(spoilers for 2ha)
ugh currently obsessed with a plot bunny of taixun-jun just capturing xue meng instead of attacking post-assassination attempt to trap him in sisheng peak with cwn. his reasoning is that he made a deal with cwn but like obviously he needs to make people understand they can't just stab the emperor so like...
but it soon becomes very clear that it's very much his delusional ass trying to recreate their time on sisheng peak with the four of them together, with song qiutong as shi mei.
xue meng and chu wanning are forced to behave and play along with each other's lives as leverage, and song qiutong's leverage is,,,song qiutong lol she was already playing shi mei so it's whatever
i think it could actually be so interesting exploring their dynamics both past and present like this; sqt would definitely be the first to catch on, i think, bc the other tree are too deep in the trees to see the forest, so to speak; at least initially
i wonder how she'd interact knowing her survival now hinges on not just playing smj herself but smj as part of the group; she needs the other two to treat her like smj for it to work. particularly xm who i can't imagine she'd like and who's too,,,xue meng to just smoothly go with it (he's also the last of the three to realize they're basically playing house now; txj more or less knew from the jump but has that shit Buried and Will Not acknowledge it even to himself) and she has to act respectful and cool with chu wanning too, knowing full well her husband's in his chambers every night
which would also be somehow even more fucked uppp with xue meng in the mix of course; i actually imagine mo ran toning it down or at least turning it into a game of almost getting caught or partial voyurism, just enough to fuck with their heads but not extreme enough to shatter the illusion they're all delicately living in.
xue meng and mo ran's relationship would also be unhinged because despite everything i don't think txj actually hates him that much? so he's just smiling and easily playing up the tyrant but teasing cousin angle with his usual dose of insanity, while xue meng is less bird and more like a feral fucking cat ready to tear out his throat and just barely stopped by cwn and, despite it all, deeeeeeeeeep down inside, the memory of the little boy he'd met
so basically think dead dove fucked up domestic fluff with underlying plot and angst and some genuinely nice moments thrown in for flavour which just confuses the emotional clusterfuck even more, all interspersed with outside shots of poor mei hanxue trying desperately to rescue xue meng while xue meng and chu wanning desperately try to keep him alive from the inside lmaoo i want this to have a lowkey crack treated way too seriously vibe (so like canon, basically)
