[duncan-rohanne]

100k, friends to lovers, m/m/f, future polyamory, slow burn, pining, angst, graphic descriptions of violence, fix-it

[suncarrds]

☀ CARRD TEMPLATE : 041. meteor. ( free! )

☀ [ PREVIEW ] [ GET ] NON - PRO FRIENDLY

☀ REFERRAL CODE : SUNNY

a single muse roleplay carrd featuring;

— inspiration from; final fantasy xiv! I received an ask of people wanting a non-pro version of my mercenary carrd! unfortunately, many elements had to be removed due to the limit but here it is! includes a landing page, an about page with details on the character, as well as a little section of the bio, verses, and bonds!

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THE CREDIT / DO NOT CLAIM AS YOUR OWN, you are free to alter the colors and adjust it as much as needed but the credit must remain at all times.

[romchat]

Source

[dykespeare-deactivated20181228]

reblog if ur mom is smart and beautiful

[confident-fear]

This is one of my favorite sites on here because everyone who reblogged it truly believes it because their moms won’t actually see it

[ronandhermy]

What Xie Xheng says: and marry a scholar and bear children

What Xie Zheng thinks: I will crawl out of my grave and murder any man who thinks he can marry you. I'll murder him, I'll murder his entire clan. Your children are my children and they will never call another man father.

[yingtan]

PURSUIT OF JADE 逐玉 (2026) — It's okay. Everything will be okay.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Silliness aside, I love the little touches about class issues in Pursuit of Jade. It is very clear that the magistrate doesn't usually deal with people who know the law. He is used to doing whatever he wants because no one is literate enough to oppose him. And it royally pisses Xie Zheng off but only because he knows better.

Also the magistrate immediately turning nice when he sees someone in silk. All the rich people look so extremely out of place in Fan Changyu's neighborhood.

The pawn shop owner knew Fan Chengyu couldn't read that contract when she pawned her hairpin and took advantage of that.

It's funny that Xie Zheng has no idea what things cost and how little people live on but it's also terrifying that Xie Zheng has no idea what things cost and how little people live on because he is part of the ruling class. Money means almost nothing to him and it takes up most of Fan Changyu's mental energy.

Xie Zheng clearly has access to much better medicine than Fan Changyu and the money to pay for it. The thugs who cannot find jobs because of war. Everyone around Fan Changyu being excited to eat pig offal and tails while Xie Zheng cannot bring himself to eat it because he would never be offered such a labour intensive piece of an animal and it's gross to him. He has the luxury to find calories gross. It goes on and on

[background-character-341]

Still not over the perfect tragedy of Granny Kang.

Because its like. At no point do we like her. Her introduction is her talking shit about Fan Changyu behind her back. She throws rice water at her to make her feel bad about herself. She goes up to a government official to air Fan Changyu's dirty laundry. She shows up at her house and physically berates Fan Changning to the point of driving Fan Changyu over the edge. She is consistently shown to be petty and mean and placed in direct opposition to Fan Changyu. She is the narrative representation of the village's lack of acceptance for her.

At the same time, she is still given narrative complexity. She has two grandsons. One of them is a small child and the other has been conscripted for labor. She's sucking up to Madam Song to try to get her grandson back. She lost her son. She's all alone trying to take care of her family. Madam Song is slowly abandoning her as she climbs up the social ladder, taking her hopes of reuiniting her family with her. She's mean and petty, yes, but she's been dealt a horrible hand by life.

And because both of these aspects of her character are revealed slowly and in parallel to each other, it gives her an extra layer of emotional depth. The story consistently shows her continuing to choose to be awful to Fan Changyu, long after everyone else has decided it's gone far enough. At the same time, we are never allowed to forget her circumstances and how they drove her to be the way she is. Her actions are never excused, but they are deliberately humanized. She feels like a person even when she is being an awful one.

And this all feels like its setting up for a redemption arc for Granny Kang. We even get that moment when Xie Zheng is writing couplets for everyone where Granny Kang shows up and Fan Changyu allows her to request a couplet. And for a moment it looks like they could even reconcile someday in the future, if only for the peace of the community Fan Changyu cares so much about.

Fast forward to the bandit attack. For whatever reason, Granny Kang and her grandson did not go hide in the cellar with the rest of the villagers Fan Changyu saved. I wonder if she didn't know about it, didn't make it in time, or simply thought that Fan Changyu wouldn't let her in. Either way, she was outside, hiding with her grandson, trying to keep both of them alive, when she heard Fan Changning leave her hiding place and start calling out for her sister.

And the thing is that she didn't have to go grab Fan Changning. She was risking exposing herself and exposing her grandson by doing so. The Granny Kang from the beginning of the story probably wouldn't have. But not only did she do that, when the bandits started closing in on them, she also left her hiding place, knowing that she would die, to try to distract them away from the children.

It's such an act of human kindness, from a character who was so awful for so much of the story. And it really drives home the horror of the situation in a very visceral way. These are monsters attacking them. The smallest acts of kindness get utterly destroyed by them.

Because the other thing is that at the end of the day it didn't change anything. Granny Kang died. The children got found out. Fan Changning is in the hands of bandits and her grandson's fate is unknown. And probably she knew that it wouldn't matter. But she still went out there and tried to do something. Granny Kang's most selfless act of the whole story, and it got witnessed by the two children she didn't manage to save, and the bandits that killed her.

I do wonder how Changning will remember her, when she gets older and has the emotional range to see all the facets of her.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Pursuit of Jade text posts, 1/? (two)

[melonatures]

one thing i enjoy about chasing jade that i didn't fully realize from the webnovel is how objectively, it's silly that changyu always insists on protecting xie zheng (because he's a war hero and general, is as absurdly strong as she is, is incredibly skilled in martial arts, and is prone to violence/is always 10 seconds away from that delicious phrase c-webnovels use, "a murderous/killing aura" asdfghjkl--like it's silly in terms of dramatic irony because we know he's not really a weak scholar refugee, not because changyu's not up to the task; she very much *is* able to protect him)--and yet it's her determination to protect him and take care of him that's framed as the root of his attraction and devotion to her. and so he does need her protection, not physically, but like spiritually/psychically/emotionally. her protection offers him an essential nourishment he's lacked since his parents' unfair and fucked up deaths and which he's never expected of anyone since--and which she offers without his asking.

i also really like that for all xie zheng's violent inclinations, he's basically a decent person, like changyu pointed out to song yan. he's good with changning; he makes sure the comic relief thugs don't steal the deed of her house; he takes note of the ways people demean and cheat her and prepares in advance to argue against them; he's rich and basically clueless about the daily lives of the vast majority of people, but he doesn't treat her with contempt when he realizes she's not fully literate; he's patient, shows thankfulness, is helpful around the house, and willingly fits into changyu's life.

[background-character-341]

So so obsessed with the ways that Xie Zheng finds to insert himself within the already established dynamics of Fan Changyu's family and her life.

It's the care and affection he shows for Changning. He saw how important her sister was to her and resolved to be her big brother, to care for her and look out for her like Changyu does, to play with her and let her drag him around as she likes. A small child dragging around the fearsome Marquis of Wu'an. It's the way that when they are attacked his first priority is to protect Changning, when he has to fight he tells her to look away and count to ten like Changyu did, and when Changyu finally arrives he tells her to grab her sister and run, knowing that he will die facing those men alone but still understanding that whatever budding relationship they have, it will never come close to the responsibility she has for her sister.

It's the interest he takes in her job, reassuring her that is doesn't scare or disgust him, asking to help so she can show him how it's done, buying her hand cream so that she can continue working without hurting herself. It's the way that he sees her powerwalking across town followed by a gang of thugs and follows her, not to stop her, not to fight her battles for her, but to quietly step in at the very last moment to make sure that the conversation ends when she wanted it to.

It's how he immediately promised her to help her against her uncle in court and then followed through on it, almost exposing his identity for the sake of protecting her.

It's the way he writes an itemized receipt of everything the Song family owes her so that he can back her up the next time she has to ask them for her due.

It's the way the narrative constantly mirrors them, making Xie Zheng take his cues from her. We see her fight off people trying to steal her house; the next time they come he does the same. We see her tell Changning not to look; when he is forced to fight in front of her he does the same. We see her standing up for herself over and over again and rather than trying to fight her battles for her he simply stands to the side and gives her whatever support she might need.

It's funny because it seems like Xie Zheng really did mean it when he said that he would do whatever she said (though I'm sure we'll see him break that promise more than once, especially now that the court seems to be getting more involved in the plot). Their marriage may be fake, but Xie Zheng is certainly behaving like a matrilocal husband.

[cyrjovie]

Xie Zheng, any chance he gets: I'm married *divorce letter is in his hand* this? Ignore it. I'm married. My wife sent me these candies, the only sweets I eat. Sui Yuanqing has my wife's sister, I'm going to save her at the risk of my own life and 1,000 of my men, but our lives are only at risk if we fail, and we won't because I WILL save my wife's sister. *pauses for a few moments* Have I told you about my incredible wife and her sister?

Fan Changyu, at least a few times a day: I'm looking for my husband. *divorce letter in bag* don't look at that. My Yan Zheng is too good at martial arts to die in battle, so I'm going to find him, make sure he's okay, and then see about bringing him home. Have I mentioned he married into my family and is very smart and handsome and good at martial arts?

[rybacanu]

Let me carry her. On this street, it seems like all the children are carried by their fathers or brothers.

PURSUIT OF JADE ⁃ 逐玉 (2026) Episode 14.

[itsmeimcathy]

when xie zheng calmly yet viciously stabbed the guy who wanted to sell/kill his wife and then used the knife as a handle to drag him slowly on his knees towards him. yeah

[krushing]

I keep seeing things. Why? Why? Why on earth?

연인 / MY DEAREST (2023) EP. 13

[my-little-random-world]

MY DEAREST/연인 (2023)

[heungminie]