#gab writes stuff

[randomingoftherandomness]

Okay, I had a thought and I just wanted to put it out there.

I know there are folks who aren’t big on the feminism aspect of LOTFG, and I can 100% understand and see why it feels very shoehorned in. Like, yeah it's very in your face with the whole "women can do all things" and it hella feels like the 2000s all over again with the female empowerment thing. I agree that shows like Story of Minglan definitely does that aspect much better in a guzhuang setting, but let me just tell you why it sorta works for me in the LOTFG context.

[I'm writing this from episode 21 which is where I am at while making this post]

He Yan has been a woman in a male dominated field even before everyone else knew she was a woman in a male dominated field

He Yan has, canonically on the show because I haven't read the novel, been told to set aside womanly things (i.e. not celebrating her mom's birthday)

It has probably been brow-beaten into her all her life that she has to "be a man" and "act like a man", lest she gets the whole He family into trouble by her slipping up [oof-- the stress!]

Is it any wonder that she develops a very "we women can do things as men do"?

In her second life, she has not only gotten the regard and respect of Dudu (if not clear and obvious affection) but she's actually being encouraged to pursue the womanly pursuits (i.e. dress up, get the dough doll made in her likeness, BEING ACKNOWLEDGED AS A WOMAN BY THE MAN SHE RESPECTS)

And this is all WITHOUT being asked to give up her pursuit of her ambitions and is actively being supported to achieve her ambition of being a female general openly

Sure, she has not been able to do the womanly things as well as others (i.e. the embroidery, the cooking) but she's trying and people around her are acknowledging it and encouraging her tries, not disparaging her for her lack of 'womanly' attributes

Consider this.

How many of us who were born and raised as female have had to "dim" our feminine attributes just to "succeed" in a field that was more male dominated? We get told to "not cry" to "stay strong", "be tough", "lean in". How many of us get disparaged for "trying" to learn, to get better at cooking, at cleaning, at sewing?

More than that, how many of us give up because we aren't being supported in our womanly pursuits? Looked down on because we didn't learn fast enough, didn't do it the right way?

Or worse, how many of us are expected to be both unimpeachable in womanly virtues and impeccable as women in male dominated spaces? We hold such lofty standards and yet the goal post keeps shifting and shifting. Isn't it enough to just exist? I've been tired for ages, are you?

Is it not okay just to enjoy this one female character onscreen who "preaches" these feministic sentiments that are out of place in that time period and era, because it's just a show and we can just enjoy this one lady learn to be comfortable in her own skin, in her own way, and is still loved by those around her?

[randomingoftherandomness]

I have some Love Upon A Time thoughts and you're all gonna listen to it :D

Aite, knuckle and buckle babes. Here goes some ramblings.

I'm very big on the time travel/reincarnation/multiple lifetimes/fated lovers kinda tropes and it's one that I have, to varying degrees, explored in the fandoms I have been writing for. But LUAT feels different in a way that excites me in a way that I haven't been in a quite a long time.

((I'm gonna keep these ramblings to episode 1 coz I am still on the clock at work and I don't want to lose my train of thought))

Reasons:

They're clearly laying down things that I'm picking up; Thee pointing out that Nakhun is low-key a genius, which I feel like is gonna become relevant as the story progresses. He's really good with Western history but shit with Thai history, right? But yet, he does well in his exams.

Then there's this scene;

THAT IS CLEARLY OUR BOY LORD PADDLE PHOP. That's our boy in a blue cardigan. And that slow deliberate camera work where Nakhun is being drawn and pulled? Ah, what if the almost accident didn't happen? Would he have seen that incarnation(?) of Phop? Maybe even remember him before he is thrown back into the past?

Like, with this, I'm just wondering. Is time a loop? Like, predestination and how Nakhun had to go back into the past, experience that era and everything, just to have the present day he has.

I've not read the book and I plan to start, but I love the idea that someone pointed out here on Tumblr (big thanks to the OP! I'm so sorry I don't know where your post is, if you see this, please sound off I would love to pick your mind) that the opening scene we saw with the mysterious gunman is actually something that happens later on in the narrative and this could lead into the "promise" the fortuneteller told Nakhun needs fulfilling.

Time is not linear, as the professor says. I'm behind that notion.

Then there's all the little liminal mindspace that Nakhun gets thrown into. The voices cussing him (Klao) out and how it starts with just the voices when he arrives, then his consciousness being thrown right into a "space" as is. I wonder how they'll take this and in which direction. It sounds like the original Klao and his dad did some things? Or were accused? Framed? Idk. I want to read the book ngl.

[an aside: as someone who grew up with the Walls ice cream Paddle Pop jingle, I was straight cackling at this because they dropped this banger in episode one, and I was immediately hooked. IYKYK about the the feralness for the Paddle Pop, Paddle Pop, super duper yummy~ when it rolls up into your neighbourhood and the fact that you have 5 minutes to puppy dog your parents into buying you an ice-cream from the man on the ice-cream bike. Is this a SEA thing? This was such a big childhood thing for me so I hope it's an transmutable experience]

Also, 10/10 yearning eyes from Mr Net here. 10/10 no notes. Carry on, you beautiful specimen of the malekind.

Just in case you need a reminder about this fine shyt business. He's absolutely dishy and I enjoy the eye candy :>

Absolute quick thinking work on Nakhun's end working out that he needs to find a "door" to go back to his own world. I deeply enjoyed the panicking and shenanigans running around, coz yeah! Absolutely I would be freaking out if I got thrown back to a time in history without A/C ;A;

I also have no idea where I meant to go with this tbh haha so I'll end it here first

[randomingoftherandomness]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 暗河传 | Blood River (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Su Changhe/Su Muyu, Su Changhe/Su Muyu (The Blood of Youth) Characters: Su Changhe (The Blood of Youth), Su Muyu (The Blood of Youth) Additional Tags: Secret Rendezvous, Established Relationship, They fucked but I'm just too tired to write smut, Kissing, Secret Relationship, No Beta We Die Like Everyone Who Meets That Umbrella Summary:

The heat that coils deep within him unfurls molten sweet and Muyu sees it plain as day. How could he not? There's never been much by way of secrets between them. And none that they now keep matters very much when they're here like this. Sliding his hand closer, Changhe smiles, head cocked, all sly and charm.

"How long do I have you tonight?"

[randomingoftherandomness]

Hear me out…

Baby ice dragon demon ZYC losing control over his abilities and going Elsa mode in freezing everything he touches 😭

ZYZ so concerned and trying to help but ZYC terrified he’s gonna freeze him too

"I leave for half a shichen and this is what happens when I'm not around."

Zhao Yuanzhou barely has time to finish his sentence before Xiao Jiu grabs him by the arm and drags him towards Xiao Zhuo's room. Mouth running a mile a minute, the boy genius starts rattling off without pauses or stops about how they'd noticed something wrong when temperatures dropped below freezing even when everything beyond the compound's gates was a comfortable balmy autumnal afternoon gander.

Ying Lei chirps up that no one can go beyond the corridor that leads to Zhuo Yichen's private quarters to check on him, and when Zhao Yuanzhou moves to ask why, he stops.

There could not be any wondering of the 'why', when right at the mouth of the corridor is a thick wall of ice.

"We tried breaking through." Ying Lei says, solemnly. "Some of the men are looking to build a fire strong enough to melt it down, but that'll take ages."

"So this is why you pulled me out of my sojourn?" Zhao Yuanzhou asks the little mountain god. Turning around, he spies the way Xiao Jiu is worrying at the bell in his hair, and opts to be kind about this.

"Stand back." He commands, calling on his power for a spell.

The ice wall shatters easily enough and Zhao Yuanzhou takes the initiative to be the first to walk through the frigid air. Not two steps in, accompanied by a loud lurch and the distressed sound of Xiao Jiu calling out his name, the wall reforms itself 3 feet deep, pushing the demon back.

A trap, then? He wonders. It's no matter in any case because very few things can hurt him. However, there are many things that could harm Zhuo Yichen at this stage. Practically breaking out in a sprint, he runs at full tilt to where his room is.

"Zhuo Yichen!"

"Xiao Zhuo--!"

At every step he takes, the ice that coats the walls go thicker and the air colder. With his senses, the great demon feels out the way just moving through the pulse of energy that beats through the corridor is like moving through thick sludge. Worry prickles in the corner of his mind, but he pushes it back to focus on getting to the mortal.

No. Zhao Yuanzhou has to correct himself. No mere mortal. Not anymore.

When the door to the bedroom won't open, Zhao Yuanzhou batters through with a whispered word. The whole space glows with an icy blue, unnatural but beautiful. If it were any other moment, he might have taken a beat to admire it all, but as it were, his attentions go to the curled-up form on the bed.

"Xiao Zhuo-daren..."

"Don't come close! D-don't come near me!"

Zhao Yuanzhou inhales, consciously relaxing himself. With gentleness in his voice, he takes half a step forward when he asks, "And why is that?"

This makes Zhuo Yichen sob. "Because I'll hurt you. I can't control it. I'll hurt you and everyone else."

A full step. Then another. "You could never hurt me."

"Zhao Yuanzhou, I'm being serious!"

"And so am I." The demon smiles, crossing the last few steps between them. With careful awareness in his gestures, Zhao Yuanzhou takes a seat on the bed. Keeping his body language light, he reaches out to take Xiao Zhuo by the hand.

He resists, but what is resistance in the face of a patient storm?

"Xiao Chen, here."

The first touch of their fingertips is like touching a glacier's surface. The second is the sensation of melting snow. Zhao Yuanzhou lets the icy feeling numb his touch, then bleed a little of his power into how their hands slide together; finger to finger, palm to palm, intertwined.

"There. Just like I told you, you can't hurt me." The demon whispers, reaching out for his other hand. Surprise gives in to delight when Xiao Zhuo does not hesitate to lean into him, letting Zhao Yuanzhou wrap his arms around him. He is freezing, almost a block of ice in his embrace, but the great demon holds on tightly. Uncaring for the almost painful the chill seeps into his own bones.

"I can't control it..." Xiao Zhuo murmurs miserably against his shoulder.

"I know. It's alright."

Xiao Zhuo shakes his head, rubbing his tear-stained cheek against his robe, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"And I won't let you." Zhao Yuanzhou promises, carding his fingers through his hair. "I promise."

[randomingoftherandomness]

Clingy drunk zhao yuanzhou fic

A/N: Just a short one :)

It's hard to do anything when your left and right arms are the favourite gripping toys for an ape of a demon and a child prodigy who really should stop whining right into your ear about how it's unfair that Zhao Yuanzhou gets the privilege of having your arm and have it slung around his waist.

Xiao Zhuo really does not want to have this talk about the birds and the bees, though judging by the life Bai Jiu has had, he's sure the kid knows more than most his age about the matter.

As is, he resigns himself to blinking pleadingly at a silently chortling Ying Lei who, thankfully, takes pity on him and quickly swoops in to pick the boy off him.

"Let go." He shakes his arm where it is still being latched on to by Zhao Yuanzhou. The demon stinks of wine, though Xiao Zhuo can't say he hates the scent of peaches on his breath when he laughs softly, nuzzling into his cheek.

"Don' wanna..." He sighs. "It's comfortable here."

Switching tactics, Xiao Zhuo shifts to hold him by the waist. "You'd be more comfortable in bed." He coaxes.

"Mm... In our bed? Will you be there?"

The words are a quiet question and even under the fondly amused attentions of their friends, Xiao Zhuo can feel himself being even more enamoured than he already is. Smiling a little, he tilts his head, leaning in. "Mn. So be good for your Xiao Zhuo-daren, go to bed."

Zhao Yuanzhou lifts his face from where it is pressed to Xiao Zhuo's shoulder. "Come with me?"

"Of course."

With a careful sweep, Xiao Zhuo takes him into a carry. Deftly tipping his head in goodbye to their companions and resolutely ignoring how their smiles grow at how he does not scurry away with an armful of a giggling demon.

He's coincidentally, all of a sudden, pretty tired himself too. Nothing wrong with going to bed early.

[randomingoftherandomness]

ZYC going back in time to try to prevent BJ, YL, LL, and ZYZ’s deaths but he’s acting a bit different in the gang’s eyes 🤔 wonder what’s up with that

Something is wrong with Xiao Zhuo and Zhao Yuanzhou does not know how to coax the shape of it out of him.

On the surface, he’s the same as ever — their stoic commander, handsome and brooding as he glowers and scowls so beautifully, but in the great demon’s eyes, he knows better than to believe that the furrow of that frown is the same as the one from the week before. There’s a sense of desperation in the way he fights. A push of something frantic when he eliminates one threat after another. A sense of heaviness in his hazy gaze when he looks over each and every single one of their little family.

And when that gaze falls on Zhao Yuanzhou? The haziness sharpens into something more poignant.

Then there's the way they've both fallen into a pattern of carnal pursuits.

It had surprised Zhao Yuanzhou when Xiao Zhuo kissed him under the flowering tree in the courtyard, turning everything he had thought he had known on its axis when hungry hands held him tightly, touching him with an intimate knowing that set his mind ablaze with an itching sense of wrongness that ultimately is swept away in the waves of desire that burned through his veins when Xiao Zhuo licks up the backs of his teeth.

No need for human speech then.

He unpacks it in the lazy afterglow. Holding Xiao Zhuo against him while he nuzzles into his sweat-damp temple. He is eager to ask, the words sitting thick on his tongue, but all intentions flee at the way Xiao Zhuo watches him with eyes that are heady with unsaid things.

Zhao Yuanzhou aches to know. Zhao Yuanzhou does not know if he wants to know.

And so he kisses back when Xiao Zhuo slides their mouths together. Moves and touches, and holds and reaches back. He lets Xiao Zhuo drown himself in his embrace and hangs on just as tightly.

Zhao Yuanzhou might not be able to coax the taste of truth from Xiao Zhuo's lips, but at least he can try to sweeten whatever bitterness sits like a weight on his heart.

[randomingoftherandomness]

Admiring zhao yuanzhou long hair fic

A/N: I just finished episode 17 ;A;

--

The weather had been good enough today that Xiao Zhuo draws a bath for Zhao Yuanzhou before the hour he is expected home from the Wilderness. Easy enough to get the water to his favourite temperature, easier still to mix up the bath salts and perfumes to make that unique mix his demon loves but will never truly admit to. For all the great demon likes to make light of how much he adores the softer things in life, Xiao Zhuo can see how he lingers on the prettiest jade in the market or even the juiciest peach when he brings him some.

And each and every single time he does, it makes Xiao Zhuo ache to fill their quarters with everything Zhao Yuanzhou every would want or need.

Burns for it, even, to give his demon a soft life. A gentle one, free of any pain, any trouble.

"All this for me?"

Xiao Zhuo turns, running his hand through the water one last time before going to Zhao Yuanzhou at the doorway. Reaching out with his dry hand, he tugs him in for a greeting press of their bodies, cheek to cheek, chest to chest, basking in the warmth of each other.

"Come. Let me wash your hair."

Surprise colours the twinkling darkness of Zhao Yuanzhou's eyes before it bleeds into sweet fondness. "Would you like me to do the same for you?"

Shaking his head, Xiao Zhuo moves to help him disrobe, mindful of the layers he takes off and the hair ornaments he releases from their locks and places on the tray by the door. "What's brought this on, then?" He asks when he's down to his inner layers.

"The weather is good."

Zhao Yuanzhou laughs, nodding along when Xiao Zhuo takes him by the hands and leads him to the bathing pool. The demon sinks into the water with a sigh and Xiao Zhuo sheds his shoes, rolling up his trousers to his thighs and sits down on the edge of the pool, parking Zhao Yuanzhou between his legs.

With a languid stretch, he lets himself be positioned by Xiao Zhuo. "How much does my Xiao Zhuo-daren seek to pamper me today?"

"How much can you tolerate?"

"Oh?" Zhao Yuanzhou hums, tilting his head back for Xiao Zhuo to run a ladleful of water down his scalp. "Does my Xiao Zhuo-daren seek me to love me to death?"

"To death. To the River of Oblivion. Until we both drink the Meng Po soup and we see another life together because even then, I will find you and love you."

Stroking his fingers through Zhao Yuanzhou's long and beautiful hair, Xiao Zhuo takes his time to untangle the knots that have formed throughout the day. With more care and tenderness, he smooths camellia oil through every strand, taking care to massage it thoroughly. Deft fingers work out the aches of his nape, the pressure points of his temples, and Xiao Zhou knows it works because the demon physically goes boneless against him, breathing slowly.

Zhao Yuanzhou smiles, blinking up at Xiao Zhuo. A relaxed expression that he relishes. Reaching for the ladle again, he begins rinsing out the oil.

"Will you really find me? In every lifetime, I mean?"

Xiao Zhuo picks out the few strands of hair that catches over his demon's brow. Smoothing it back lovingly, he hums. "Mn. Every lifetime, no matter what shape you take, my soul will know you and I will find you."

"You sound so sure of it."

"Because I am." Xiao Zhuo says, leaning back to reach for a towel. "Because there's no alternative. I will love you in every lifetime."

Zhao Yuanzhou chuckles at that, but says nothing in response. Xiao Zhuo doesn't need one. Not when he already knows what he wants to say but is refraining from.

Leaning in to kiss his cheek, he nudges him forward so that he can gather the demon's long hair to wring out and dry. After this, he will wipe down Zhao Yuanzhou's body. And when he's done pampering him, Xiao Zhuo will bundle him up in fresh robes, place him on their bed and feed him some soup.

When his hair is drier, Xiao Zhuo will move on to smoothing through the special hair oil he paid a king's ransom for to have it shipped all the way from the Western regions. Zhao Yuanzhou will absolutely melt under his touch by then, but that will be a story for later.

For the here and now, Xiao Zhuo is content to bask in the pleasure of supporting his beloved's weight against his own body, carefully washing his hair out for him.

🎀 currently still accepting fic requests 🎀

[randomingoftherandomness]

Can I request a fic where Yichen is angry/sulky at Zhuyan and Zhuyan try so hard to coax him? Cue the others teasing Zhuyan relentlessly. Cute stuff.

Xiao Jiu looks at the scene in front of him, then looks over at the two jiejie quietly sniggering into their hands, and then to Ying Lei on the other side of him whose shoulders are shaking with the effort of not laughing out loud. He shakes his head, then looks back down at the courtyard where their great demon is currently tailing their family's commander around, gesturing and pleading.

"Do I... Want to know?" He asks, waving his hands at the show of Zhao Yuanzhou chasing after Xiao Zhuo gege with what looks like an ever-changing bouquet of flowers in his arms that shifts from orchids to daisies, and then for some reason, the brightest blooms that couldn't have been natural for the season.

"Zhao Yuanzhou is coaxing his little wife." Wen Xiao jiejie says around a little giggle.

Ying Lei huffs. "Are you sure he's coaxing his little wife and not outright begging his husband to not make him sleep on the floor tonight?"

In the courtyard, the demon has sweetly started to pinch at Xiao Zhuo's sleeve, tugging as he conjures a flurry of birds to sing around them.

Only to be met with a sharp scowl.

"Ah, it's actually working." Wen Xiao gasps.

Working? Xiao Jiu frowns and squints down at where Xiao Zhuo gege has begun hitting Zhao Yuanzhou with the flowers, kicking up a storm fall of petals that rain down around the couple.

The demon does not even move away from the hits and remains smiling as he lets the demon hunter destroy his gift. Feeling a shudder down his spine, Xiao Jiu shakes his head when in the next moment he sees the demon climb into the commander's arms.

He thinks he'll never understand adult relationships.