Possible MDZS Fanfictions
So my brain has been mush recently and I've been bouncing around WIPs like a pinball machine, and of course I just had to think up new fanfic ideas instead of finishing any of the ones I already started.
Regardless! I've now got two potential MDZS fanfictions, and I thought I'd pitch them here and see if anyone is interested in seeing them written and posted. Interaction helps a lot with my motivation, and if someone else is excited about this, maybe it'll kick my brain into gear!
[titles subject to change]
Ship: Nie Mingjue/Lan Xichen
The Yiling Patriarch is an old, revered Immortal in charge of a shadowy sect in the burial mounds that nobody really knows much about. The Jins are attempting shady shit and end up caught, with Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen wrapped up in everything. The time-traveling Wei Wuxian (who overshot by several centuries when making his way back in time) knows they aren't a part of the plot and means them no harm, but he's also got his spooky reputation to contend with, and has his own ideas for how to best deal with the two wayward cultivators.
The Nie is easy, as he's been figuring out how to best help them with their cultivation for a while, and even tested an earlier version on Mingjue's father, so he knows what he's doing when he tattoos an array into his back. Of course, this is very terrifying for the poor cultivators who grew up on stories about the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, and Lan Xichen grows more and more distressed at the idea of Mingjue being tortured.
Wei Ying is not unaffected by his not-yet-brother-in-law's begging, and so he takes out a talisman (one he created, originally to soothe animals who naturally became restless in the heavy resentment of the Burial Mounds) and uses it on the Lan to relax him. It works, although as Mingjue finds out later, after they've been locked away in a room somewhere to rest, a bit too well. A relaxed Lan is one who will act without their usual restrictions, and while it isn't quite like Lan Wanji while drunk, it is close enough that the two end up engaged with Xichen's headband wrapped around Mingjue's arm. Mingjue might have been more thrilled about this if Xichen wasn't very obviously not in his right mind, and if they weren't still in enemy territory. Soon enough, they are ransomed back to their clans, left to deal with the fallout.
Here is a slightly more detailed but much longer (and also incomplete) outline, because I feel like my summary wasn't all that great.
- Nie Mingjue is worried as they are dragged into the Yiling Patriarch's lair, remembering his father's warnings about staying as far away from the shadowy Yiling Wei sect as he could. This hadn't been a problem until now, seeing as they tended to remain in the shadows and the outskirts of things, but now he has no choice.
- What's worse, they've dragged Xichen into this mess as well, and if he weren't so worry about what might happen to them, he'd strangle these useless vipers of Jin. The nameless Jin disciples had come along with him and Xichen under the guise of protection and help, but he was certain at least one of them had brought them into the Yiling Wei trap.
- They are brought before the shadowy immortal, and separated from the Jins. He's less worried for them and more for himself and Xichen, who have the Sect Leader's attention. Xichen attempts to be diplomatic, but the Patriarch waves him off and has them brought to another room.
- Nie Mingjue finds himself being stripped from the waist up and laid face down onto a table, gritting his teeth against his anger and fear alike as Xichen tries to bargain and beg for his safety. There are no restraints on the table, but then the Patriarch paralyzes him, leaving restraints unnecessary.
- He can still see Xichen being held off to the side, eyes growing wet and hands starting to shake as he becomes more and more desperate. Now Mingjue merely wishes he had begged the Patriarch to torture him alone, without making Xichen watch. He knew the Gusu Lan had their own horror stories of the Yiling Patriarch, knew they were probably worse than what spread in the Nie, and could only hope Xichen would not be harmed outside of being made to watch.
- But then the Sect Leader was finally attracted by the begging, and Mingjue can only watch as a talisman is wrapped around Xichen's neck and the man goes limp. Not unconscious, but relaxed and pliant, blinking slowly and unhurriedly even with his face in the Patriarchs grasp.
- The Patriarch likes to talk, and he debates whether to put Xichen within Mingjue's line of sight or on top of his legs. Mingjue is still stuck, still trying to figure out what the Patriarch wants, what he's going to do with them. But despite his own fear of becoming one of the man's demonic experiments, he is somewhat comforted by the seeming gentleness the Sect Leader has for Xichen.
- In the end Xichen is laid over his legs, cheek resting against his lower back and seeming to be able to move just about as much as he was. The Yiling Patriarch speaks of his father, of what he did to him, saying that he had refined his techniques over the years and would be able to confine 'it' to his upper instead of his entire back.
- A symbol is tattooed in between his shoulder blades, and while the pain is not terrible, being unable to fight and frightened for Xichen leaves him struggling. He tries to focus on Xichen's weight, on the little puffs of air against his skin, the slight nuzzling of his nose as he shifts nearly imperceptibly, all signs that the other man was alive and at least outwardly not in distress.
- Finally the Patriarch finishes, and he is released from the paralysis. He is warned to move slowly and not attempt anything rash or with a lot a movement. Told to make himself comfortable, to not try to stand lest the next part knock him off his feat. He's too busy worrying over a seemingly delirious Xichen to register the warning until it is too late.
- Before he can ask what he means, the sigil carved into his back activates, pulling all of the resentment in his body out to fed the Yiling Laozu. It is horribly terrifying to watch, but even more so to feel, his entire body weakening as if he had been fighting for days.
- They are brought to a bedroom, and he is unable to put up more then a token protest, Xichen still limp and his own body weighed down by exhaustion. It soothes him some that they are laid out together, that they do not take Xichen away from him, and he is even more glad to be left alone. He fully intends to sleep to try and recover some strength, but Xichen is acting strange.
- Xichen snuggles close despite the lack of layers between them, stroking his breastbone and playing with his hair, startling him with a soft kiss to his collarbone, gazing up at him through thick lashes. He calls his name questioningly and only gets a soft hum in response. Xichen is awake, but he has clearly been affected by whatever Sect Leader Wei had done to him, his actions far too shameless for a Lan.
- At first he's enraptured by the softness of it, but then he remembers that Xichen is not in his right mind, and loathes himself for taking pleasure in his touch, for not being able to muster up the strength to push him away.
- He's also terrified of what could have happened to him if he had been put into bed with someone other than Nie Mingjue, if the Yiling Patriarch had taken this good innocent man back to his own bedchambers, or thrown him into bed with his servants or disciples (Or worse, one of his *corpses*). He's still scared of what might happen, aware that he is not currently physically strong enough to keep the vulnerable Lan with him should the Yiling Wei come to take him away.
Ship: Nie Mingjue/Meng Yao
The Nie Sect is less known in this au, more isolated from the other clans, which allow a lot of rumors about their practices to run amuck. Although they do also simply have very different practices and culture from the rest. One of the things that they do is a kind of mating run/bride hunt. Potential matches attempt to outrun and outwit the ones hunting, showing off their survival abilities and fighting prowess to the ones looking for a spouse. There are rules and culture and all that kind of stuff, but to outsiders the practice seems barbaric.
For whatever reason, there are outsiders in this year's bridal hunt. Meng Yao has been forced to go by his father, and is determined to both survive the trial and avoid getting caught and raped by one of the beastial Nie. (There is no sex in the hunt, but it isn't difficult for an outsider to think otherwise.)
What Meng Yao doesn't know is that trying so hard will actually only garner him more attention. He thinks that the Nie are looking for weak prey to take advantage of, and so he makes himself as much of a threat as possible, not realizing that he's actually playing into the hunt perfectly.
Nie Mingjue had caught several people before Meng Yao, but none of them put up a good fight, so he dropped them and kept hunting. Meng Yao is the first one to fight hard and dirty, garnering the Sect Leader's interest and inciting a chase. Meng Yao pulls out all the stops he can, even using a knife he smuggled in (outside weapons are not allowed during the hunt), determined to kill before he can be killed. Of course, the small knife isn't enough to kill Nie Mingjue, but Meng Yao's desperate and clever evasion does last quite a while. Which, of course, only makes the Nie more interested.
Eventually, Meng Yao is caught, unable to completely outwit the hunter. He thinks that Nie Mingjue is taking pleasure in the act of hunting, in forcing him to the ground and making him helpless, but Mingjue is actually enjoying how feisty this tiny little Jin is. (Might have a hunter claim their prey through biting, may have it be some other way.) Meng Yao expects to be taken there on the forest floor, but instead the Nie marks him and throws him over his shoulder before leaving the forest with his prize.
Meng Yao lives in fear for a few weeks, trying to gain a foothold in his new life in whatever way he can. It isn't until the Jin Sect Leader sends messages talking about wedding preparations that things come to light. Mingjue is confused by the letter he has received, not sure if it is an insult or not, so he consults Meng Yao on the matter, seeing as it is from his people. In the Nie's mind it is very odd and potentially rude for any kind of talk of a wedding to happen before the second hunt. At which point Meng Yao questions what he means by second hunt, dreading the thought of having to go through that again, which is where Mingjue realizes Meng Yao does not have the information he should.
The way the entire thing works is that after the first hunt, there is a period of courting where the auspicious couple is chaperoned as they get to know each other and see if they would make a good pair outside of battle. Then the second hunt takes place, where the roles are reversed. The ones who previously showcased their ability to outrun and outmaneuver get the chance to prove themselves as hunters, while the hunters get the chance to show their own elusiveness. Only after the second hunt is there talk of weddings and such.
Meng Yao realizes that he will not be forced to marry Nie Mingjue, and Mingjue is very much horrified by the fact that Meng Yao had gone into the hunt, into their entire relationship, thinking that Mingjue would hurt him. He has a rather large bone to pick Jin Guangshan after that. Especially when he finds out about the man's treatment of his son in general.
Meng Yao is fully informed of his rights, but he's been there long enough that now that the danger of his situation has been taken away, he doesn't really want to leave. Nie Mingjue is a righteous man, Nie Huaisang has quickly become the little brother he never knew he wanted, and the rest of the Nie are all very welcoming of him in a way the Jin had never been. The idea of being the hunter instead of the hunted, of having a place of power and respect amongst these people, appeals to him in a way nothing much else has ever managed.
If either of these ideas interests you, please let me know! Ask questions, cackle maniacally, whatever floats your boat! I've got a bit written for them, although not enough or well-edited enough to post on ao3, but if you ask nicely, I'll post some snippets for you here!
Lots of love my lovelies! 💜
Edit: The Second WIP is now a fledgling fic! Click here to read -> Marriage Hunt chapter 1!
Edit #2: First WIP is also now a feldgling fic! Not going quite the same as the outline, but they never do. Here's the first chapter if you want to check it out! -> Draining Gall
