40+ year old fangirl, currently obsessed with The Untamed and other Chinese Dramas. Supporter of Director Nie's nefarious schemes. Happily taking prompts and asks!
I was about to update my pinned post with the fics I've written, but the number has gone up SO MUCH since my last update that the post would be far too long (and I have no desire to be "colours of the sky" long!). Therefore, I thought I'd try something different for my Tumblr pinned post.
About Me and What I Write
What's Your Name: JaimeBlue - I have been JaimeBlue online in some way, shape, or form since before the millenium, so if you see the name and start thinking about Joxer the Mighty (Xena/Hercules) or Tim O'Neill (SeaQuest - hence the sq in my Tumblr handle), or even as the weirdo who loved to play Percy Weasley, Ernie MacMillan, and Justin Finch-Fletchley in HP RPGs a decade or more ago, then yeah, that's me.
What is Your Current Fandom: The Untamed/Modao Zushi - yes, I went down the Chinese Drama rabbit hole hard and have yet to come up for air - though while I watch and enjoy a few, the only one I'm active in and writing for is The Untamed.
What Characters Do You Love: Nie Huaisang, Nie Mingjue, Nie Zonghui (I sense a trend lol), Jiang Cheng, Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao, Jin Zixun (don't judge me!!! okay, you can judge me a little), Jin Zixuan, Yu Ziyuan, Luo QingYang/Mianmian... I enjoy many more than that, but I take particular joy in writing for each of them. Basically the only character I really can't stand and is irredeemable is Jin Guangshan (fuck JGS!) but I'll even write him for the right story.
Favourite Pairings?: Nie Huaisang/Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang/Jin Guangyao, Nie Huaisang/Nie Zonghui, Nie Huaisang/Jin Zixun - I love and write many more than that, but to list everything I enjoy would take forever.
Do You Take Asks/Prompts/Requests?: A resounding YES. I love hearing from people who like what I've written enough to want more, and prompts give me a chance to play and stretch my wings, so to speak. And with so many of my current fics being longer/long-term projects, having some shorter one-shots helps to keep me sharp.
Feel free to submit a prompt on my Personal AO3 Prompt Meme.
What Prompts Are You Taking?: Anything about the characters I love (see above), but am always happy to try something new. I have a particular love for the Nie Sect, of course, and love headcanons about them.
What Prompts Are You NOT Taking?: At the moment, WangXian. I know, it's the biggest pairing in the fandom, and while I'll always have affection for the boys and how they drew me into the story, they just don't inspire me much. I enjoy them as secondary characters, or outsider POVs on those I enjoy, but I'd rather focus my writing on those that bring me joy and may not always get as much attention in the fandom.
All right, you say you're a writer - so what have you actually written?
The short answer: here is what I have on AO3.
The longer answer(s): here is where I get to toot my own horn a little :D Here's a sample of what I've written online and why I think they would give a good idea of who I am and what I write.
Reality is Overrated: (Gen with very minor NHS/OMC) I think this is the posted fic I'm proudest of. It's a "stuck in a dream" fic where Nie Huaisang wakes up with his family alive all around him and the news that he had an accident which explains why he has lost some memories. The only person who sees anything wrong is Jin Zixun, who keeps trying to tell him that none of it is real. This was from a MDZS Kink Meme Prompt (issued by Fortune_Maiden!) asking for a fic inspired by the Superman comic plotline of "For The Man Who Has Everything" that just took over my brain, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out, down to the ending which hadn't been part of the original plotting but just brought the story around to a satisfying end.
The Nie Sect Murder Tortoises Series: (some Gen, some SangYao, other pairings occasionally) This started out with a crack fic about Nie Huaisang domesticating the Tortoise of Slaughter in Qishan, and turned into a whole universe unto itself. It even has lore, art, and a fic written by another author (Fortune_Maiden - my conversation with her about NHS and spiritual tortoises was what inspired the idea in the first place). This is probably what's been read most of anything I've done, so you are welcome to join us all in the murder tortoise crackiness!
Winning the Game: (Gen, but with minor NHS/OMC content and a torture scene) This was my answer to the question "What happened to Nie Huaisang after he passed out at the indoctrination camp in The Untamed?" It's angsty, hurt/comfort, but also something I'm terribly proud of. NHS is a survivor and often underestimated, and these are on full display in this fic.
Nothing Mutt-ers As Much As You: (Gen, Jin Ling & Jiang Cheng) Short and sweet fic about JC being caught asleep in a pile of puppies, but it's a great, tender moment between nephew and uncle, a relationship I adore and frankly should write more of (but damn I don't write post-canon much).
And the rise to the top is a fall from below: (can be read as either Gen or SangYao) I love unconventional takes on tropes, so in this one I did a take on the soulmate AU with Nie Huaisang & Jin Guangyao as soulmates. NHS discovers JGY is his soulmate when he fails at killing him, because in this au, a person is physically incapable of killing their soulmate, and the story is an example of the entwined love and hate that make NHS and JGY such wonderful compelling characters to play off of each other. I really do love them even when I torture them so!
The Good, The Bad, and the Dirty: (mostly Gen with minor NHS/NZH) Bodyswap shenanigans! NHS, JGY, NMJ, and LXC all wake up in different bodies and have to figure out what happened, what to do about it, and how to not let anyone in on the fact that they aren't who they say they are. I had so much fun writing this! But if there's one thing to read it for, it's the scene with NMJ trying to pass as JGY in Koi Tower. It was my FAVOURITE scene to write and was so satisfying!!!!
Trouble is My Business: (SangCheng) The San Francisco Prohibition era AU that nobody asked for but I gave them anyway. I got to learn a little about SF Chinatown, dust off my love for the music and general atmosphere of the era, and got to write my fav couple in the middle of it all. What more could I ask for?
A Miracle Engulfed in Flames: (SangCheng - Explicit) This is the fic I wrote for the Reverse Big Bang in partnership with Mikoiifish, an amazing artist that I worked so well with, I've commissioned her to create images for another project. This story is an au with major fantasy/fairy-tale elements and I had to wrack my brain a few times to get the lore just right and the causes and effects of things, and I think the final product is something I'm quite proud of :D And of course Mikoiifish's art is AMAZING. Open the link for that alone!
They Can Love Me Better: (Nie Huaisang/Jiang Cheng/Qin Su revenge triad) JGY gets his comeuppance by the three people he'd least suspect. It all started with some wonderful people on Tumblr putting forward the SangChengSu agenda, and I've happily subscribed to it and written it twice (with at least one more to come). It just turned out to be such a great scene showing the dynamics of the three, and the sexiness of them (nothing graphic, but you can feel the heat between them), all written from JGY's pov as he gets owned. Yeah, this was a fun one :D
They Get Around: (NHS/multi, LQY/multi) Okay, this is a little fic I wrote that not many have read but I love the hell out of it! It was an experiment in writing mostly through dialogue (dialogue in general is one of my strengths and something I love to write), so by a certain point you're identifying the characters by the way they talk and how they address each other (e.g. only Wei Wuxian calls Nie Huaisang "Nie-xiong"), but even more, it was a humorous take on many of my favourite ships. The idea is that it's a modern day au where NHS & LQY are friends having bad luck in love, and set each other up on blind dates with people found for them online. Nothing graphic, pure fun, and I love how it turned out.
Lover, Please Stay: (NHS/LWJ) This I wrote for the MDZS Mixtape Exchange 2022. The song I was given was AMAZING and really inspired me, and I think the story came out well to bring out some of the lyrics and emotions in the song. The idea is that after WWX's death and LWJ's beating at the hands of the Lan Elders, he goes to Qinghe to heal and NHS becomes his caretaker. The road to love isn't always clear-cut, particularly when you know the other person's heart already belongs to someone, but sometimes things actually do work out in the end.
I'll Carry Your Load: (NHS/NZH - Explicit) 5 Times Nie Zonghui carried Nie Huaisang's Saber (and 1+1 time Huaisang did the carrying). This was a passion project of mine, and involved more than a bit of emotion at the end - it's basically the course of NHS & NZH falling in love with each other through tales of NZH carrying NHS' saber - very much inspired by the scene in Fatal Journey where the Nie are being attacked outside the saber tomb and NHS just reaches over and takes one of NZH's twin sabers as if he'd done it a million times before. I love SangHui to pieces! But yeah, be prepared for potential tears.
When Fate Opens a Window, Let Us Fly Through It: (NieLan with mischievous baby bros) A take on the Lan Ribbon Marriage trope with NMJ waking up bound with LXC 'by accident'. The Nie and the Lan are so much fun to write together, and damn it, NMJ deserves some happiness!!!
A Night at the Purple Peony: (NHS/Surprise - Explicit) One of my FAVOURITE fics I've written because not only did I have so much fun writing it, but the surprise pairing has become a HUGE guilty pleasure of mine and I've written often since. So yeah :D The plot is that NHS is in the mundane world at a gay club he's been told about, a place where men can go to meet one another in private. He and many others are masked, and he has an intimate night with one... and one day discovers that man is someone he knows in the Jianghu. I'm particuarly proud of the fan dancing seduction scene ;)
I Will Never be Satisfied: (Yu Ziyuan/Multiple - Explicit) The Yu Ziyuan gets gangbanged fic that one person on the Kink Meme asked for and I had a fun time writing. No higher meaning, just sex, but I'm pretty damned pleased with how it turned out :D
Would I Spend Forever Here and Not Be Satisfied: (NHS/OFC - Explicit, NonCon, Necrophilia) In a strange way, this fic is me in a nutshell. I saw a prompt and got an idea for it, and in the process of writing what was supposed to be an excuse to write a necrophilia scene, I created LORE and questions about right/wrong, the needs of the many vs the needs of the one, complete with NHS' innate desire for vengeance. And it's good! (At least I think so.)
So yeah, that's me in a big nutshell. Please feel free to read, like and comment if you enjoy them! And I'm always up for asks/prompts/requests.
never be good at your job. it's a trap. they'll just give you more and harder stuff to do and it'll pull you away from your true passion of writing gay fanfiction for people on the internet
One thing CQL didn’t address which maybe it should have addressed is how Nie Huaisang feels about the Wen being in the Cloud Recesses with him. I assume he knows Wen Ruohan killed his father; it seems to be quite common knowledge, and if it isn’t I doubt Nie Mingjue would have kept it secret from him. He is rather outspoken anti-Wen, Nie Huaisang can presumably trace this back to when their father died. The Wen bursting into Cloud Recesses must be at the very least unnerving. Imagine having to sit in lectures and at breakfast with your father’s killers, or at least people who supported, celebrated and profited from his death. What if they’ll try to kill him as well? What if they used this fear to torment Nie Huaisang? Wen Chao seems like the type to at least imply a lot about papa Nie’s death if not mention to it outright. And that’s not to mention how Nie Mingjue feels about it; I assume Meng Yao tells him. Should he pull his didi out of camp? Imagine the danger he could be him. He saw first hand what the Wen did to his father, what if they did it to his brother? What if they use Huaisang to get through to him? I’m surprised the show doesn’t remark at all on the fact that Nie Huaisangs’ classmates are his fathers’ killers!
This is a very interesting point! I'd not thought about that before.
It also means that NHS and NMJ's reactions to the Wen clan's demand that all the other clans send an heir to them for indoctrination should have been stronger at least. NMJ should have fought tooth and nail not to relinquish NHS into their hands. NHS should have been terrified.
All of this! On top of that for me is the scene where the Wen are collecting everyone's swords. Papa Nie's death was precipitated when his sword was shattered by WRH, NHS knows that, so how terrified was he that the Wen might try the same to him? His amenable behaviour at the moment could be to not bring attention to it - don't remind them of ways they can hurt you if it seems they've forgotten! But the moment he's behind closed doors, I bet he'd be shaking and praying Wen Chao doesn't do anything to his saber - he may not have strong cultivation, but he doesn't know if that's enough to spare him from his father's fate.
Friend and I did a challenge where we didn’t tell each other what MDZS character we were going to draw for an art collab and this is how it turned out LMFAO (dog is our other friends self proclaimed mdzs oc❤️)
like the betrayal’s always going to be worse if they cared about you and it didn’t matter. someone discards you because they didn’t give a shit, then you can be angry about that, you can feel vindicated in that, you can get over it. but if they can look you in the eyes and say “I love you. I would make the same choice again.” You will never sleep peacefully again, is all.
“I thought they cared about me, but they were lying this whole time.” <- tired. boring. removes all the nuance of this relationship to make it easier to move on from.
“I thought they cared about me, and I was right, and every minute they were there for me, every time they said they were proud, every laugh we shared leaning against each other bruised and breathless, all of it was real. and they still left me behind. They could put their love aside. I couldn’t.” <- insane. will never leave you alone. reminds you that even the worst people are still people and can still care about even the ones they hurt the most and that undoes neither the harm nor the love.
okay. something about the way i worded this is making people think this is a vent thing about real relationships. and it’s fine if that’s where it took you. but i feel like i need to be transparent here: this be blorboposting. karlach cliffgate and her terrible awful no good very bad betrayal.
still boggles my mind that davrin isn’t Thee hottie of veilguard btw. i mean we All Know Why. but come on. what happened to the inherent charisma of warrior with big shield you guys loved warrior with big shield when it was alistair and cullen
Did anyone ask for this? Does anyone need this? No? Well too bad so sad. Here's a list of Jin Ling's uncles arranged by their degree of Uncle-ness. I should probably elaborate, but if you get it you get it if you don't you don't. Someone has probably already done this, but that's okay. This list is for me and anyone else who lives in a brain like mine. #1 is Peak Uncle and each uncle gets less uncle as the list goes down.
Disclaimer!!!! CQL is my basis for the MDZS lore here, please don't be mad, I'm aware each adaptation is different from the original books, but I'm talking about CQL versions of these characters. Whew okay disclaimer over! Anyways here you go:
#1: Jiang Cheng
There will be no JC hate in this household! I love this man, I will not be taking criticism. For obvious reasons our favorite angry purple man wins my made up award of Peak Jin Ling Uncle. I honestly don't even have to elaborate here.
#2: Jin Guangyao
Yes I know he was secretly a villain and horribly betrayed a lot of people, including Jin Ling and other Jin Ling Uncles, but even if JGY never cared, he had to at least keep up a convincing front of a loving, dedicated uncle for Jin Ling's entire life up until the reveal, okay? Jin Ling was the heir of the Lanling Jin sect, and spent a lot of time with JQY learning Jin sect customs and being influenced by him. I know he's committed horrible crimes and would have killed JL if he had to but that has negligible impact on his uncle-ness. He was very Uncle, just a bad uncle. Also look at that face. Come on. JGY you are awarded second place.
#3: Nie Huaisang
We all know Nie Huaisang was getting all those kids, especially Jin Ling, into various sorts of mischief whenever he took an afternoon off of being a mastermind. You're telling me you don't believe Jin Ling was gifted any raunchy yellow books by NHS?? We all know it's not JC or JGY doing it. NHS you get #3! Love you pookie
#4: Wei Wuxian
They've got their history, yes, but Jin Ling comes around and WWX is honestly almost too quick to forgive JL stabbing him. WWX would 100% have fun teasing him, JL would tease back. WWX is the other fun uncle who is a little extra embarrassing, especially since WWX and Lan Zhan are probably the most gushy gross couple he knows. WWX is determined to embarrass JL like a parent dropping their middle schooler off at a "cool kids" party while blasting Barbie Girl or something on the radio. I firmly believe JC would let JL hang out with WWX on the basis that that's what Yanli would have wanted. It's giving my parents are divorced and they each let the other have visits, but don't talk about the other parent when you're with them. WWX you get #4! Great job considering you were dead for most of your nephew's life.
#5: Lan Xichen
I struggled with LXC's placement. I didn't want to separate LWJ and WWX like that - it doesn't make sense. However!!!! This is my list and I can do what I want. Xichen's a great uncle, someone calm to go to who will be firm but gentle in his guidance. He'd let the kids, including Jin Ling, have some fun. So by vibes and relation to LWJ and therefore WWX (as well as the fact that I love LXC too much to put him any lower), LXC has to go no lower than #5! (Okay, a little off topic, but why aren't we talking about how attractive this man is??)
#6: Lan Wangji
WWX and LWJ are a package deal, so of course LWJ is #6 simply by association with WWX. I wanted to put him at #5 but Xichen is more Uncle to me. Uncle #6!
#7: Nie Mingjue
NMJ's qi deviation happened soon after Jin Ling was born, but I'm sure NHS kept his memory alive by telling Jin Ling stories every now and then. I think he probably would have been a good uncle. Minus 10 points from Gryffindor for the whole fierce corpse thing at the temple. Not a good first impression for JL, I have to say.
#8: Mo Xuanyu
Did JL even know Mo Xuanyu existed before he sacrificed his body to WWX? Hard to be an uncle when you don't even know each other. MXY was at most a vague concept of an uncle for Jin Ling.
#9: Jin Zixun
Honestly forgettable. Who wants to remember this jerk anyways. It's a good thing he died before Jin Ling met him.
Honorary Uncle: Wen Ning
Ok is he technically related to JL by blood or sworn brotherhood or anything? No, but how is he not Uncle? Cute Uncle? Even pookier than NHS, the Honorary Uncle Award is given to Wen Ning. (Also I ship Lan Sizhui and JL , so since Wen Ning is basically equivalent to Sizhui's uncle, he's JL's headcanon uncle-in-law at some point??)
"what do you MEAN you've been in lotus pier for ONE (1) HOUR and you've already FALLEN into the lake and you had to be SAVED FROM DYING by JIANG WANYIN?!?"
"da-ge did u know his eyes look almost purple under the yunmeng sun..."
I need people complaining about Yanli being betrothed to her mother's friend's son to seriously understand that it is significantly more important to have a loving and supportive mother-in-law than a loving and supportive husband in an arranged marriage and as Madam Yu must have known, Madam Jin delivers everytime.
#fascinating thoughts#it is still super sad thought that madame yu felt the need to arrange a marriage#especially when JFM was so willing to just let her fall in love with whoever when the time came#so to madame Yu it still comes down either to power or a repetition of harmful generational cycles#like yes great that madame yu was intentional about it in terms of arranging a marriage where her daughter would have new supportive family#but uh.... still#complicated situation all around#like in today's society we don't think like that#I'd personally rather have a loving supportive husband than a supportive mother in law for example#because HE'S gonna be her partner the father of her kids and the leader of the clan someday#am I making sense?#just complicated#great point though genuinely#mdzs#mdzs analysis
I think this is the exact type of sentiment I wished to contradict with my post? I may not manage to phrase this situation particularly well, but please bear with me about this.
Firstly, I think it is mentioned that Jiang Yanli is already quite taken with Jin Zixuan, but Jiang Fengmian broke up that engagement because it was clear that Jin Zixuan did not have the same regard for her. This, of course, is because Jin Zixuan seemed, in part, to believe she and Wei Wuxian had something going on, but overall it was actually a pretty sensible decision, and it is not nice to be married to a man who does not even respect you. She might have easily become the next Madam Jin or Madam Yu if such resentment were allowed to fester.
However, from a practical standpoint, only perhaps 25% of this decision was generational trauma/search for power in Madam Yu's part. I cannot emphasize enough how much of a political move this was, and how close Madam Yu and Madam Jin must have been for this arrangement to exist.
Jiang Yanli, despite being a woman of great inner strength and kindness, is not what one would call a desireable bride. She is indeed the daughter of a clan leader, but her father already has a son and the son-in-law cannot expect to absorb the Jiang. Her father also has a ward with whom she is close in a way that would be socially inappropriate, especially given that the whole world seems to be convinced that both Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli were weak for him and not always in a brotherly way. By herself, she is considered plain and weak, with few or no achievements to her name. Nearly everything about this is misogynistic, but it is also the reality that adult Jiang Yanli would have to, and likely did, navigate.
Jiang Yanli is extremely fortunate in that she has a father who is either wholly disinterested in this marriage business or willing to let her find someone to fall in love with (though how she's going to do that when apparently she doesn't go out as much is beyond me, maybe he was waiting for someone to come asking?) and a brother who pretty much worships the ground she walks on. That being said, it is practically an expectation for women to marry (and I don't think we have a single unmarried lady in MDZS except Wen Qing, whose life is presumably disrupted and then ended too soon, and Baoshan Sanren, who might as well have had a husband) both at that time and today.
Madam Jin, in this scenario, is the second mother. It is obvious that she is extremely politically powerful, to the point where her husband the sect leader did not have any concubines in spite of sleeping with any woman he could find, and apparently did not ever take in a bastard despite having only one son until Jin Guangyao became too important to ignore. She was, in fact, so powerful and important that she could singularly dictate who the wife of the heir and the future Madam Jin would be and chose a bride and alliance the literal sect leader was not keen on. This is the kind of protection Madam Yu wants Jiang Yanli to have. I genuinely cannot emphasize enough how much trouble a mother-in-law can cause you both physically and mentally (women where I live have been literally murdered about it in this very century) and while I cannot comment on Chinese dating cultures in modern times (any Chinese people reading this please share insights if you want to!), I don't see how this wouldn't have been an issue then. This is especially true if you belong to royalty/nobility because there the power struggle exists beyond simple domestic matters. As a woman, you would be expected to co-ordinate with and work with her for the household, and your only line of defense against any harassment would be your husband's love and favour, who, in Jin Zixuan's case and every other case, might just find her a tad too boring or unattractive and take a concubine, or just simply grow tired of having a wife who could not get along with his mother.
(As an aside, consider checking out the Lu family drama to see the kind of struggles that would exist among nobility and how much power women could have. I'm pretty sure there is a cdrama with Empress Lu but the name escapes me. She, like most other Empresses, is both fascinating and ruthless and I love her so much.)
Is this misogynistic on the husband's part to do and Madam Yu's part to consider? Yes. This is also incredibly pragmatic. So apart from the 25% generational trauma and power struggle and the absolute terror she would have felt about her own position and her friend's being repeated for her daughter, 75% of it was actually extremely well-thought out for Jiang Yanli's safety and long-term benefit, and from what we know, Jiang Yanli, if not particularly over-enthusiastic, was certainly willing and approving of the groom (even if he could really do with some common sense).
ETA: Post canon Wei Wuxian in the Cloud Recesses is a very mild but good example of the kind of problems newlywed women might face from non-supportive in-laws in spite of having a supportive husband. While Lan Wangji thinks the world of him and tries his best to mitigate effects, Wei Wuxian has to adjust large parts of his life and personality in order to coexist peacefully with the Lan and apparently even then the children get in trouble for interacting with him. It is also notable that he and husband spend a lot of their time escaping travelling, which is not an option a bride in a noble household might always have.
