today's episode of being obsessed with The Radiant Emperor: this conversation (even before the ''you don't kneel" moment) is insane for the parallels it shares with Ouyang's internal struggles. Aside from the obvious ''Why can’t you make it easier for me to hate you?/Would that I could only hate, It would be easier", it makes me want to chew on glass that Ouyang seems to never have considered forgiving Esen for (essentially) being Chaghan's son and is so taken aback by the fact that Esen considers forgiving Baoxiang simply because he loves him. Ouyang could never conceive of such notion even if what he subconsiously wants the most is to live happily ever after with Esen!
Another thing is the parallel between Ouyang being like ''oh no, Esen, why can't you see reality for what it is" several times (even if he admires that) and Esen here going ''oh no, Ouyang, why can't you imagine a different reality"... For all the poetic Ouyang waxes about Esen's naivete he doesn't share I find it sooo interesting this instance of Esen dragging Ouyang for his lack of imagination because this is ultimately what doomed him...
Commission for @the-wintry-mizzenmast
in honor of AceWeek, here, have my boy Fang Duobing, whose sexuality is to be a Detective on the Jianghu (watch mysterious lotus casebook, it's rly good)
Nirvana in Fire animated film announced
Honestly, the cringe is worth it. The cringe is necessary. The UK is such a cesspit of growing transphobia and has been getting worse and worse and the biggest family show on air coming out as loud and proud and supportive of trans kids is EVERYTHING.
one of my favorite subgenres of writing tropes is "[insert common trope] but how traumatizing and emotionally taxing it'd actually be to go through is addressed and worked through."
I eat that shit UP. I love you chosen ones with massive emotional trauma and a crushing fear of disappointing the people around you! I love you kids who were lied to that they were chosen ones to manipulate them and were taken advantage of via being promised a purpose and something to keep them going! I love you stories where the hero and villain used to be best friends that show how horribly painful that split is and how crushingly isolating it feels! I love you stories where the comedic relief character has massive fucking issues nobody pays attention to! I love you stories where teenage heroes are actually addressed as "hey why the fuck is everyone treating a child like this???" I love you stories about siblings on the other side of a war that show how crushing that separation is! I love you stories where the protagonist not having parents isn't just played for explanation or tragisad points, it's addressed as massively traumatic! I love you isekais that address how terrifying itd actually be!!!! I love you sins of the father stories that address how unfair and horrible and painful it is and the complicated emotional reality that is revenge and guilt and grief and responsibility!!! I love you stories about monster slayers that actually address the potentially gray or difficult undertones!!! I love you stories where the protagonist was on the wrong side and abandoned their home that address how terrifying it is to leave behind everything they ever knew!!!
I love you trope subversion in the form of "yeah, we're gonna do this trope. but how do THEY feel about it?"
Mysterious Lotus Casebook - Jiao Liqiao 1/?
This except nothing is finished or published 😔
I wish though
Reblog if you write fic and people can inbox you random-ass questions about your stories, itemized number lists be damned.
Jingyu is quiet. He’s been quiet ever since the news came back about Chiyan army’s betrayal and subsequent slaughter at the hands of Xie Yu. Since the death of his uncle and cousin and aunt.
Meng Zhi is normally the type of man who likes to lighten the mood, but there’s nothing he can say now that will make this better. They both know that Lin Xie was innocent. They both know there’s nothing that can be done about it.
They’re in a-Yu’s office, where they always meet. Meng Zhi is well-used to leaping over the walls of the Eastern Palace without getting caught. In better times, they would be sat drinking tea together, or perhaps they would already have moved next door. Today, though, they’re simply standing, holding each other close, shaken by loss.
If Meng Zhi had stayed with the Chiyan Army for any longer than he had, he would be dead.
“They’re going to implicate me in this.” A-Yu says, half muffled by Meng Zhi’s shoulder.
Meng Zhi tenses up, a thousand horrors flying in front of his eyes. “A-Yu! No. I won’t let them, I’ll –”
“Zhi’er. Da-ge.” A-Yu pulls back, looking Meng Zhi straight in the eye. “You have to promise me that you won’t… that you won’t let my father think that you are somehow involved. That you won’t let him know that you’ve ever spoken to me.”
Meng Zhi stares at his lover’s fervent expression. He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand how a-Yu can ask him to do this. “You want me to just pretend that I don’t know you, that I think you’re guilty?”
“Yes!” A-Yu’s hands tighten on his shoulders, almost painfully. “Yes, Zhi’er. Just leave it. It’ll be alright in the end, we just can’t afford to upset him.”
Meng Zhi doesn’t get angry easily. He certainly doesn't get angry at a-Yu, his a-Yu. But now… It’ll be alright? How can it be alright? “I’m not as stupid as you think I am, a-Yu. I’m not going to hear you say everything will be alright and just believe it.”
“Zhi’er, of course it will be fine, my father –”
“Your father just had his oldest friend killed! Your father is a paranoid –”
“The Emperor.” A-Yu’s voice is cold, blank. Regal. Meng Zhi knows this tone. He doesn’t know it turned towards him.
Meng Zhi’s heart stutters. “Jingyu –”
“My royal father is the Emperor, General Meng. Or did you forget?”
“A-Yu, I said the wrong thing, please –”
“I think it would be best if you leave.” A-Yu is looking steadily over Meng Zhi’s shoulder, refusing to meet his eyes. “Perhaps you should stay away from the palace for the next few days.”
Meng Zhi doesn't want to leave. But he knows a dismissal when he hears one. “Your Highness.” He sweeps into a bow, and he doesn’t let himself look back.
He never sees Xiao Jingyu again.
Crossposted here on ao3
has been lately watching