So I've been thinking about post-canon Li Lianhua lately, in the happy version of the ending where *waves hands* he lives and is detoxified of the poison, but he has lingering effects from all the years of damage. And let's say, for argument's sake, one of those effects is permanently blurred eyesight.
One day Fang Duobing just has a brain storm and announces he has to go home for a while. Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng are a little confused about this rather abrupt departure, but ok sure, have fun kid?
So, he's gone for a few weeks, and when he comes back he's hauling this large case of stuff that clinks as he moves. And he sits Li Lianhua down, flips open the case and reveals..... lenses. Just a whole bunch of glass lenses.
And he starts handing them to Li Lianhua and asking him to look through them at different things around Lotus Tower. And Li Lianhua is still quite bemused about all this, but catches on quickly when he looks down the length of the house and can actually see Di Feisheng leaning against the wall and make out his scowl.
So once Fang Duobing is happy with his lens selection, he slides them into a pair of frames and plops them onto Li Lianhua's face.
And Li Lianhua is still very skeptical ("...Xiaobao, I look ridiculous.") but Di Feisheng just grumbles back at him: "You may look ridiculous, but you'll also be able to look AT things again, so who cares?"
So Li Lianhua accepts the fact that he'll look a little ridiculous and starts wearing the things and is secretly very happy that Xiaobao came up with this idea just to help him.
Addendum:
And the next time they're at Tianji Hall, He Xiaohui just gasps at him and then rounds on Fang Duobing. "XIAOBAO. YOU LET HIM RUN AROUND LIKE THIS? WE CAN DO BETTER." And by the next day, she has 10 new frame options for Li Lianhua to try that are far less clunky and far more stylish.
I have no idea how I watched this show as many times as I have and did not cotton on to the fact that the second person in this dungeon was Wuyan until YESTERDAY. OTZ I suppose, in my defense, it is VERY badly lit, but STILL. His face is very distinctive, even with his hair out of its customary ponytail. Oops? XD
Anyway, now I'm sitting here unable to stop thinking about Yan-wang Xunming (and WHY exactly does that get translated as "King Xunming of YAMA?") and Wuyan trapped together in this dungeon for the entire time that Di Feisheng was traveling with Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing as A-Fei. The last they heard of him was him going off to confront Jiao Liqiao and then he disappears and Jiao Liqiao routs out all the remaining people loyal to him and takes over Jinyuanmeng, rebranding it as her own.
Wuyan and the three kings are the only people Di Feisheng was really close to in Jinyuanmeng. They're the only people he trusted even a little. And now they're stuck here in this dungeon, not knowing if their Zunshang is even alive or dead. And it's very clear from how quickly they break their chains when Di Feisheng arrives that they could have gotten out at any time, so why didn't they? Why didn't they leave and go looking for Di Feisheng? Were they biding their time? Hoping to gather useful intel? Did they really believe he was dead and were waiting for an advantageous time to avenge him? I WANT TO KNOW. THE MOTIVATION.
(Side note: DAMN but Wuyan looks like 10 miles of badly traveled road. He has absolutely been put through the wringer here and I want someone to cuddle him. TT^TT)
AND THEN THERE'S THIS NONSENSE:
WUYAN. *headdesk* ARE YOU SERIOUS.
YOU NEVER THOUGHT.
THAT JIAO LIQIAO.
WOULD CONSPIRE WITH OUTSIDERS AGAINST HIM???
After everything she's done both recently and 10 years ago to do exactly that??? Either Wuyan is the WORST kind of blind romantic or he has so much faith in Di Feisheng's ability to be the most terrifying motherfucker in every room that he never thought in a million years that Jiao Liqiao would have the balls to stand up to him, much less successfully take him down.
Either way it's... a little bit adorable? And there's no question that that blind faith in Di Feisheng is a good deal of what makes him good at his job, but it's also given him some giant blind spots that can't be helpful.
Either way, I'm now mentally reevaluating my opinion on his age. I think the Three Kings were probably about of an age with Di Feisheng or fairly close, maybe a year or two off in either direction. But now I think Wuyan must have been younger--just enough younger that that blind faith had a chance to root and grow.
...and now I want to write all the fic about their imprisonment leading up to this episode (and them trying to comfort each other that Di Feisheng is probably FINE without trying to act like that's what they're doing) and their background--when they met, how they formed Jinyuanmeng, just... bb!Wuyan tagging along with Di Feisheng and the boys who would become the Three Kings and doing his best to keep up even if it kills him.
*...sigh*
*tosses the new plot bunny into the pile with the rest of them*
Li Lianhua must have found him on the street, orphaned, abandoned, scrounging for scraps, maybe a little ragged, a little worse for wear. Maybe he felt a kinship, remembered a time long ago when he'd been just as small, just as raggedy, just as hungry: for a scrap of food, a kind word, a morsel of affection.
So when he leaves the town, groceries in one hand and the profits of his turnip sales in the other, maybe he has this rough, scrappy little dog tucked into his robes, as well. And that little body shakes against him, from the cold, from the fear of the unknown, from the excitement of the smell of the meat, he couldn't say. But a soft word and a pat calms him down almost instantly and he's quiet for the rest of the walk.
He takes to life in the Lotus Tower like he was born to it, making himself at home in Li Lianhua's bed and sitting patiently waiting for scraps as he cooks. Li Lianhua figures out quickly that he'll eat almost anything, even things he shouldn't, and that feeling of kinship rises up momentarily to throttle his breath and warm his eyes with wetness that doesn't quite spill over. He's known that feeling of hunger, of having to decide between death by starvation and death by food poisoning and he's much, much more careful with his herbs after that because Huli Jing should never have to make that choice.
He builds a small house on the side porch, wanting Huli Jing to have his own space where he can feel safe and be protected while Li Lianhua is away. But he sometimes seems like a fox spirit in truth, because he'll work his way out of the little house and into Li Lianhua's bed again whenever he sees fit.
But Li Lianhua can't force himself to invest in a better lock or to restrict Huli Jing's freedom in any way and on some nights he's even grateful for the dog's ingenuity. Nights when the poison in his veins steals his breath or nightmares from the past throw him shaking and sweating into wakefulness and Huli Jing is there, a warm presence against his hip, under his hands, over his legs, he's grateful that locks can no more contain Huli Jing than they can him.
And though he'd never admit it, Huli Jing is a balm of another kind, as well. He's the only friend Li Lianhua allows himself to keep. The only companionship he has until another pair of hopeful sparkling eyes--in a human puppy's face, this time--throws his entire carefully planned existence into turmoil.
It's no wonder Huli Jing takes so long to warm up to him.
ETA: Now cleaned up and with an AO3 link over here.
fandom asks: 6,10 and 12 for DMBJ? (@fan-man-huaisang)
Thanks for the ask, @fan-man-huaisang!
[If anyone else wants to send asks, here is the meme.]
6. when you first think of the fandom, what image comes to mind?
Already answered here.
10. what song do you associate with a ship?
Kind of answered here. Unless a song really smacks me across the face with how perfect it is for a person or a ship, then I don't really tend to associate them that way.
12. favorite hc for a ship, character, etc.
Xiaoge has the BIGGEST sweet tooth. And an appreciation for all kinds of other "unhealthy" food. Because he was never allowed that as a child, and then he didn't allow it to himself as an adult. And it wasn't until meeting Wu Xie and Pangzi that he figured out he was ALLOWED to want things. Even if they were frivolous things. Even if they weren't "good" for him or might get him out of peak fighting condition.
But the longer he was with Wu Xie and Pangzi, the more he understood that they didn't have an ulterior motive for wanting to know what he liked other than wanting him to HAVE the things he likes. The things that make him happy. And one day, once he'd started to trust in that a little, he maybe stole a dessert off of Wu Xie's plate. And when Wu Xie noticed, he wasn't mad (as part of Xiaoge expected he would be), he was DELIGHTED. And so Pangzi started making all kinds of sweet desserts and letting Xiaoge try them to figure out which ones he liked, and when Wu Xie discovered he liked street food, he indulged him in that whenever he caught Xiaoge looking at a food truck.
And between Wu Xie and Pangzi, they discover all of Xiaoge's favorite foods and favorite desserts and always make sure that the things he likes are readily available for him. ^_^
I'm on mobile and lazy, so let's see, number 4 (books) with Zhu Yilong, Luo Fusheng, and Wu Xie? (Or honestly most of the numbers with those three)
for the FMK Alternatives meme.
write a book with, read a book to, hit with a book
Ooooooo... INTERESTING SELECTION. OK, so while my instinctive response would be to write a book with Wu Xie, our interests diverge SO HARD and we’re both ADHD hyperfixation disasters, so I feel like... that would not work out as well as it sounds like it would at first blush. XD And I am NOT hitting either Z1L or Luo Fusheng with a book (the former because WOW, he does NOT DESERVE THAT EVER TT^TT, and the latter because he’s had way too MUCH of that and does not deserve it, either). So... sorry, Wu Xie, but that means I’m hitting YOU with the book, and to be PERFECTLY HONEST... you probably did something to deserve it. XD
I am going to read a book to Luo Fusheng, because he is a GIANT THEATRE NERD and loves to spend soft, quiet time with people he cares about, so I think we could make a very pleasant evening of it by inviting some of his friends and having a dramatic readalong with appropriate pauses for breaking out in song and acting out of scenes. ^_^
Which means I’m writing a book with Zhu Yilong and honestly, I think that could work out pretty well? Because he’s done some really fun and interesting and exciting things in his life and been to many fun places, and I could listen to that man talk ALL DAY, so I could see myself quite happily ghost-writing an autobiography for him or something. ;D
OK, that one went in directions I didn’t expect, but FUN. XD Thanks for that one! ;D If anyone else want to send any, feel free!
Why, @spicymayoblandketchup, I would be DELIGHTED. ;D
If anyone else would like to send me canons to cross over/fuse, feel free! ^_^
OK, so back when I was in high school, there was this little show called "Xena: Warrior Princess" that took place in Ancient Greece. And one of the episode was an episode set in the future of the show circa the 1930s in which the reincarnations of Xena and Gabrielle happened upon a tomb where the spirit of Xena was locked away.
...I hope you see where I'm going with this. ;D
I'm envisioning the Iron Triangle doing their usual: exploring a tomb, narrow escapes, getting into trouble, etc. Only when they get to the main chamber it's... different... than most other tombs they've been in before. It looks almost lived in. Like people have been through there before. Frequently. Eventually they find a secret passage that leads them out of the tomb a different way that they came in, putting them on a narrow trail up a mountain. At this point, they've come this far and they want answers, so they keep going.
They reach the top of the mountain and find... a bustling little village?? Nothing fancy. Quite old fashioned in many ways, but with random little TV antennas and Wi-Fi hotspots perched in some of the trees.
...and then the first ghost runs by.
They're a little spooked, because ghosts?? That's new. But they keep exploring, coming across more and more ghosts as they go. Every now and then the ghosts stop to stare at them, a bit spooked themselves at the presence of these living people, but mostly they're left alone to wander through the village. The first living person they come across is Sizhui. He's not spooked, but he *is* surprised, and he immediately ushers them into his home to explain a few things.
And that's how they end up meeting Wen Ning, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Song Lan, the ghost of Wen Qing and a few other notables. Wu Xie is ecstatic because THINK OF THE POTENTIAL DISCOVERIES. It's possible that Xiaoge starts hatching plans to discover the secret to this "cultivating to immortality" thing and getting them to teach Wu Xie and Pangzi to do it post-haste. But that's a whole other story. ;D
For the multishipper challenge: Wen Qing from the untamed :)
MY GIRL. YES. *_*
Also, @fan-man-huaisang asked for her, too, so I’ll get you both in this one. ^_^
First of all, Wen Qing is the lesbian hero of my HEART and absolutely deserves a girlfriend and no I will NOT take constructive criticism about that. ^_^
My primary ship for her is Jiang Yanli. I think they were building a really beautiful friendship between them while the Jiangs were hiding out in Yiling with Wen Qing and Wen Ning, and I think they’d have a lot to bond over with being big sisters to really troublesome little brothers. And I just think they’d really appreciate each other? And take care of each other? And they just... THEY BOTH DESERVE ALL THE NICE THINGS. INCLUDING EACH OTHER. ^_^
In spite of not having any real canon interactions, I have also seen Wen Qing shipped with Mian Mian and I could ABSOLUTELY get behind that, as well. If Jiang Yanli is soft with a core of steel, then Mian Mian is steel with a core of soft, and I think she’d be a good match for Wen Qing’s rougher side. She’s also long used to translating for someone who is prickly and aggressive and full of reactive pride. ;D I think they’d burn the world down if anyone tried to hurt anyone they loved, but they’d have a hell of a fun time doing it. ;D
Now for a pet “...ship.”
I think it would be fun to see her marry Lan Xichen. Since I’m convinced that Nie Mingjue has “property of Lan Xichen” stamped on him somewhere, then this would free them up to be together and Wen Qing to be with Mian Mian (or the woman of her choice), and it would solve the problem of the Lan Sect Leader being unmarried. ;D
Because @kingesstropolis was kind enough to ask me several questions from the character solidifying meme, and I decided to answer all of them for all four of my central characters, I thought I’d break them up. Otherwise, these would be very VERY long posts. XD
If anyone else would like to ask me questions, I welcome them! Adesina, Braden, and Declan are a poly trio (FxMxM), and Lehana is a younger woman who comes to them for help.
And… here’s the second question!
23. What do they want from a partner? What do they think and feel of sex?
OHOHOHOHO. This is a fun one. ;D
So… a bit of a preemptive explanation. Because of certain aspects of this world (some of which I've figured out, some of which I'm still working on), if a person doesn't marry by the time they're 25 years old, they become kind of a ward of their family or their town or the state. Same deal if they lose their spouse and are unable to remarry. These laws originally came about for somewhat nefarious purposes and essentially remained in place because they were advantageous to this world's 1%/nobility and no one with power wanted to change it.
Adesina: So, we come to Adesina. She is a bit of an unusual character for this world. When Braden and Declan first meet her, she is older than 25 and still unwed. (They're in their very early 20s at the time.) Her family is well aware of this and supports it. She wants to see the world and doesn't want to settle on someone just because her age has forced the situation. She wants to marry for love. She wants to marry the right person, not just the nearest available one. She's looking for someone who will support her the way her family has, who will let her be herself and who will take on their share of the work. She wants someone kind, someone gentle, and who appreciates a good story and even an intellectual pursuit here and there. Between Braden and Declan, she finds everything she wants.
As for sex, she's definitely a sex-positive character. She's into it and she experienced enough to know what she likes, but she's also a little adventurous and willing to try new things. As long as everyone is happy and feeling good, she's down for it. If I were trying to pin down her sexuality, I'd say she's bisexual but with a bit of a preference for men. (…probably a good thing, since she ends up with two of them. ;D)
Lehana: Lehana is aromantic and asexual. She does not want a partner. She does not need a partner. She is just not at all interested in romance or sex or ANY of that. She's never understood it and she doesn't want to. She doesn't understand how it seems to turn even the most sensible people around her into hormonal idiots. And she resents like WHOA the fact that she'll have to marry by the time she's 25 (probably earlier, because alliance marriage) or risk losing her position, especially as she has designs on her mother's throne. (Don't worry, her elder brother ALSO has designs to put Lehana on their mother's throne. He has no desire to be heir, but he has even less desire to see Lehana put in the position of having to have a child when he knows she doesn't ever want to have sex. It's… complicated. But they're working on it. :P)
Braden: Braden is… complicated. And a bit spoilery. So, I think I'll put his and Declan’s answers behind a cut, because they’re both related…
So, Braden is… ironically generally… pretty much straight? Or at the very least, he's bisexual but with a strong preference for women. Then thing is, though, that that hardly matters. Because Braden has had a firm, solid crush on his best friend (Declan) since he was old enough to know what a crush WAS… and probably before then, too. So, his 'type' is pretty much soft and intellectual with a dry, occasionally biting wit, willing to let themself be taken care of (by Braden, of course), willing to let themselves be pampered (again, by Braden)… you get the idea. ;D So, when he meets Adesina and starts to fall for her a little, too (and Declan, lord help all of us, does HIS level best to push them together when he figures out it's mutual OTZ), he kind of panics. Because he loves Declan and he's only EVER loved Declan and now he thinks he might love Adesina and what is he supposed to DO. Fortunately, Adesina has the brain cell that day and knows that there are loopholes in the marriage laws that allow three people to marry and once she gets Declan on board, everything works out to everyone's advantage. ^_^
As for sex… gender kind of complicates things, so let’s talk about that, shall we?
Braden was born Kiera and AFAB. Braden had known he was a man since he was pretty young. And it didn't help that he never really fit into the gender role he was expected to fit, either, nor did he fit into the familial role as heir to a wealthy merchant family. He was always more interested in physical pursuits than mental ones, and if he weren't his family's heir, he'd have taken himself off to sign up for the Guard the second he was legally allowed to do so. The Captain of the Guard and her wife were always more mothers to him than his biological mother was, and they encouraged him where they could, but there was only so much they could do. And he probably would have found a way to live and be true to himself as best he could, but Declan had a better idea. The long and the short of it is that Declan found a way to use his magic to turn Braden into the man Braden always knew he was. Before that transition sex was… not something that really appealed to Braden. There were a few experiments pre-transition that involved Declan and strap-ons, but there was so much concern about getting caught that neither was ever able to fully enjoy it as much as they could have. Post transition, OTOH? Oh. Oh, Braden is INTO IT. No more rushed adrenaline-laced couplings, no more dysphoria, and he is ready to make up for lost time. ^_~
Declan: Declan… isn't looking for a partner. It's the last thing on earth he wants, actually. Because of the way magic works on this world, he knows he's going to die young, younger than most, if he keeps pushing himself the way he's been doing. He'll be lucky to see 35, much less 40. So, because of the way the marriage laws are set up, the absolute LAST thing he wants is to put someone he loves in a position to become a ward of whatever government rules the place they end up settling in. He's more willing to put himself in that position than anyone else. To him, it's just not worth the risk. BUT, if he had to pick someone… it would be Braden. Hands down. Because…
Declan is demiromantic and asexual as FUCK. Part of it is that he just honestly never really has the energy or opportunity to be attracted to anyone. Part of it is natural inclination. He just… doesn't really feel sexual attraction. Towards the end of Braden's time as Kiera, he's willing to experiment with him a little, but that's really more because he knows Braden wants it and can't really go to (…nor does he WANT to go to) anyone else. Which isn't to say that he doesn't enjoy the sex; he does! But left to his own devices, he would never have sought out that kind of relationship, nor does he ever really initiate sex on his own. He ends up in a similar kind of arrangement with Adesina once they become a triad, but they're both careful not to overwhelm him with attention that he may not have the energy or desire for.
