#afvsjh
I call this one “absolution” :)
@ebonykain said: I’m very curious what Meng Shi’s opinions on her son’s sworn brothers are
oh man, Meng Shi and Xichen were MADEto be mother and son-in-law. Xichen thinks Meng Shi is wonderful not only because she’s the beloved mother of a man he loves, but also because they have a bunch of interests in common! the two of them spend ages happily bonding over literature and poetry and painting and music. also, Xichen has a lot of internalised guilt and grief about his own mother that he’s never really gotten to process at ALL, and has literally ZERO other older women in his life, so hanging out with Meng Shi is very precious and theraputic for him. eventually, he does open up to her about what happened with his mother, and the compassion with which Meng Shi handles the story of a woman who was treated like a disgusting criminal who should be forgotten by the whole Lan sect means a great deal to him.
(the rest under the cut)
Meng Shi adores Xichen from the very start for no other reason that he seems to genuinely and earnestly respect her??? sometimes his attempts to talk about her profession are a little clumsy, but it’s clear that he legitimately does not look down on her for it. once she gets to know him and sees how much he loves her son - when JGY tells her about the kindness Xichen treated him with even before they got together, and when she sees how persistently and devotedly Xichen cares for JGY - it’s impossible for her not to not give her wholehearted approval. for her, their shared interests are just the icing on the cake.
things with Mingjue are a little more complicated - JGY certainly did not tell her all of the details of their No Good Very Bad breakup, so what she knows is that things were, uhhhhhhh not great for a long while, but they did their best to be civil for the sake of Xichen and A-Fu, and by the time Mingjue winds up meeting Meng Shi, he and JGY are reconciled. Mingjue feels oddly anxious about meeting her, given that he knows Xichen met her when they were hiding in the brothel and the two of them bonded over their love of the arts, so there’s part of him that is worried he will come across as just a Big Uncouth Fighty Man in comparison :( but! he grew up with two mamas, and there are many older aunties in the Nie sect, so I feel like he does have a certain level of practice when it comes to interacting with older women. he genuinely respects Meng Shi for how well she raised JGY, and doesn’t really have any personal issues with her profession, andthere are many things about Meng Shi that low-key remind Mingjue of Huaisang’s mum, which means once they’re more comfortable with each other, Mingjue very much feels at home having his cheeks pinched and hands patted and being bossed around by a tiny older lady :)
on the flip side, Meng Shi finds Mingjue’s awkward earnestness and quiet respect very charming! whilst Mingjue has a formidable reputation, and she knows he broke her son’s heart many years ago, you don’t get as famous as her in her profession without being exceptionally good at reading people, and it doesn’t take her long to realise that Mingjue has a big heart under the famous temper and all those muscles. he is nothing but very polite and kind with her, and in the time that she sees them together, it is clear to her that whatever their history was, now that they are reconciled, Mingjue adores her son. they don’t bond in the same way she and Xichen do, but Meng Shi is deeply fond of Mingjue all the same.
a quiet sunny morning with Jin-zongzhu and Jin-furen
(until the kids wake up, at least…)
from this gorgeous little fic in @guqin-and-flute’s 3zun Raise Jingyi AU - Mingjue and JGY get caught in a nasty snowstorm whilst trying to fly home from Gusu, and poor JGY definitely gets the worst of it.
just two horrible mountain men trying to warm up their precious cranky tropical bird
look. LOOK. I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again: I just…………. think these two deserve smooches. and a happy ending.
