.”

Win hits him lightly at the back of the hand and Film giggles behind his hand. “Oh, no, P’Win looks very smart. I’m sure he’s been listening.” He looks at Win and smiles a little, blushing when Win gives him a smile back.

Team looks between the two of them. Then back at Film, who’s watching Win leaf through his literature textbook like he’s never seen anything so beautiful, and then past Film at the table he left from, where he sees three boys, laughing behind their hands and making cooing faces.

15. seven hundred thirteen by Kiranokira - Win/Team - ~6800 words, mature - Win spends two years abroad in England, and he and Team have to navigate a long distance relationship. It’s very sweet and written very true to life. 

“I kind of hoped you were going to show up at the airport tomorrow morning and chase the plane,” Win says. He kisses Team’s hair, lingering there to memorize the fresh, clear scent.

Team says, “Is it weird that I thought about doing that?” and Win feels him smile against his shoulder.

It’s late, nearly nine thirty, and Win had plans of how to spend tonight that can’t be realized anymore. He wanted to invite Team to dinner with his family. He wanted to play video games with Team and View. He wanted to talk about London with Waan and Team. He wanted to include Team in his family’s warmth in some small way, to make him feel less lonely.

He can’t do any of that now but he still wants to sneak Team upstairs and have him in his arms all night. He wouldn’t, but he wants to. It’s been a month since he moved off campus permanently, and weeks since he was last able to spend a night alone with Team.

16. ** You Can Cry by Kiranokira - Win/Team - ~19,600 words, mature - Win goes missing while on vacation with some friends. Team is left at home trying to handle it. I like the way the author built up to the accident happening. They did a good job creating tension and showing us exactly how Team felt about Win. And spoilers, this story has a happy ending.

“You’re going to fail out of university,” Team tells him. “You’re not really going, are you?”

Win rolls onto his side and perches his cheek on his hand. “What if I say yes?” he asks. “Will you miss me?”

Team’s warning look is more venomous than usual. “Not at all,” Team says, and Win smirks because that isn’t true and they both know it. “You still shouldn’t go. What if you miss the flight back? You’ll fail out and I’ll break up with you for being a dumbass.”

The very recent phenomenon of Team acknowledging that they’re a couple has its usual melting effect on Win’s heart.

2GETHER

17. ** Love Songs on Our Skin series by Kari_Kurofai - Sarawat/Tine - ~15,700 words, explicit - A soulmark AU where Tine is born with the notes to a song that hasn’t yet been written wrapped around his chest. I enjoyed how Tine’s obliviousness in the show carries over to this fic. 

Only Mr. Chic would have a song no one had ever fucking heard of permanently etched on his chest. For fuck's sake .

Still, he waves it off, and he tries not to look too closely at other people's marks. Tries being the key word. He doesn't envy the elegant watercolors of a guitar pick and an open novel he catches sight of on the wrists of some couple's interlinked hands when he's in town. And he certainly doesn't envy the dude he once saw in a coffee shop with the words " I hate you " scrawled across the back of his neck. But yeah, okay, he might be a little jealous of the people who are lucky enough to have something as simple as their soulmate's name on their skin. That definitely isn't fair.

"Why couldn't it at least have been a Scrubb song?" he asks the mirror as he wipes it clear shower-born condensation. The mirror and him are well acquainted with this conversation by now. In fact, the mirror sees the stupid mark more than anyone, so it might as well put up with his equally stupid questions. "It could have been 'Together.' Just think of it, how romantic it would be to meet some cute girl's eyes after bumping into them at a concert, my favorite song playing . . ." He draws a nail over the winding bars of the music on his chest, frowning. "That would be so much easier."

18. Drown Your Sorrows by HyacinthsSoul - 2gether/Theory of Love - Sarawat and Third meet at a bar and bond over being in love with oblivious men.

“No, he’s an angel,” Sarawat says. “Unfortunately he’s a very stupid, very straight angel.”

“Mine’s stupid too,” the other man admits. “But definitely no angel. I’m Third, by the way,” he adds, offering a slender hand to shake.

“Sarawat,” says Sarawat. “Can I buy you another? I think we’re drinking the same thing, although I can’t remember what it’s called.”

20. ** Your Body Is My Instrument by Kari_Kurofai - Sarawat/Tine - ~12,000 words, explicit - This fic does a good job doing what, in this reccer’s humble opinion, the series failed to: showing Tine attracted to Sarawat. There’s great first time sex and some fun sexual tension. Plus, we get to see them switch off, which is extremely rare in BL. And most importantly: hand kink.

It starts innocently enough. Or, well, innocently enough for a guy whose first words to him were, “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll kiss you till you drop.” So, you know. It starts kinda like that.

They’ve been officially dating for a grand sum total of three days and altogether not that much has changed. Except that Sarawat touches him more now. Normally this would be fine, no big deal, right? But Sarawat has magic, evil hands, and apparently all he has to do is glance Tine’s way to deduce the exact right places and ways to touch Tine to drive him up the fucking wall.

And the worst part is it’s almost never the same place or the same way twice, and the only warning Tine ever gets is that sneaky little glint Sarawat gets in his eyes just before he does it, the bastard.

MY ENGINEER

21. Cool Boy(friend) by HyacinthsSoul - Ram/King - ~22,000 words, explicit - So this is technically a WIP, but each chapter feels like a completed fic without a cliffhanger or anything. This is a very sweet, comfortable story about King and Ram getting to know each other as their relationship develops.

In the selfie King sends, he’s holding up a full shot glass while someone’s arm reaches into the frame to hand him another kind of drink, something tall with a straw and a paper umbrella. Ram frowns. Whose arm is that? The person is wearing a red long-sleeved shirt, which doesn’t match what any of their friend group was wearing, and the engineer bar doesn’t offer table service.

Frowning, Ram looks back through the previous photos until he spots a detail he’d overlooked before: a red-shirted man at a neighboring table. He’s visible in the background of two or three pictures taken by Tee, and in each of them he’s staring intently at King.

Not that it’s any of Ram’s business. Not that he cares.

HISTORY3: TRAPPED

22. it’s too late (to turn back now) by stebeee - Tang Yi/Meng Shao Fei - ~7200 words, general audiences - Canon divergence fic where Tang Yi pushes Shao Fei away after he saves Hong Ye in order to try and protect him. Shao Fei reacts to that about as well as you’d expect.

“Tang Yi, what do you mean-“

“I think you’ve fooled around for long enough,” Tang Yi interrupts, his voice cold, nothing like the man who had dabbed at his lips with a cotton bud last night, the man who had smiled at him when he made the cannon joke.

“You’ve disrupted my life, and the life of my family and friends in the past few weeks, Meng Shao Fei. This has gone for long enough,” he continues, unwavering. “I don’t want to have anything more to do with you. Take a good rest here in the hospital, and I’ll get someone to pack up your things back at the house. Jack will deliver it back to your apartment.”

23 + 24. ** just waiting, waiting (on you) and between you and me by stebeee - Tang Yi/Meng Shao Fei - ~16,000 words, general audiences - These are stories about how Shao Fei and the rest of the gang deal over the years when Tang Yi is in jail. Found family fics are my jam, so I loved this.

The thing is, it’s been almost three months of this. 90 days, give or take. 2,160 hours. 129,600 minutes. And more than 7 million seconds of this — not having Tang Yi at his side.

Shao Fei wonders for a moment if he will ever stop seeing Tang Yi in every corner of the house. When he comes down the stairs in the morning, some part of him expects to see Tang Yi standing at the kitchen island with a bright smile, asking him if he wants jam with his toast that morning. Shao Fei sees Tang Yi in that apron he loves, cooking at the stove when he fixes himself dinner, alone in the spacious kitchen. Seeing Tang Yi’s favourite blue bathrobe, Shao Fei can almost see Tang Yi leaving the bathroom, his hair all wet and falling over his eyes.

25. amuse bouche by sarahyyy - Jack/Zhao Zi - ~2400 words, general audiences - This is more of Jack seducing Zhao Zi through food and attention. So basically an extension of the show. Mother hen Jack is the cutest.

“Jack?” Zhao Zi murmurs blearily. “Why are you here?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” Jack shoots back, herding Zhao Zi back into the house. He checks for Zhao Zi’s temperature with the back of his hand. “Fever?”

“Just the flu for now, I think?” Zhao Zi says.

Jack purses his lips. “Have you had anything to eat?”

“I had some bread earlier?” Zhao Zi says, but he also looks shifty enough that Jack mostly takes it with a grain of salt.

26. Absolutely Nothing Goes Wrong by anon - Jack/Zhao Zi - ~4500 words, teen - This is an AU where Zhao Zi is the son of a rival mob boss, but he’s still, you know HIMSELF. And when his father says he’s useless, he decides to prove him wrong by seducing Tang Yi’s second-in-command. It’s absolutely adorable.

The man pulled him by the arm, resisting Zhao Zi’s attempts to unhook his claws without causing a scene.

“Hey, stop grabbing me!” he shouted, as the other man played deaf.

“While I admit this is a very loud bar, I didn’t think it was quite so easy to mishear what this young man just yelled straight into your ear,” a newcomer who’d witnessed their conflict said lightly as he walked up to them. His words were accompanied by a wide, almost chilling smile. Zhao Zi blinked once and the odd peculiarity of that smile vanished, leaving just a regular smile in its place. He must’ve just been imagining things under the harsh shadows of the dimly lit bar.

AND +2

Because I’m shameless, I’ll add my own two fics to the end, if you’re interested.

WHY R U?

27. Sorry A Thousand Times - Fighter/Tutor - ~3200 words, explicit - This is a canon divergence for the series finale. I needed more catharsis after the intensity of episode 12.

Tutor narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists at his sides. He took a deep breath. “How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone before you listen?” he asked. I don’t know how many more times I can bring myself to say it.

“Only once,” Fight said and then added, “if you mean it.”

Tutor crossed his arms over his chest and said, “What makes you think I don’t mean it now?”

The corner of Fight’s mouth turned up and he took a step closer. Tutor stumbled back until he was stopped by his legs hitting the edge of the bed. Fight reached out a hand and gently ran the back of his fingers over the line of Tutor’s jaw.

Until We Meet Again

28. Dream On - Win/Team - 8900 words, explicit - Takes place alongside show canon, so that we see how the bed sharing began and how Win and Team’s relationship developed over that year.

“Do you want to do well tomorrow?” Win asked, throwing one of his legs over both of Team’s.

“Yes,” Team said as he did his best to put some space between them on the tiny mattress.

“Then you need to get some sleep. I’m helping.”

“How is this helping?” Team demanded.

“Would you stop…” Win said, shifting closer every time Team pulled away. “Five minutes, Team. Just be still for five minutes, okay?”

#until we meet again #uwma #win/team #winteam #fic recs #fic rec list #bl fic recs #j9 #2moons #2moons2 #mingkit #ming/kit #forthbeam #forth/beam #love by chance #lbc #tincan #tin/can #mean/plan #2wish #uwma fic #2moons fic #tharntype #tharntype fic #mew/gulf #history 3: trapped #jack/zhao #tang yi/meng shao fei #history 3: trapped fic #lbc techno fix-it

[leatherbookmarking]

bilboo replied to your post

“[[MOR] this is very ‘mortifying ordeal etc’ BUT that would come up...”

I literally can't wait to write this bc in my head jc's disciples and servants LOVE HIM, he is grumpy ALWAYS but he's also endlessly fair and doesn't suffer bullshit, everybody is treated so well at lotus pier I LOVE ONE ANGRY SOUR MAN

YESSSS EVERYTHING PRECIOUS ON EARTH FOR THE GRAPEBOY

and now i’m thinking about, for example, some important conference everyone has to attend (even though it’s basically glorified small talk, and everyone DREADS it aside from sect leader yao, who is finally allowed to talk, and not stop talking, and he has five days) so at some point the disciples gather and exchange juicy gossip talk respectfully about their sect leaders, and

“surely you jiangs have it tough, i mean no offense, but sect leader jiang looks like he’s permanently on a verge of a meltdown--”

“--right, i’ve noticed that too, and the way he’s constantly clenching his teeth? he must be very good at cracking nuts, and i admire that, but at the same time, i can’t help but worry--”

“--and okay, you can punish me for that (in fact look, i am punishing myself as we speak), but i mean, his life can’t be that stressing now, all the serious stuff is long since over, so... i mean, you know... kind of makes you think that all this tension...”

“...aah--”

“--is because he doesn’t have... you know”

and the jiang disciples are just sitting here like :-) because on one hand, their first instinct is to vehemently deny everything, how dare you;

the second is to give the others a knowing look, lean forward and spill some of the secrets in a stage whisper, let those other disciples wander around for the rest of the conference, take one look at the scary sect leader jiang and experience internal anguish knowing this ruthless man is in fact in possession of three spiritual dogs and one dog dog, named apricot, pear, hunter and persimmon, you’re free to guess which is which, and he takes great pleasure in flipping their ears, then telling them “your ears are flipped, you know?”. yes, there is proof, but you’ll have to ask a-mei in private, sect leader has forbade her from ever talking about it to anyone, and if he hears her laughing like that, he will know;

the third is to keep silent, because really, where does one start?

there was one little girl, a-ming, who was so bad at archery it seemed almost like a conscious effort (even though of course it wasn’t, she was too young for that). most of her arrows missed the target completely, usually landing in the grass, other disciples’ targets or, on one memorable occasion, almost in sect leader jiang’s own person, because he just had to be taking a walk right next to that disaster of a lesson. a-ming burst into tears before sect leader even managed to drop the hand he caught the arrow with; tears so miserable and dramatic that something must have cracked in him, because a second later he was next to her, talking so quietly you couldn’t hear what he was saying, but, if one can allow themselves to theorize, probably trying to prove a-ming that he is, in fact, still in one piece, so there’s no reason to cry like that, now. and then, once she more or less calmed down, he positioned her little hands himself, checked if she was aiming at her own target (she was not), assured her that it’s obligatory to be bad in the beginning, how else does she expect to become good, and then, in what must have been a flash of godly wisdom, asked her, “do you see that point in the center of the target?”, to which a-ming replied with the saddest silence imaginable, and every single adult present suddenly felt very, very stupid

for obvious reasons the jiang sect has many young disciples, also those helping w/ pretty responsible things, like Finances and Trade and all this stuff i’m scared of, and many of those disciples have shared stories of fucking up, thinking “oh, that’s it. i’m going to die OR i’m getting kicked out of the sect into next thursday OR both” and getting scolded but also... somewhat encouraged? they’re not sure in what way, exactly, since everything sect leader jiang said sounded angry, but... one man who missed a line in a list of things to be shipped out has been told “no, you’re not leaving this sect unless sudden death takes you, and in that case i’ll be dragging your ghost to work here, do you think it’s so easy to find a good accountant?” and realized a week later that, in fact, yes, the good accountant was him

literally everyone and their dog has heard a threat of physical violence of sorts, including but not limited to (insert bone) breaking, dismemberment, flogging (regular or a few round with zidian to help you find the motivation to (crowley voice) DO BETTER!!!), drowning, etc, etc but no one has ever received it, mysteriously

several times, when young-but-old-enough-to-know-better disciples have Spoken when it wasn’t really their turn/position/the TIME to say anything, sect leader jiang raised his head and said, slowly and quietly, what the fuck did you say to me? most of them, pale as a sheet, said that nothing, nothing and drowned in their own apologies. one girl, though, repeated what she said, assuming that well, if she fucks up, she fucks up with style. sect leader jiang looked at her, looked at the Papers, looked at her again, and said “you’re right. thank you”

she was later found stress-sobbing

she was, much later, awarded a Position

maybe it is not exactly a proof of sect leader jiang being a good person per se, but there are rumors of the faces he pulls and things he mutters when reading Important Sect Correspondence, and it all makes everyone have warm thoughts

on the other hand, the insinuation that sect leader jiang is a bitch because of sexual tension and no one to resolve it with is the funniest thing they’ve ever heard, so there.

#bilboo #conversating #is that a fic? is it? unclear #anyway i spent more than an hour on it. wondering if i should be ashamed #(fruit research had to be done) #quastion: why is the correct tag [[MORE]] but displayed in replies it's always [[MOR]? #i am going to wonder about it for 45 years

[ruanbaijie]

Hello!

I choose LXC because he is a good, kind man. He is strong, resilient, intelligent and respectful. He is everything that is right in this world, and I admire that!

I am staying safe, I hope you are too! It indeed is very hard to look for a job, but the course is giving me tips so I know I will get one eventually! Thank you for your well wishes ❤

I hope you will enjoy your break! I don't doubt it's deserved!

Personally, I loved Handsome Siblings! I watched it so I could hopefully learn some Chinese from it, and I didn't expect to become invested. I absolutely loved it and I binged the entire thing! I love the twins so much ;-; The love in the bond they share just makes me feel things hahahah

It's been an ok week so far! Fixed my sleeping pattern (that I will eventually mess up again) so I'm more productive! I hope you'll have a great week!

My question for today is: if you could recommend one show/movie in Chinese to me, which one would it be?

- Sincerely, your Classified Cultivator

hello! (≧∇≦)/ oh that’s nice! hopefully that course will have some good tips that will come in handy~ it sounds really intense tho (＠_＠;) I don’t remember going for any courses back in the day (ok this sounds ages ago but it was like... 2 years ago???) when I was still studying and/ or looking for a job... more like I was too lazy _(:3」∠)_

oh man maybe one day I would check it out! my watch queue is insanely long right now and I take really long for chinese and korean shows especially since they typically have a lot of episodes and very long episodes respectively ヘ(＿　＿ヘ) I usually finish uk/us shows and japanese anime much faster (ﾉ･o･)ﾉ since they have fewer episodes... aha

oh noooo please don’t mess up your sleeping pattern again (＞△＜Uu my brother’s is absolutely terrible (he goes to bed around 4 or 5am and only gets up at... noon??) and it seems really bad for health in general... I used to only sleep at 2am (remnants of my addiction to a mobile game sigh but that’s another story there) and get up around 9 or 10, but for the past couple of months I’ve been trying to change that and exercise more often (sometimes in the early morning if needed alksdlksdf) and my sleeping pattern feels much better now! ^^ and yes, totally understand on that more productive thing! it feels like right now I can get more things done in the morning, at least. hope it will last for you~ (b^_^)b

ahhhh only one show/ movie?!?!?! (ﾟДﾟ;) hmmmmmMMMM......

eh well one of my all time favourite cdramas is my roommate is a detective, which is kinda like sherlock holmes. it’s set in the chinese republican era , and is centred around an ex-mafia-turned-police-inspector (acted by my tumblr url namesake) and a smartass-genius-rich-boy-eking-it-out-on-his-own and the crimes they solve together in 1920s shanghai. but since that’s pretty obvious from my tumblr in general, I’m gonna recommend another movie that I don’t think a lot of people here may be aware of but is still really good!

it’s this...

red cliff! it’s actually a super long show and got split into two separate movies, released in 2008 and 2009. I was like... 12 around then??? but I remember watching both parts in the cinema and going like...... wow

it’s a historical war epic, definitely not in the xianxia or wuxia genres that a lot of popular cdramas are in right now. and this is the one I would recommend because it’s based on an actual historical battle in ancient china AND is also one of the most famous arcs in one of the four Chinese Classical Novels (capitalising these here because this is a legit term ahahaa), the romance of the three kingdoms. 

it’s somewhat like a david vs. goliath situation, and besides the super epic fight scenes, there are also a lot of clever strategies being thrown around and used, mostly by that guy from the second right up there called zhuge liang (or kong ming). 

and some videos!

trailer in chinese:

and another trailer in english (UGH at that voiceover): 

each part also has its own theme song! they’re both sung by the same singer (a lan) and they’re both equally pretty and haunting. my brother and I couldn’t get the second one in particular out of our head for a reaaaally long time because they kept repeating that melody (that appears at 1:33 in the mv) throughout part 2 lolol

theme song for part 1, called 心战 “heart war”

theme song for part 2, called 大江东去 “the mighty river* flows east”

*referring to the yangtze river, at one point of which the actual historical battle was fought 

and yes! super long reply omg (*ﾉдﾉ) I think I just convinced myself to watch the movies again... aHAHA

#mdzsnetcc #*replies #red cliff