An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 8/8
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Jiang Yanli/Wen Ruohan, Madam Wen/Wen Ruohan - Past
Characters: Jiang Yanli, Wen Ruohan, Wen Qing (Modao Zushi), Wen Xu (Modao Zushi), Wen Xu's Wife (Modao Zushi), Wen Ning | Wen Qionglin
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Forced Marriage, No Sunshot Campaign (Módào Zǔshī), Politics, Older Man/Younger Woman, jianghu politics, Jiang Yanli-centric, Jiang Yanli is having a bad time, but at least there's soup, medically inaccurate depictions of chronic illness, Qi related handwavy illness, internalized ableism, Self-Esteem Issues, Wen Ruohan is probably his own warning, Warning: Wen Ruohan, Beauty and the Beast Elements, handing out corruption arcs again, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping
Summary:
Jiang Yanli’s engagement is broken. In the wake of this, Wen Ruohan senses an opportunity.
Jiang Yanli, who is still standing there, a lotus seed pod between her fingers, silent as the grave, thinks that perhaps this is how a fish felt, in a woven rush trap — not yet dead, but already on its way to dying.
Not yet dead, but certainly trapped within the small boundaries that had reduced its world to nothing, alone with panic until someone comes to strike the killing blow.
Jiang Yanli is a child of Yunmeng's waters. She has, in the past, been the one to put her hand in the rush trap and drag the fish from its final prison.
She had, in the past, been one to gut said fish in a single stroke along its belly and pull out its innards.
I just finished the most incredible fic that I have to recommend, particularly since it’s not ship-focused and therefore doesn’t seem to be getting the attention it deserves. The premise is a post-Guanyin Nie Huaisang who did not expect to outlive his revenge. After a brief period of reconfiguration, he tosses his saber into the Qishan volcano and leaves Qinghe for the south, taking with him his five wards—orphaned junior disciples from various sources that he started accumulating during the Sunshot campaign.
The story is told through a series of bite-sized scenes that flow between the ‘now’ and past memories in a way that’s never jarring. The memories also serve to more strongly anchor him in a family web instead of solely tying him to Mingjue, which I found more compelling, particularly with the themes of grief, aging, and the passage of time that pull the story forward. @jensownzoo
but I'm not in charge of sorrow (so please don't ask me when)
by Tavina (@tavina-writes)
M, 74k, Nie Huaisang
Summary: After the events of Guanyin temple, Nie Huaisang travels to what used to be Nightless City to throw his saber into a volcano.
This journey leads to other things, ones that shake the cultivation world and send things and relationships careening into space, the same way boulders might’ve — years ago now — fallen down the Taihang Mountains.
Or: Nie Huaisang, post canon midlife crisis.
~*~
(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)
You've been visited by the random OC question fairy! :D ~☆
What are the dynamics like between your characters? Do they generally get along? How do their personalities and motivations bounce off one another? How do they come away feeling upon interacting with each other?
Oh, what an excellent question for my OCs! Thank you fairy 🥰
Rinnyx and Seyetto are, of course, best friends. Rinnyx is basically the only person that Seyetto will relax around - be Seyetto, instead of the emperor. (I would say "be himself," but the emperor is also himself.) Rinnyx and Seyetto are also very different people from each other. But they know each other well. They're comfortable with each other. Honestly their conversations are always the easiest things for me to write (for anyone who ever considers sending me prompts). Seyetto releases some of the dry humor he doesn't always find appropriate in formal situations. Rinnyx talks to him like a person. But, of course, Seyetto is also the Emperor, and Rinnyx works a lot with the Emperor, and he doesn't really like the emperor quite as much. The emperor does some things he doesn't agree with. Rinnyx doesn't like thinking about that when he talks to Seyetto, but he wants to understand. And he thinks Seyetto - Seyetto-the-emperor - probably just doesn't understand some things, some people. But Rinnyx does. He can help, just, nudge things in a better direction.
And since I'm always talking about these two: bonus rounds!
Seyetto and Tavina, his younger sister: they do not, currently, get along. They got along fine as kids. But now they aren't kids. And Seyetto is the Emperor. Tavina wants him to just be her brother. Seyetto wants her to grow up and accept the responsibilities that come with their positions. These opposing desires lead to basically constant conflict. Tavina needles Seyetto, trying to get him to act like a person instead of a crown - even if she only gets negative reactions out of him. Seyetto tries to push her to be, well, everything she dislikes about him. Which makes both of them more and more frustrated with each other. Each just fundamentally doesn't understand what the other wants.
And last, Rinnyx and his oldest brother, Dommil. Dommil is almost a father figure to Rinnyx. Rinnyx doesn't remember their actual father, and Dommil is ten years older, and has always been someone to look up to, to get guidance from. And Dommil has always seen it as his role to look out for his brothers, but especially Rinnyx, the youngest. Now that they're both adults, it's a little different. Rinnyx does still look up to Dommil, but doesn't want to be treated as a kid. Dommil still wants to look out for him, but also wants Rinnyx to look out for himself. And maybe Rinnyx does give Dommil some reasons not to take him seriously, or to think that he doesn't take things seriously enough... like forgetting to write home when he takes a job from the emperor and moves back to Pelasia. There's also an added layer that Rinnyx isn't aware of: Dommil is pretty sure that his promotion to captain in the First Company of the imperial army is because he's The brother of Rinnyx, the emperor's friend. And he doesn't really like that.
Oh Wonder "Overgrown" - Madara/Kanae (Naruto: fanfics Sunfall & Moonrise by @tavinafanfiction)
I never get high when you’re feeling low
I’m pulling down stars just to make you glow
It’s just the way you are when you’re overgrown
Tavina was the lady of the palace household now - and furthermore, the only member of the Farran family left at the palace - so hosting dinners was her domain. It would have been easier if they were proper feasts or great balls. She knew well what made those a good time.
Instead, she must entertain the collection of noblewomen come to the capital for safety. When good news came from the war, there could be celebration. But most days there was no news.
She toasted the king before they ate, praying her voice sounded braver in their ears than her own.
another drabble for @oc-growth-and-development‘s OCtober prompts
I asked for prompts to write something light, @aceofstars16 sent me ‘a reunion after a long time away from each other’... and I wrote this, whoops. And since I asked for it here I figured I may as well share it with alla y’all, so... enjoy??
The Princess
Tavina smoothed out the fabric in her skirts that she’d rumpled from squeezing in her hands, for fourth or tenth or thousandth time that day - she hadn’t been counting. She had to stop doing that. She wasn’t going to put all that time she’s spent making sure she looked perfect this morning to waste. She was wearing red, of course - deep Farran red, Pelasian red, Imperial red. That last one was new, but she had best start getting used to it.
She’d been lingering in the tower of the palace with the best view to the south earlier in the day, to spot the sails of the boat coming up the river that was bringing her brother back to her - her brother, who had left Pelasia as king and was returning as Emperor. But either way, it was Seyetto, and that was all that she wanted to see.
She’d strained to see the figures disembarking, but it was across the city, and there were so many buildings in between. And anyway, everyone would be wearing red. It would be hard to pick him out. She’d seen people streaming out and lining the streets down which the procession would come, she could hear the cheers building as he came closer and closer. There was nothing she wanted more than to run into the streets herself. But she had to be here, to welcome him home.
She’d hastened down the stairs as quickly as she could with her dress as soon as she felt that he was close enough, with her companion Isletta holding her arm to keep her steady. And since then she’d been waiting here, asking her companions over and over if she had any hair out of place, and jumping at the slightest sound as though it might be Seyetto bursting in.
She was holding so much joy inside her body she felt as though it might burst forth out of her as light and song at any moment. He was coming home, Seyetto was coming home, and he was safe and alive and she didn’t have to be afraid now. But even as it all welled up inside her, there was a dark thread all bound up in everything else, too tangled for her to pull out and just be happy. With every thump of her heart, joy pulled one way and fear the other.
What reason did she have to think that it would be any different now?
She had every reason to think it would be different, she told herself - she had told herself, again and again and again. He had been worried about the war before, the last time that she had seen him. There was nothing to worry about now, the war was won. He’d been new to the crown, still getting used to it. Now he was comfortable enough with the position to pull himself up to a new one. It had been three years, and he must have missed home, missed her, just as much as she had missed him. He was coming back, and everything would be like it used to, like it was supposed to.
Well. No. It would never be like that again. But it could be more like that. It could be better. It would be better. And she could forgive Seyetto for leaving her, for having Pelasia go to war. She could forgive him anything, because he was coming home and he was safe, whatever fear he’d put her through in the past didn’t matter anymore.
But the fear of the present was still there, wrapping tighter and tighter around her chest. She needed him to get here, to see his smile again and let it banish that fear to the deeps where it belonged. He had to be almost here by now. It couldn’t be much longer.
Isletta touched her arm lightly, and she looked down to realize she had bunched up her skirts in her hand again. She let them drop, and Isletta silently pressed a handkerchief into her hand instead. Tavina looked over to her with a grateful smile.
Lords and ladies, she hoped he’d be here soon. She didn’t think she could take it much longer. It’s been three years, what’s a few more minutes? An eternity, each one of them.
She opened her mouth. “Your hair is perfect, Tavie,” Isletta said before she could get a word out.
A shout rose up from outside the palace. He was here. He was here. She let the handkerchief drop, and rushed out to the palace gates. She wasn’t going to wait any longer. She was going to see her brother.
He was at the head of the column, coming in across the courtyard, impossible to miss. He was walking tall and straight, his red cape hanging behind him, their father’s crown on his head looking as natural to him as though it had grown out of his body. There were crowds of people around, watching him, following him, but they were all a hazy cloud in her eyes, and he was the only clear thing.
“Seyetto!” she shouted, hurtling out the door. His cool blue-grey eyes locked onto hers. A few near-imperceptible lines furrowed in his stoic face. His proud, purposeful stride was interrupted for a moment. It was him, it was her brother. She ran to throw her arms around him, feel that he was safe and real and here again.
*
She was little, three or four year old maybe, and her big brother was the most amazing person she knew - her big brother, who could read and write and knew so many things, who could ride a pony all on his own, who dressed like a small copy of their father, with hair as dark as their mother’s. He held her hand while they stood behind their parents, leaned in to remind her it was important to stand still but he’d get a cake for her afterwards.
*
She was ten years old, running after Seyetto and his friend from his lessons through the gardens. They were faster than she was - Seyetto had always been faster than her, but he only ran if he had a purpose for it, so she could keep up. She was determined. “She can stay, Seyetto, I don’t mind it,” Rinnyx said, and Seyetto smiled at her. He’d always been careful with his smiles, but he threw plenty of them to her.
*
She was fourteen, nervous as anything, as they stood in the stables at their summer palace, getting ready to go out hawking. Isletta was with her, but she was still getting used to having her around all the time. She was growing up and everything was new and exciting and sometimes frightening. She looked to Seyetto, who stood there like a rock in a river. “Just watch me, Tavina.”
*
She was fifteen, collapsed on the floor in her room, hearing his footsteps pass outside. They never slowed.
*
She was seventeen, grabbing the message of news from the war desperately, and staring at it for a full minute before she read it. What if he was hurt again? What if he was dead? What if he was never coming back to her?
*
She pressed her face against him, the buttons of his jacket digging into her cheeks. He put one arm around her, gave her a squeeze, and released her. It took her another moment or two to step back, and look up to him.
“It’s so good to see you again,Seyetto.”
“It’s good to be home.” For a moment, a corner of his mouth lifted, as though he might let a smile out. Then he smoothed his face and straightened his back, and walked inside ahead of her.
She made herself follow, not wanting to be passed by his lords or generals or whoever else was here. She still couldn’t see them.
The thread of fear had tied itself around her, strong as any chain. And she was afraid, so afraid, that her brother was never coming back to her.
The Emperor
It was good, so good, to be finally coming home. Seyetto could keep few other thoughts in the forefront of his mind as he disembarked and looked out on the walls of Nedra. He almost felt like a child again, giddy at the prospect of a special outing. But that wasn’t the face he could display here - he was the conquering emperor returning to his people.
Throughout the war, there had always been a task at hand to distract him from the homesickness. There had been moments of darkness, but even then his desire to see Pelasia again was outshone by his burning need to protect it, and to pay back those who had taken his parents from him, who would take everything else if he would let them. And when the war was finished, there had been that thrill of victory, that deep satisfaction at the power he had wrested from his enemies. But then he’d begun his return journey, and suddenly being back here was all he could think of. He wanted to hear words that he could understand spoken on the streets. He wanted to see the familiar buildings of Nedra . He wanted to sit in his own suite in the palace and rest.
He wanted to see his sister again.
He didn’t even know what Tavina looked like now. It had been three years since he’d seen her. Three years in which she’d gone from fifteen to eighteen. She’d been little more than a child when he had left, now she would be near a grown woman. He tried to picture how she would have changed, but the only images that would come to mind were her as she had seen them last, or their mother’s face, just with hair gold like their father’s instead.
He stopped trying to picture her. That was only a waste of time. He’d see her before long, and then he’d know.
The city itself was largely unchanged, he saw as he proceeded through it to the palace. It felt a little strange, when so much else was different, but it was a comfort. He’d kept the war away from his city, his home, his sister. He’d have never let anything happen to her.
He said nothing as they passed the adoring crowds, calling out his name as he passed, riding on his ink-black horse with his red dragon making passes above him. Soldiers paraded behind him. He turned his head from side to side, nodding to acknowledge the people. Some might have smiled, some might have waved, but he was the Emperor. He was strength. He was immovable. That was what had saved Pelasia, that was what had won him the Empire, and that was what the people loved him for. And he would not deny them the sight of him.
The crowds grew only thicker as he neared the center of the city, yet they parted for him easily, even as he passed through the large temple square, packed with onlookers. He did not even have to send soldiers before him to ensure a path was clear. All bowed to his unmistakable authority, and his own beloved people most of all. There were lines of priests and Servants on the steps of the great temples, singing praises to Irien and the Court for his victory and his triumphant return. He could just hear their united voices rising above the shouts.
He dismounted at the palace gates, a line of soldiers standing there to salute him as he entered. He straightened his cape and walked forward, finally coming again to the seat of his power. Finally coming home.
And then someone shouted his name, and a figure in red came rocketing out and attached to him.
Tavina had been angry with him the last time he had seen her, before he left. She’d been angry with him for at least a month beforehand. He wasn’t completely sure when it had started. There had been so much going on. Maybe she’d been angry since the coronation. Maybe she’d been angry since the word had come that their parents had been killed.
He didn’t know why, or at least he didn’t know why she was angry at him. He was angry, too, about all that had happened. But he was going to do something about it. Couldn’t she see that? This was what had to be done, the only thing that could be done. War was going to come to them whether they wanted it to or not. He wasn’t going to wait for it to happen on Idana’s terms. And he wasn’t going to leave the defense of his kingdom in anyone’s hands but his own. He couldn’t stay, not when Idana had so much to answer for. Not when Pelasia needed a strong leader. It was his responsibility, his duty.
She had grown up in the royal family the same as he had. She knew about duty. She ought to have understood. Why didn’t she?
Sure, she had been young, then. But not so young. She had been grieving. But so had he. And she had wanted him to set everything aside and mourn with her. He had never had that luxury. Their parents were dead, and he was king. She knew what that responsibility looked like. She knew what he had to do.
She had hugged him and cried when he told her about their parents’ death. She had hugged him and cried as they stood in the temple for their funeral. But when he had ridden off to war, she had hugged only herself, and not shed a single tear. She would hardly look at him long enough to say goodbye.
So while he’d hoped that the years had been enough to dampen her anger, or else the time apart had driven her to miss him as he had her. But he also knew that Tavina was not remotely a rational actor, and so he had not known what he might find.
Somehow, he had not expected this.
It was Tavina, of course, who had wrapped herself around him, squeezing him tight. Here, in front of generals and courtiers and crowds of subjects. He hardly knew how to react - that was bad. The emperor ought always to know how to react. He put one arm around her - he’d never been much of a hugger, and the emperor certainly could not be, but surely this was a situation where this much might be permissible.
She was still hugging him for several moments after he let her go, and he did not know what to do again, but then she stepped back and he could see the face of his baby sister again. He knew her immediately - of course he did, though he had feared sometimes he wouldn’t. But though she was older, she was still Tavina. Still his sister.
“It’s so good to see you again, Seyetto.”
It had been a long time since someone had said his name alone. He allowed his face to soften, just for her. “It’s good to be home.”
He picked up his walk again, heading into the palace. Being lauded by the masses was good and all, but he was ready to be in private again, in his home, with his family. Tavina fell in behind him, seeming to have released all her energy in her explosive greeting. He glanced back down to her when they were inside, but her eyes were on his back, and her face was smoothed over, blank.
She wasn’t still angry with him, was she? It hadn’t seemed like it just before. No, he couldn’t assume that she was upset simply because she was more grown up now.
But there was a nagging doubt in the back of his mind that he was still doing something wrong in her eyes, and he couldn’t think what it might be. Here he was, coming back from the war the triumphant conqueror, the pride of Pelasia. What could be lacking?
