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dual-domination · 8 months

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How about this for a theoretical fic summary:

Shen Wei has been somehow cursed and sealed away underground. The Iron Triangle accidentally find him.

Hi there, Fixa! Thank you so much for the ask! It took me a while to answer because it ended as a whole fic, I think I got a bit excited writing this... So here, have the beginning bc this thing is almost 10k, so I'm posting the complete work on AO3 😃

Of fallen gods and forgotten sacrifices

Xiaoge stepped lightly on each of the narrow stones that formed the sinuous path. Full of lichen, the slippery stones were the only way through the gigantic monuments that have been fallen for millennia.

He followed the scent. Without a draft, it was uncertain how the scent was carried there. But he felt it, green-leafed vines, fresh and alive. Fresh was also the scent of blood, which he must be used to, but this time, it burned his nostrils.

Turning back a step, he looked at Liu Sang in silent questioning.

Liu Sang nodded, he could finally hear something. When Xiaoge reached for his hand, the young man tapped in his palm with a fingertip, "Dripping slowly."

Xiaoge tapped back, "Can you smell it?" And Liu Sang shook his head in response. It was too far for him to smell whatever it was that was dripping.

Before letting go of the auburn-haired boy's hand, Xiaoge left him one last word, "Blood."

Behind them, distant and late, Pangzi and Wu Xie balanced each other on the stone path, swallowing their curses every time their feet fumbled and one almost threw the other against the monuments - which Xiaoge had already warned not to touch.

Usually this was an invitation for them to touch anything, but something held them back this time. The fallen monuments maintained the grandeur of times of glory and their stone faces evoked The Three Sovereigns, Fuxi, Nuwa and Shennong. But there were five colossal statues there, in the remains of that temple, now shrouded by a mountain and pine forests.

Reaching the fourth statue, Pangzi looked at Wu Xie, seeking some hint as to who the guy depicted there was.

Wu Xie ducked his head, observing the carved lines of that face that time hadn't erased it's beauty, he spoke low, "The Mountain God, Kunlun."

"How do you know?" Pangzi couldn't remember hearing that name in years - a god forgotten by men so long that little was known about him.

Wu Xie continued to look at the statue, slowly raising his hand, dragged down by the discomfort in his chest.

"Once wasn't just stone," he whispered as his fingertips touched the icy, smooth surface.

It only lasted a second, Pangzi slapped his hand, "Aiyo, Tianzhen! Xiaoge already told us not to touch the statues! What if you arouse the wrath of one of those grumpy old gods?"

"Not this one. Not him." Wu Xie let go and continued on his way with Pangzi, who ignored his friend's brief rambling.

A few steps further and they reached Xiaoge and Liu Sang, who had stopped along the way to look at the fifth statue.

Pangzi opened his mouth to ask about that statue, but Xiaoge raised his finger in front of his mouth, reinforcing what he had asked them before about keeping quiet there. Liu Sang, who had overheard the conversation just now, just rolled his eyes – he might die because friends not only couldn't stop touching what they shouldn't, they also didn't know how to keep their mouths shut.

And then, Pangzi and Wu Xie also gazed at the face of the fifth statue.

Wu Xie didn't show any reaction, but if Pangzi wanted to speak before, now he was speechless.

That face was just...

Pangzi stared at the statue until his head tilted to look at it from another angle, and every way he looked, there wasn't a doubt there. He knew that face very well - and for many years. He looked at that face almost every day.

He turned to face Wu Xie, with even more questions, hoping Wu Xie shared the same doubts as him, but Wu Xie's face was blank.

Then Pangzi pointed to the statue and gestured, the question becoming clear, "Who is he?"

Wu Xie shook his head, showing that he didn't know the answer; Liu Sang did the same.

Pangzi looked at Xiaoge, who nodded. He knew who the fallen god was.

Even though he had no idea why he knew the face of that god. Or it just seemed. The striking resemblance was what had stopped him and Liu Sang from continuing down the path.

Despite claiming to know, Xiaoge didn't bother to provide anything that could serve as an explanation at the moment and indicated to the group that they should proceed.

Pangzi wanted to protest, but since Wu Xie and Liu Sang could wait to hear what Xiaoge might say about it, Pangzi pretended that he could too, but it kept spinning in his head with every step forward.

Flashlights lit the rest of the way, to where the last statue's hand emerged from between the rocks, holding two intertwined dragons in its palm and the fire that rose from their open mouths.

Beside the stone hand, the closed doors seemed to have become one, the cracks that started on one side, digging into the other. Dry vines hung down the walls and wrapped around the doors, nature's addition or a last lock to prevent those doors from being crossed - already ineffective.

The smell of fresh vines and blood was so strong there that Xiaoge assumed that the others were finally feeling it.

Liu Sang could hear the dripping coming from behind the doors, a drop falling into an overflowing container.

Around, no other sound than the four breaths. The silence was absolute, no echo from paths already traversed or from other chambers. Just the suffocating stillness of a temple that had become a tomb of those once worshipped.

Xiaoge unsheathed his sword and cut through the dead vines in a single move, making the center that joined the doors appear. Sheathing his sword back, he missed Hei Xiazi, the mercenary must have caught up with them by now.

He turned to Liu Sang, who didn't need any questions – there was always a point on expeditions when Xiaoge would expect Hei Xiazi to already be there. This time, that point was now.

When Liu Sang was about to shake his head, he heard something different coming from behind the doors. Trying to pay attention and define what it was, he was unprepared for what came from behind Pangzi and Wu Xie.

"Mute Zhang, are you going to stand there without opening the door for the rest of the day?"

Xiaoge would roll his eyes if it was like him. Maybe he was doing it, internally. Liu Sang definitely rolled his eyes, mainly because of the fright that Wu Xie and Pangzi took.

"Ai, you want to scare me to death?!" Pangzi complained, as he turned around to purposefully shine the flashlight in the mercenary's face, hitting an innocent Xiao Hua instead.

"Where did you come from?" Wu Xie wondered if he had been so distracted by the statues that he hadn't noticed the others close behind.

"Zhurong's hand," Xiao Hua replied, "There is a passage behind the dragons."

"Zhurong," Wu Xie muttered the name of the fifth god to himself.

"Yeah, this guy," Hei Xiazi spoke as he walked past them until he was beside Xiaoge in front of the door, "the fire god who helped Pangu separate the skies from the earth. Or at least that's what is written in some books out there."

"Xiaoge," Pangzi had another complaint, "why did you tell us to be quiet and this one comes in talking loudly and it's okay?"

But it was Xiazi who responded instead, "C'mon, do you think those guys over there will wake up? They're deader than any corpses we've found so far." Then he turned towards the head of the last statue, now in the distance. "Well, maybe not all of them, but... yeah, it's not dangerous at all."

"Do your job," Xiao Hua wanted to finish that and get out of there, go back to where he had cell phone reception and continue the dispute in the online game he had been playing against Wu Erbai for the last few days.

"Hua'er, don't rush me so cruelly," Xiazi moved closer to the door and those who still had their flashlights lit lowered them. Pulling his glasses from his eyes just enough to look over the top of the lens, Xiazi watched the seal form in the center of the door, glowing in a faint golden light. "That's right, guys, the lock is a seal with Fuxi's eight trigrams. It looks like this thing here was closed by one of the dead guys back there."

"And then how do we open it?" Pangzi had a feeling the answer would be another joke.

"I think," Xiazi pushed his glasses back before turning to the others, "ah, never mind. There's an easy way." He grabbed Wu Xie's arm and pulled him closer to the door, with a grunt of protest that even Liu Sang could not understand. "Here, Wu Xie, you place your hand right here, in the middle of the seal." But he didn't say where the middle of the seal was, or where the seal was at all. Xiaoge was the only one who could vaguely see what was clear only to Xiazi.

Maybe it was just a matter of obviousness, because it was always Wu Xie who touched what he shouldn't and things happened.

Wu Xie placed his palm exactly in the center of the seal.

The sound of a heavy piece of massive bronze dragging between stone latches echoed throughout the entire place, making Liu Sang cover his ears with his hands.

When the sound ceased, the door was still closed.

"We're not there yet, but almost." Xiazi scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"The trigrams," Xiaoge said, trying to observe Wu Xie's face, but it was more expressionless than his own.

"Of course." Xiazi shook his finger as if he was forgetting the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wu Xie, you now draw the trigrams exactly in the sequence they are combined on the seal."

Xiaoge again tried to see the seal more clearly, but he still only saw broken points of what Hei Xiazi could see as a whole.

Hei Xiazi, however, had no idea what the sequence was or even if there was one. He had bets and guesses, like he always did.

Wu Xie raised two fingers and started tracing invisible designs over the doors. With each sequence of strokes, the sound of a new metal gear echoing inside the doors overlapped the previous one.

When he traced the last combination, he brought his palm to the center of the seal again, and then the entire seal glowed visibly for everyone, as well as all the trigram combinations that Wu Xie had drawn on the door.

Circling the seal, two dragons flashed and disappeared, as did all the golden light. And the doors began to drag themselves through the stones uneven by time, forcing themselves open, causing the surrounding environment to shudder with the movement of the huge pieces.

That's when the smell of blood really reached everyone.

Xiaoge worried, it wasn't the smell of human blood. Besides, what they had come here looking for wasn't just any kind of living thing for it to bleed.

"Wu Xie," Xiaoge called to his friend, who was still in the same place, looking into the darkness of the closed chamber.

"I guess whatever we were looking for," Wu Xie replied, "it's not what we found." He lifted the flashlight again and flicked it on, stepping through the door.

#guardian #dmbj #link to ao3 in the title #guardian x dmbj crossover #chinese mythology #shen wei #wu xie #zhang qiling #wang pangzi #hei xiazi #xiao hua #zhao yunlan #I'm sure I'm forgetting something...#but here. have it. more fic.#it seems that my brain won't ever see Guardian and DMBJ as separated worlds again

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fixaidea · 3 months

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I would love five more facts about the DMBJ crew as exotic plant specialists. :D

So this is a one-step-closer-to-mundane AU where the really big world-ending stuff like the Ultimate isn't present and the Wang aren't as ancient (though still something of a death cult as I'll mention below), but just an other, if outstandingly ruthless, party on the black market. They are just as enthusiastic about sabotage and infiltration as ever, but here they use it to snag industry secrets* and kill the competition's stock. The almighty Algorythm is mostly used to predict and manipulate the market.

Their (and the Zhang's) quest for immortality is still low-key on though, because if you're gonna hang your life on plants you might also take an interest in their medicinal uses, be it the traditional approach or experimenting in a laboratory.

The man-eating cypress is still a thing though, here the results of some really wild Soviet-era** experiments that first got out of hand then out of the lab. So are a batch of mutant, weirdly intelligent giant Drosera. Getting caught on a giant sticky-trap that slowly folds in on you as it digests you is probably not the way you want to go. And those are just the ones that still by and large resemble an identifiable plant genus. This also connects to the little immortality project of the Zhang and the Wang.

Xinyue is an auction house that specialises in very old, very special bonsai, but they also deal with the kind of orchids you can't even look at without having to pay your life savings.

For most of his life Xiaoge didn't exactly have the luxury of preferences or even opinions. For the longest time Wu Xie suspected he didn't like plants at all. Still, after the Iron Triangle retired and settled down, the brightest windowsills were slowly taken over by tiny succulents which neither Pangzi nor Wu Xie remembered bringing in, which left only one suspect. None of these plants were anything special, just bog-standard species like jade plant, Aloe, some Euphorbia and cacti, no special colouration or anything... just. Small, cute chubby plants, just because.

*Someone lifted your tissue culture protocols? Ah whoops, did your priceless mother plant got watered with sulphuric acid? But not before getting a haircut for propagation? What a bummer, sooo sorry to hear that!

**The experiments were carried out somewhere in the SU but the horrors it created now lurk all over Europe and Asia.

#dmbj #plant crimes au #zhang qiling #iron triangle

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unforth · 1 year

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May Trope Mayhem Day 1! Iron Triangle OT3 (vaguely Ultimate Notey?), Queerplatonic Relationship

Prompt Filled: Queerplatonic Relationship

Fandom: DMBJ (I tend to vision UN for things like this but it's non-specific)

Ship: Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling/Wu Xie (romantic Pingxie, platonic Pingpang and Pangxie)

Tags: vaguely post-canon, fluff, slice of life.

ON AO3

Sometimes, Wu Xie worries.

When he’s visiting Wu Erbai, or Zhang Rishan, or even Huo Xiuxiu, and they ask after Xiaoge and then move on to the matter at hand as if Wu Xie has no one else he’s close to who deserves their polite inquiries.

When he’s aching and bloody and the next wave of the undead is approaching, and Xiaoge puts himself between Wu Xie and danger, and he forgets for a moment that anyone exists in the tomb - in the world - other than the two of them.

When he’s lying in Xiaoge’s arms, replete and satisfied, boneless and flush from the afterglow, but the bed feels too empty.

Loving Xiaoge is inevitable, irresistible, and Wu Xie does so as easily as he breathes. Xiaoge owns half his heart, and always will.

But achingly often, Wu Xie feels the absence of the other half of his heart, hurts for the way that Pangzi gets pushed aside, ignored, disregarded.

He wants to cry for knowing how complicit he himself is in Pangzi’s erasure.

But then–

“Oh, there’s that fat fellow too, right?” says Wu Erbai indifferently, his expression growing uncertain under the weight of Wu Xie’s glare.

But then–

“Xiaoge”–Pangzi hops up, his knife emerging from its sheath with a shing–“there’s more here! I’ll guard this passage, you guard that one!”

But then–

“Pangzi made breakfast,” Xiaoge murmurs hot in Wu Xie’s ear. “You eat. I’ll clean up here.”

Wu Xie’s relationship with Xiaoge is different from his relationship with Pangzi, and Xiaoge’s relationship with Wu Xie is different from his relationship with Pangzi, and Pangzi’s relationship with each of them is also different.

The triangle has three corners, and the lines that connect each corner to the other two are equally bright and bold, even though those lines aren’t drawn identically.

Much of the time,, Wu Xie wonders if he takes too much for granted.

He will not, must not, ever take Pangzi for granted.

Because I love him.

“His name is Pangzi, Er-shu, and he’s great,” Wu Xie says pointedly, staring down his uncle until he can force the man to acknowledge with a slight glance askance that he’s forgotten someone important to Wu Xie, that he’s not allowed to forget someone as important to Wu Xie as Pangzi is.

I love him, Uncle.

“You’re hurt, Pangzi,” he says once the mob of zombies lies in a mangled heap in the middle of the cavern in which they were attacked. “Let me carry you.”

“Too heavy,” grumbles Pangzi. “I’m fine.”

“I could,” Xiaoge offers.

Wu Xie ignores Xiaoge and carries Pangzi anyway.

I love him, Xiaoge.

“Look what I made,” Pangzi says with a brilliant smile as Wu Xie enters the kitchenette. A broad, expansive gesture from his large, strong hand shows jian bing (a little too brown around the edges), fried pork buns (gleaming with excessive oil), and store-bought youtian (cooked over-crispy when they were reheated). Xiaoge ghosts into the room behind Wu Xie, lingering in the doorway, and Wu Xie’s mind and heart flood with how beloved this moment is: them (together), in this place (together), sharing this meal (together), entwining their lives (together, together, always together).

Overflowing, Wu Xie circles the table and grabs Pangzi in a rough hug. Pangzi tenses, but doesn’t pull away.

“Wha?”

“I love you,” says Wu Xie, voice husky.

“Tianzhen,” Pangzi replies awkwardly. “You don’t have to–”

“I love you,” Wu Xie repeats, holding him tighter. “I love you, Pangzi. I love you.”

Finally, Pangzi relaxes, returns the embrace, pats Wu Xie’s back. “It’s getting cold,” he says, hoarse, affected. I love you, too, Wu Xie hears, just as he heard it when Pangzi said I’ll guard the other passage, just as he heard when Xiaoge said Pangzi made breakfast, just as he hears it every time Pangzi chooses to stay with them, chooses to come with them, chooses to share their bed, chooses to have Wu Xie and Xiaoge in his life when he could have anyone else instead.

Wu Xie is about to pull away - he knows any longer of a display of affection will just make Pangzi uncomfortable - but then Xiaoge is there too, holding Pangzi from behind as Wu Xie holds him from the front, and for an endless, too-brief minute, they stand there together, the platonic love of Wu Xie’s life and the romantic love of Wu Xie’s life there with him, his perfect Iron Triangle.

“Enough already,” Pangzi grumbles, shaking them both off. “Sit. Eat.” And he demonstrates by leading the way, dropping into his chair and overfilling his own plate in flagrant disregard of Xiaoge’s and Wu Xie’s sitting empty on the other side of the table.

“Mn.” Xiaoge takes his own seat, filling Wu Xie’s plate and then his own.

As clearly as if the words have been said, Wu Xie knows that’s Xiaoge saying, I love Pangzi, too.

And Wu Xie can only stand and smile at these two men, these two halves of his heart, these two loves of a lifetime.

“Take more,” Pangzi urges around a full mouth, gesturing toward Xiaoge with his chopsticks; Xiaoge obeys as Wu Xie takes his seat.

It smells amazing, but still not as good as his two friends look.

Fuck, how lucky he is.

#unforth writes #dmbj #iron triangle #may trope mayhem #tagging wut #i'm too sleepy for this #but at least I finished the thing #did you see my post where i said i had maybe 50 words left #yeah about that (500 words later)

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mejomonster · 2 years

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also on the subject of zhang qiling’s characterization. i really want to get through more of the novels. i’ve only gotten through books 1 and 2 so far, and only the english translations (which im assuming up in quality a bit once you move to merebear translates in the later books), and i did not even get to the xiaoge parts in book one in the chinese versions yet.

so like, my opinion of him in the books is very specifically book 1 and 2 translated. and im very curious how he evolves and how he’s presented and how he acts to the iron triangle group.

book 1 and book 2 i actually think overall the drama adaptations did a good job of showing xiaoge’s personality in them, although a bit ‘sped up’ (just like pangzi’s mostly himself but ‘sped up’ to be closer and warmer and kinder to wu xie quicker than he is in the book, im assuming so the shows could get the iron triangle dynamic sooner).

in book 1, like The Lost Tomb drama, xiaoge is mostly a detached mystery man who’s intensely competent, dangerous, and aloof. in the book he doesn’t particularly give notice to wu xie as far as we can tell (from what i remember anyway), and wu xie mostly only notices him for how Talented he is (his cool fingers... ok wu xie calm Down lol), and because wu xie at that point is trying to pretend to be a tough cutthroat tomb raider like San Shu, but he’s naive and at heart always been just unable to ignore others suffering If he thinks he can help. So we get little bits of wu xie wondering if xiaoge’s okay, wondering where he is, checking on him (like wu xie is ultimately doing with pretty much everyone on the expedition he thinks he’s even got a .001% of being helpful to). Wu Xie is less charitable and goody-two-shoes than the shows, and just thinks in his pov selfishly, but even thinking himself ‘trying to keep myself alive fuck others’ he ends up going ‘oh fuck i should go try and grab that guy and help huh?’. So wu xie is thinking that way about xiaoge too, as is to be expected. What’s unique about it is that no one else is thinking of xiaoge as someone who needs to be cared about - who’s weak enough to need help, or an ally enough to deserve their time, etc.

And that dynamic is also true in the show - in the drama the rest of the team is quick to assume xiaoge is against them, could kill them (quite possible), is using them, can handle things without them sticking any limbs out for him, and a lot of them don’t necessarily assume xiaoge would even help them If he was around and it was convienient for him. The drama blows it out of proportion, with wu xie being damsel-in-distress saved by xiaoge nonstop, and xiaoge visibly to the audience taking notice of wu xie SPECIFICALLY asking if xiaoge’s okay and trying to help him (as early as the scene in the Inn when wu xie carries him to a bed, and gets him food to eat). In the novel xiaoge does help wu xie at times, but at least from wu xie’s pov (the only one we get) it seems he just Happens to be helping. One can say xiaoge maybe already took a special interest in wu xie, simply because he DECIDES to help him (which he likely does because he notes wu xie is actually treating him like a Person unlike pretty much everyone else on the team, and wu xie’s also the only civilian on the team and therefore not necessarily as much of a potential enemy/threat to xiaoge and his goals). But from wu xie’s perspective xiaoge just seems like an enigma in book 1, who’s VERY competent and VERY cool and very mysterious, who wu xie treats like a Person who deserves to be concerned for like himself (unlike how others treat xiaoge), who happens to help wu xie out a bit (but multiple people help wu xie he’s a naive first timer he needs it lol).

So from book 1, you really don’t see a clear perspective on how Xiaoge views wu xie. Only that its apparent wu xie himself treats tomb raiders, all people generally, as People as worthwhile as himself to help (if he thinks - foolishly- he could survive helping them). So wu xie’s behavior is a contrast to literally everyone, and for someone like xiaoge its a treatment he generally doesn’t get. (I’d argue for Pangzi too, a reason they gradually gravitate toward each other too). The drama follows a similar arc, but xiaoge’s interest and the fact he’s been Affected by someone caring for him and what that makes him feel like is WAY more obvious and likely sped up (cause the early dramas speed up iron triangle dynamics a bit). In the drama, its CLEAR xiaoge’s repeatedly saving wu xie in part because wu xie in particular is trying to help xiaoge, treating xiaoge like a normal person like wu xie is, and assuming xiaoge has good intentions by default/is an ally by default. Wu Xie is being trustworthy, and safe, and attempting to be helpful, all things xiaoge never gets. And drama xiaoge tests that, even trying to show himself as scary and brutal AND a dangerous ‘traitor’ to the group without arguing with San Shu when san shu starts painting him that way. Killing an immortal in front of the group and wu xie after wu xie assumes he isn’t a killer, xiaoge and pangzi ready to murder each other, xiaoge and san shu clearly on opposing sides (meaning wu xie assuming the best of xiaoge means even MORE if he’s assuming xiaoge is worth trusting even as a stranger against the person wu xie loves/knows/trusts most in that group). So in the drama its more clear xiaoge is very affected by wu xie’s treatment of him, and that’s likely why he has an interest in checking in on him/keeping him safe later at the auction scene they add in, and the implication is that in The Lost Tomb 2 xiaoge’s still so eager on wu xie because wu xie truly WAS the person to treat him like a trusted person back. The drama is clearly more sped up/obvious than book 1. But the core intention of xiaoge mysterious, wu xie’s normal personality happening to touch xiaoge are in both.

Onto book 2. I watched the drama The Lost Tomb 2 first, and so i expected that xiaoge suddenly being a lot WARMER and friendlier and open to smiling and joking and trying to be close to wu xie was “the drama speeding pingxie/iron triangle up in closeness” just like the first drama. However, mostly, that wasn’t the case. In both the show and book, Xiaoge first is introduced as Old Man Zhang who is a “professor” who shakes wu xie’s hand and smiles and is EAGER to talk to and touch him. Then wu xie finds out, once attacks happen, that old man Zhang is actually Zhang Qiling as he removes the face-mask disguise and helps wu xie out. In the show, I thought that was already SUCH a change of pace - for xiaoge to show up covertly, and then go gush to wu xie in disguise (just xiaoge gushing/socializing in general is out of place for him normally!). But then I read book 2, and in it old man Zhang gets more dialogue of trying to compliment wu xie (and wu xie taking it as veiled-insults implying wu xie is inexperienced, when its actually xiaoge having RESEARCHED wu xie’s background and gushing in an attempt to say he finds wu xie cool too and wants to be friends).

So Old Man Zhang itself is so interesting, because this disguise and warmth to wu xie implies at some point in book 1 xiaoge DID decide he’s interested in knowing wu xie, and decided when book 2 came and wu xie was scouted for an expedition, that he xiaoge would show up too and attempt to socialize with wu xie again. which is all HUGE for xiaoge, a guy who 1. does not socialize or care to, 2. does not generally have any attachment to the world so just having an interest in getting to know someone is big for him 3. is purposefully making efforts to be warm and interact which are things from book 1 he seemed to not care to do at all. So in book 2 he is suddenly acting a LOT more like pangzi (a tomb raider but sociable and aware of how to be at least casually friendly and make JOKES, compliment people, vocalize team work and strategy). xiaoge is doing a LOT in book 2 to try and reach an olive branch out to wu xie in the hopes wu xie will take it. I also think the disguise portion as old man Zhang indicates on some level Xiaoge wanted to try socializing/connecting to wu xie without it being tied to himself, in case things went badly and he needed to not leave such an impression on wu xie. He clearly cared a LOT about how their next interaction went and wanting it to go WELL post book 1, which i find fascinating. In retrospect then, what WAS xiaoge thinking of wu xie in book 1. I wonder.

And then this final bit, is perhaps me reading too deep into it, but Old Man Zhang specifically being old - to me that reads like Xiaoge hinting he’s maybe not this young cool enigma wu xie met him as, and seeing how wu xie will receive an older version of him (since he is in fact over 100). Its Xiaoge testing out the idea of if wu xie will socialize, still treat him the way he likes wu xie treating him, if wu xie finds out he’s not exactly the man wu xie expects. (and Xiaoge is not going to be what wu xie expects in MANY ways - he’s not as good intentioned as wu xie thinks sometimes, he isn’t human as far as he himself views things, he’s older than wu xie thinks, he’s not cool like wu xie thinks but more just very very out of touch and isolated. And to a degree i personally read, that Old Man Zhang was xiaoge testing the waters to see if wu xie would still amicably treat him decent if he didn’t meet Wu Xie’s expectations.

Then the rest of xiaoge later? As he acts uncharacteristically warm and friendly compared to book 1? Rather than testing if wu xie will like his more particular niche traits, hes testing if He can interact in a way compatible with wu xie, and if that will get him the friendship and closeness he wants - like when u act more charming to win over a person’s attention. And it largely works, wu xie overall gets quite friendly and teamwork’s in response and trusts xiaoge. In the show The Lost Tomb 2 this is almost JARRING compared to xiaoge’s mysterious closed off personality in The Lost Tomb. In TLT2 he smiles warmly, he stares directly at wu xie a lot, he jokes, he touches wu xie in camradiere and not just to ‘save’ or help him. He discusses what he’s doing and his plans for getting through a given area to a degree (aka he communicates/attempts to). He is trying to joke and be team-player around as much as pangzi (who is a much more sociable tomb raider with a lot of charisma), and regardless of how intense xiaoge is acting his main goal just seems to be to develop a connection to wu xie. This is xiaoge, and he could have showed up, said little, offered a bit of help (since wu xie Trying to be helpful to others tends to sometimes inspire it in the people he’s with), done his own mysterious agenda, then disappeared. He didn’t need to smile, or discuss any plans at all with wu xie, or compliment wu xie on his background and credentials, or even research and look into him. I expected the drama version of xiaoge to be ramped-up for pingxie shipping potential that the drama wanted to utilize. But then i read book 2. And in book 2 yeah, there’s not exactly a bunch of soul staring gazes, so as usual drama ramped up things a little. But the core element, xiaoge changing so Drastically in an attempt to connect to wu xie and build a relationship to him, is still there. He’s wildly more like a ‘usual tomb raider’ like pangzi or panzi in book 2 - talking to wu xie, working as a team, actually helping wu xie clearly on PURPOSE and not just ‘oh it happened to be convienient to help him.’

Book or drama version, im guessing to some degree its book 2 with pangzi and xiaoge teamed up with wu xie, where wu xie starts gradually making an impression on them. In the long term, wu xie’s connection to them tends to temper them both to be kinder people... where they might have shot someone to death or stabbed them, when wu xie’s around they tend to slow those instincts, when wu xie remains their team member as the stories go on, they tend to want to do these things a bit less even when wu xie isn’t around because ‘what would he think.’ At least that’s true in the shows. So pangzi is also going through a transformation as early as perhaps book 2 from “casually sociable but will kill anyone if they turn out to not be allied to him” into someone more like “well wu xie’s naive but i may not wanna leave him to die” or “well if i don’t Have to shoot xiaoge maybe i won’t since he’s technically being neutral right now and we’re both with wu xie.’ I’m curious how that transition happens in the books for pangzi. In the shows? The shows 1 and 2 speed the transition up to make pangzi a loyal trusted friend FAIRLY quickly, then show 3 Ultimate Note tempers it a little to a more reasonable pace of ‘shady tomb raider who’ll kill most people’ to ‘well maybe he’s got a soft spot for wu xie.’ TLT2 in particular speeds things up intensely, but still showcases exactly how brutal pangzi (and xiaoge) are when wu xie is not around - how they only don’t kill each other cause they’re allies, how they’ll kill a-ning and her men or other randoms if its needed without a concern, how neither of them particularly care if an immortal gets murdered by xiaoge, how they don’t personally look out for one another and think ‘you’re a tomb raider too take care of yourself and i’ll handle me cause i don’t expect u to help if im screwed.’

Pangzi is an interesting case because like... as shown in TLT2, he can charismatically act inept then fight someone and win, he can charismatically act friendly then betray someone (he often uses looking incompetent, or seeming friendly, to get himself out of traps or save wu xie or get the chance to attack someone). So pangzi’s transition from closed-off tomb raider fine with killing, to emotionally attached to wu xie and wanting to align with wu xie’s morals a bit, is more subtle. Because he acts friendly to wu xie before its actually genuine friendship, and he’ll use the same ‘warmth’ to harm others that he uses without any intention but kindness toward wu xie. Pangzi’s evolution is more about getting a soft spot for wu xie, where he starts to feel he can be Himself without it always being an act, where he feels he Can risk being kind and helpful without getting screwed (because wu xie won’t screw him over generally), where he starts to feel bad about being brutal toward a novice like wu xie. I imagine once we get to Ultimate Note and the coinciding book, Pangzi’s characterization starts matching up more (but i haven’t read the books that far yet).

I’m very interested on if book Xiaoge’s development matches when it coincides with Ultimate Note’s timeline. Because book 1 xiaoge is so much of a mystery/closed off its hard to pin down exactly what he thinks about the new person he meets wu xie. Then book 2 implies he thought quite a Lot but he also seems to be putting on a different kind of act in it. If in book 1 (and drama The Lost Tomb) xiaoge is trying to come off as an unknown stranger to keep people out and at a distance, then book 2 (drama The Lost Tomb 2 sea-tomb part) Xiaoge is trying to give off the impression he’s a sociable tomb raider like San Shu or Pangzi (even though he’s not) because he’s trying to get wu xie to engage with him more. And because it’s all wu xie’s pov in the books, we don’t really know why xiaoge took a particular notice to wu xie for sure, and why he decided it was worthwhile enough to attempt to engage and emulate tomb raiders who are Good at interacting with wu xie in order to get wu xie’s friendship too. I’m wondering if in later books we ever get a perspective on why xiaoge wanted wu xie’s notice/connection, and i am very excited to see xiaoge in general unfolding into more of his many facets as the books go on. Because as mentioned, book 1 he keeps people at a distance as strangers, and book 2 he’s putting on an act (and also potentially revealing how big his capacity for chatty friendliness is given the right incentive lol).

I found Ultimate Note drama xiaoge to be interesting because he is clearly back to closed-off this-is-my-problem-to-handle but Wu Xie keeps extending olive branches to try and meet him halfway, and xiaoge tries at times to extend it back in an Honest way. Staring to try and say things to wu xie, letting wu xie feed him, letting wu xie ‘help’ him, letting wu xie start convos and HOLD him in those convos when he could easily just leave or overpower wu xie - and doing all these things while admitting he thinks its his problem, that he’s a monster, that he doesn’t want wu xie hurt, that he thinks wu xie is stepping out of line pushing this of him etc. whereas in TLT2 he was extending an olive branch just to get wu xie to be warm to him... by Ultimate Note he’d rather abandon wu xie if it means wu xie is out of THIS mess (he’s also like that in the later TLT2 portion after the water tomb). By UN he also realizes leaving wu xie won’t get what he wants, that wu xie will jump into xiaoge’s mess anyway, and they both try to meet each other halfway a bit more honestly. (and unfortunately the dramas are missing the time between water-tomb to Ultimate Note’s plot and all the development happening off screen/in the books there). From a book perspective, i’m wondering how things develop to UN’s point, and im wondering how close (or Overdone) UN’s depiction of the characterizations are compared to the corresponding book. (Because again... the shows tend to overdo the iron triangle closeness/development i personally think just in case they’re the first/only dmbj drama seen, so the audience gets iron triangle and pingxie dynamics no matter which drama they watch).

#xiaoge #pangzi #zhang qiling #wu xie #iron triangle #pingxie #meta #dmbj #did anyone ask for dmbj meta? no? lol well im dropping #dmbj novels #and show comparison meta on xiaoge's character anyway #and pangzi's #i would LOVE to read a fic where like Reboot or Ultimate Note era xiaoge acts like Old Man Zhang. acts like water-tomb tlt2 xiaoge #because we KNOW thats an aspect of his personality #we know xiaoges got a fucking degree? or at least a fake one. we know he's got a professor alias with Old Man Zhang.#we know he IS capable of physical affection starting like holding hands grabbing shoulders and desiring to cuddle #and that he can RANT compliments if given the chance and motivation #so like. has there ever been a date where xiaoge just brings wu xie's research highlighted #and they're at some dinner. and xiaoge's just smiling gushing about X and Y that wu xie wrote and asdking questions???#and wu xie's blushing cause hes a BABY compared to xiaoge and its NOT truly impressive to xiaoge who #Lived thru this stuff. right? but xiaoge insists NO IT IS IMPRESSIVE IT IS #and wu xie cracking a big smile he cant supress and blushing more and trying to talk #and xiaoge staring at him with a smile listening raptly #and then like pangzi crashes the date #and xiaoge goes silent as the grave cold eyes. as if he was not gushing 2 minutes prior #but pangzi saw him smiling like a SAP as he walked in. so he still KNOWS #like. as far as im aware? that could all canonically happen. it falls in line with Xiaoge's behavior as old man zhang #and we know wu xie's fond pov in the books is not gonna mention it. not gonna out xiaoge as a mushy dork when he's 'suave and cool' in the #pov journals lol.#but if xiaoge ever dresses in a pretty dress for wu xie? well wu xie Wont mention the particulars but he'll journal oh how HOT it would be.

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bowsie22 · 7 months

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Whumptober 2023 #1

Whumptober 1 - "How many fingers am I holding up?"

His head hurt, why did his head hurt? Wu Xie groaned, not wanting to open his eyes. After so many head injuries he already knew what would happen. He'd open his eyes, light would hit them and then Wu Xie would wince and move, making his head hurt even worse.

It really was a sad state of affairs that he was this familiar with head injuries, wasn't it? Taking a deep breath, Wu Xie cracked an eye open, hoping to find some answers. He remembered standing at the entrance to the main room in the tomb while Xiazi argued with Pangzi over how much dynamite was needed to blast through the door. Everything was a bit of a blur after that. Xiaoge shouting for him, Xiao Hua swearing, loud noises. Then a lot of pain.

Wu Xie swore, realising what had happened. He’d been caught up in the explosion. And separated from his friends, which was just typical of his luck. Taking a deep breath, he prodded at the sore spot on his head, hissing at the sharp pain that burst through him. That was a lot of blood, wasn't it? Xiaoge was going to be furious with him, he promised the other no more head wounds, at least not for a month. And that was only three weeks ago.

Oh, his eyes were going weird. Had there always been that many torches on the walls? Or so many figures on that mural? Were they dancing? Wait, Wu Xie squinted, no. That was Xiaoge and Xiao Hua moving through the rubble. Wu Xie starts humming, trying to get their attention. He cycles through a few different melodies, settling on Baby Shark. Annoying but effective if the hurried scrambling he heard meant anything.

Xiaoge fell to his knees beside Wu Xie, fingers probing his head wound, ignoring the wounded look sent his way. “Xiao Hua, let the others know he has a head wound and it’s bleeding a lot! Wu Xie, look at me sweetheart. How many fingers am I holding up?” Oh, he wasn’t falling for this again, Xiaoge has tricked him too many times with this. “You’re not getting me this time Xiaoge, the thumb is not a finger.” He hears Xiao Hua snort in the background. “God, I forgot how annoying concussed Wu Xie is.”

Xiaoge hummed, more concerned with getting Wu Xie to his feet. Turns out more than his head hurt. The older shushed him as he whined, “I know. You got a bit more buried than the rest of us, there’s a lot of cuts and bruises. We’ll get you out and to a hospital and you’ll feel better in no time, ok?” Wu Xie nodded, always trusting Xiaoge. He could relax now; Xiaoge and his friends would look after him, like they always did. Wu Xie giggled to himself, he had good friends, the best, he was so lucky. He should tell them that! “You guys are the best and I am so lucky you came into my life. Otherwise, I’d be stuck with my uncles, and they suck.”

He rambles as he’s lead out of the tomb and deposited into the car, continuing through the medical examination in the hospital, everything that came into his mind being said. Wu Xie only stops talking when he’s settled into a hospital bed and told he can sleep for a while. Xiaoge sits at his bedside, holding his hand while Pangzi and Xiazi argue over what to watch on the TV in the private room. Xiao Hua, ordering food to the room, takes the remote and switches to the news. Laughing, Wu Xie relaxes into the bed as the familiar routine carries on. He really was lucky.

A/N First entry for Whumptober 2023. The plan is to do all 31, but we’ll see how that goes

#whumptober2023 #no. 01 #“how many fingers am I holding up?”#lost tomb #pingxie #dmbj

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wushanju · 1 year

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Don’t worry Pangzi put a blanket over Wu Xie, then when he didn’t wake up an hour later Xiaoge carried him to bed, he needs the rest.

#dmbj #daomu biji #wu xie #xiao ge #wang pangzi #zhang qiling #pangzi #iron triangle #wushanju #wushanju diary

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sharkbeneaththelotus · 10 months

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Pangzi wears Xiaoge as a backpack I HAVE TOO MANY FEELINGS ONLY PANGYE CAN CONTAIN THEM ALL:

He first does it on the way out of the desert, the sun scorching their combined backs and the air bitterly cold. Xiaoge keeps his back shaded, and Pangzi keeps Xiaoge's front warm. He's too light; his wrists dangle down like driftwood wind chimes, but he's warm and breathing.

Pangzi puts his emptied pack back on over Xiaoge, and pulls the straps tight. Ahead of them, Wu Xie slogs doggedly along the path picked out by his compass, and Pangzi puts his head down and walks.

Xiaoge breathes cool air over his sweaty neck and the fabric trapped between them grows sodden with their combined body heat. At the edges, where sweat wicks into exposed cotton, the wind chills it instantly to ice. Pangzi can't tell if that's a relief from the burning heat, or the worst shit he's ever felt. He spends way too long thinking about it, one foot in front of the other, trudging onwards towards the camp Wu Xie insists exists.

He hopes Xiaoge doesn't mind having Pangzi's sweat on him; there's no way the Great Zhang Qiling is sweating. Hah!

---

The second time is soon enough after the first that Pangzi wonders whether Xiaoge was awake enough to remember that journey, because Xiaoge fits himself onto Pangzi's back like he is a backpack.

He's exhausted, mildly feverish, and only got off the tubes and monitors a day ago. Pangzi should not have brought him out to the gardens without a wheelchair to haul him back after. But he'd needed to see Xiaoge amongst green and growing things, and he was right; Xiaoge had come alive with plants to molest with his Zhang fingers. He'd even taken his slippers off before walking on the grass, so now Pangzi has to deal with pale green stains on his trousers, where Xiaoge's feet brush against the white fabric.

"Hup we go..." He warns, and Xiaoge curls tighter over his shoulders, bony elbows jabbing his collarbones as though Xiaoge's joints are just suggestions rather than actual rules. Bony and boneless, please make your mind up, Xiaoge.

He feels Xiaoge's sigh against the back of his neck, then the press of a sharp nose against the muscles between neck and shoulder; it was too much input, Pangzi should have known it would be. Back to the quiet room in the stroke ward he goes, Xiaoge's slippers dangling from his fingers and the man himself doing half the work of holding on to Pangzi's back.

Experimentally, Pangzi lightens his grip on Xiaoge's thighs, and the grip only gets firmer.

He lets go completely, and Xiaoge hold himself in place without problem.

"Hah! I'm one big mamma, and you're a baby monkey, ah?" He jokes, putting his hands back under Xiaoge's knees so the poor man can rest a bit. Xiaoge sighs heavily and goes limp as a sand bag.

"Alright, alright, this way..."

He gets a few strange looks, and is challenged by a security guard, but the band on Xiaoge's wrist is as good as a passport, and back they go.

---

The third time, Xiaoge isn't even ill.

As far as Pangzi can tell, and he's getting good at this hazy-eyed version of their Xiaoge, he's just grumpy. Their walk through the old streets of the antiques district had been peppered with quiet announcements about fake goods, and Pangzi had had to stop Xiaoge telling the whole market about it. They couldn't take that kind of heat! And Xiaoge didn't have a sword!

He'd been able to tell at a glance, in most cases, and occasionally with a touch, and apparently he had been restraining himself for their entire acquaintance, because the twist of his lip at the worst of the forgeries is hilarious. And going to get them both beaten straight out of the market.

He gets mulish about leaving, and Pangzi off-handedly threatens to carry him back to his shop and put him up in the window for sale, at which point Xiaoge climbs onto his back and hunkers there like a barnacle.

His hood brushes against Pangzi's freshly clipped undercut, and he feels the brush of eyelashes against the skin of the back of his neck, and Xiaoge goes tense all over in a shiver, then lax again.

Pangzi grabs him under his knees, hefts him up a little, and accepts that technically he did offer.

#dmbj #Wang pangzi #pangzi #Xiaoge #zhang qiling #whump

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