sworn bros on a night hunt! the weather changed unexpectedly so they’re looking for somewhere to shelter :) according to tumblr this has been sitting in my drafts for two entire years and I don’t know why because I actually really like it? so here’s a bit of a blast from the past for you guys
I’m pretty sure I’m w o r t h l e s s if I can’t be of s e r v i c e
a genius anon suggested “surface pressure” from encanto as a 3zun song and I’ve not actually seen the movie but the moment I listened to the song I was like OH NO. TIME FOR FEMALE 3ZUN FEELS (under a cut, because it turns out I have a lot of them)
I’ve seen a good few AUs exploring different gender dynamics with 3zun but here are my personal thoughts:
I don’t think Mingjue’s life would change a huge amount if she were a woman - you don’t mess with a person who’s six foot, jacked as fuck, and carries a giant semi-sentient murdersaber, no matter whattheir gender is - I think she’d just have even LESS time for JGS and politics in general, and be just like… one rung further down on the privilege ladder than canon Mingjue. if Huaisang is male, it’s possible she could be considered to be a stop-gap until he’s old/capable enough to take up leadership, and that would likely make their relationship more strained than canon.
Xichen’s life would still be very privileged, but as part of a sect where the very conservative elders seem to have strong influence, I imagine she’d have to fight pretty hard to be taken seriously as a leader (look what a mess Lan Yi got into! this is what happens when you let women be in charge!), not to mention be constantlydodging marriage proposals, as the elders would likely prefer she marry an outer cousin who could take over leadship whilst keeping power in the main family line. she would definitely struggle to get out of the shadow of the other notorious Lan women, and her fear of fucking up is even greater than canon Xichen’s, as there’s always been a little part of her mind utterly petrified that if she does something bad enough she will just get locked away forever - after all, isn’t that what happened to Lan Yi? isn’t that what happened to her mother?
JGY’s life would change a lot and could go in so many different directions; for one thing, I cannot believe that Meng Shi would have raised a daughter the same way as she raised a son, and would have been much much less likely to put such a strong emphasis on joining the Jin sect. I feel like her priority would have been to educate Meng Yao as much as possible, and then get her out of the brothel as soonas possible. from there, I think it’s possible that she could have gone on a pretty similar path to canon JGY, either as herself or dressed as a man, with the main difference being that a female Mingjue would likely be a great deal more sympathetic towards a female Meng Yao killing the guard captain (MY: he would not acknowledge my authority, called me and my mother whores, and stole all my ideas! Mingjue: [shocked pikachu face with angry eyebrows drawn on] okay you shouldn’t have killed him but like… fuck that guy!!! what a prick!!!) and female Xichen would have a much greater understanding of her perspective (MY: I have to fight for even the most basic of respect and everyone looks at me like I’m a pastry they’re saving to eat later! Xichen: I personally choose to repress my negative emotions as a coping mechanism but I can certainly see that such a position might drive you into a murderous rage). if she got as far as being acknowledged by JGS, I imagine he’d immediately start looking to marry her off - because a war hero daughter is still a daughter, and he doesn’t like smart women - at which point… well, let’s choose a happy ending and say one of her sworn sisters volunteers :)
happy mother’s day to all who celebrate it! @guqin-and-flute and I have had a couple conversations about parents in the Modern 3zun Raise A-Fu AU and we decided that the 3zun house would would have a set of shelves that acts as a sort of informal shrine for their mums (3zun all have Complicated relationships with their fathers, and they don’t know who A-Fu’s bio dad is).
on the top shelf we have a photo of the Nie Mamas with little Mingjue (and imminent Huaisang), as well as a shell and two candles.
on the second shelf there is a formal photo of Mama Lan, and a rough sketch of her face drawn by Xichen, alongside a gentian flower and some incense sticks in a pot.
on the third shelf is a set of four silly photobooth-style photos of Meng Shi and Meng Yao, with a little braided bracelet hanging on the frame, and a preserved sticky note written by Meng Shi that reads “will be back at eight ❤ love you xxx :)”. either side of the frame are tea lights.
on the bottom shelf is a graduation photo of A-Fu’s mother. on one side of it is A-Fu’s ultrasound picture in a frame, and on the other is an origami rose.
full size versions of the photos below the cut! we have a whole bunch of headcanons about the parents so feel free to hit me up if there’s stuff you want to know more about :)
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
I don’t think they would ever really all get drunk at the same time because, sect leader reputations to keep up aside, drunk!Xichen is such a chaotic handful that none of them - not Mingjue or JGY or sober!Xichen - would inflict him on the world without appropriate supervision.
…THAT SAID, I think they would have a really good time together aklsdjglskdjg
