Dear Just Married Creator,

I'm

greygerbil on AO3, thank you for writing or drawing for me! Right from the start, I want to say you don’t have to do anything with my prompts, they’re just here in case you want some ideas. If it has my pairing and avoids my DNWs, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it! All ratings are great. I included a list of my general likes and smut likes which apply to all my requests. When it comes to kinks, you can include anything not listed under my DNWs.

Feel free to entirely erase the existence of canon relationships or break them up if they get in the way of the pairings I requested, whichever works best with what you’re trying to do. When it comes to characters living in time periods where gay marriage was not historically an option, I’m totally fine with AUs where it just is a thing, or with explanations that allow it to be fine in this specific case, or A/B/O or BDSM AUs where marriage is considered more along the lines of those characteristics. I also like secret marriages that aren’t official, but taken serious by the characters.

Fic where the couple is not yet together but clearly in love, or on the road to getting together, or having their first time kissing/in bed together are great. However, so are established relationship fics. Whatever suits your ideas!

Some prompts may read like ideas for longer fics, but if you’re interested in them, please just grab a scene with the general idea out of the middle of those hypothetical longfics and write me that! I love fic of all length and don’t want anyone to feel like they have to go above the minimum word count. I just get excited writing prompts sometimes.

Considering the number of canons I have where you slaughter your way through untold heaps of NPCs, I should also point out I generally have no problem with gore, blood, and graphic violence.

DNWs
Likes
Smut Likes
Art Likes
Mass Effect Trilogy: Male Shepard/Javik
Mass Effect Trilogy: Male Shepard/Legion
Mass Effect: Andromeda: Jaal Ama Darav/Evfra de Tershaav
Original Work: New Omega King/His Male Alpha Husbands
魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Nie Mingjue/Lan Xichen
魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Jin Guangyao/Lan Xichen
魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen & Nie Huaisang/Lan Xichen
陈情令 | The Untamed: Nie Mingjue/Lan Xichen
陈情令 | The Untamed: Jin Guangyao/Lan Xichen
陈情令 | The Untamed: Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen & Nie Huaisang/Lan Xichen

DNWs and Likes

DNWs

permanent death of requested characters (they can die temporarily and come back to life, though; if a character canonically dies and is not part of the pairing you’re creating for but just requested in a different pairing, they can also die; MDSZ/Untamed characters can also stick around as fully conscious fierce corpses or fully conscious spirits)

requested characters cheating on anybody

unrequested open relationships or poly for requested pairings (threesomes/moresomes can start out as open relationships between two or several of the characters, or have two characters simultaneously fall for a third/others, or have unclear FWB-who-are-pining lines, but I'd like them to eventually become closed triads/groups and for no one to deliberately cheat on someone else while it’s clear that the rules of their relationship don’t allow being with others)

unrequested noncon including sexual assault attempts (mentioning/discussing/describing canonical instances of SA & noncon is fine, as is mentioning noncon that doesn’t happen to or between the requested characters; and of course, if I request a tag including SA or noncon or have a prompt that includes it, it is totally fine to include as well!)

completely unhappy endings (vaguely hopeful or bittersweet is fine, just not full dark)

smut involving underage characters (under 18) (it can be referenced as backstory if the character is 15 or older at the time, like as something they did when they were younger, but I wouldn’t want any explicit scenes with underage characters)

unrequested non-canonical incest (for requested characters, not a problem for background characters)

ageplay, diaper play, daddy or mommy kink

raceplay

scat, emetophilia

necrophilia (MDSZ/Untamed’s fierce corpses with full human-level consciousness wouldn’t count as this for me, neither would fully conscious spirits)

cannibalism, debilitating mutilation of requested characters for sexual pleasure, vore

crackfic (humour is great, but I don’t enjoy complete randomness)

high school/college AUs (other modern AUs as well as all other sorts of AUs are fine; modern or Modern AU characters just going to school or college as part of their life at some point is also no problem; basically, I just don't want it to be the main setting)

1st and 2nd person POV (they are fine for epistolary fic and mock articles/social media entries/documents/research papers, though)

Likes

UST (and also eventual resolving of UST)

friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, friends with benefits to romance

battle couples fighting together

loyalty kink

admiring competence/skill

sparring

protectiveness

possessiveness

hurt/comfort

fluff

mpreg

kidfic

epistolary fic

angst

arranged marriage turning into marriage of love, characters pretending to be in a relationship falling in love

tough characters being driven to their breaking point

character who is suffering trying to soldier through

hurt character trying to comfort distressed person who is helping them

dancing

one partner manhandling the other

focus on height differences if applicable

Soulmate AUs, played straight or averted

Kemononimi AUs (I don’t even need an explanation, though having one could be fun, but feel free to just give somebody animal ears and a tail)

Wing AUs

Modern AUs

I also enjoy A/B/O AUs and gave some ideas who I’d like to take which role in the header under every pairing. Male omegas can have the male cis gender set of genitalia or have a vagina in addition, either is fine for me! Alphas can have knots or not, whichever you like. For mpreg childbirth, A/B/O or otherwise, feel free to give them new genitalia to manage it or just have an anal birth or a Caesarian. Male lactation is also fine to include.

Smut Likes

rough sex

slow, loving sex

marking with biting and love bites, scratch marks, bruises

overstimulation

focus on hands, fingering, handjobs

intercrural, intergluteal

oral

anal

rimming

body worship

first times (in general, or with that partner, or with a partner of that gender)

BDSM, D/s, honour bondage (as well as regular bondage)

generally playing around with dominance, one character calling the shots very clearly, or both challenging each other during sex, fighting for control

however, I also love smut that is just really vanilla and fluffy and gentle

for vampires (and other people who don’t do lasting damage to each other): bloodplay

Art Likes

Generally, I enjoy a wide variety of different art styles, from realistic paintings to manga to western comics to 3D/render and pixel art and everything in between, so please feel free to go with whatever you enjoy. I like black-and-white lineart just as much as elaborately shaded coal or pencil drawings and, of course, colours of every sort, traditional and digital alike. I’d very much like to see my requested pairings in your style, but if you have a specific stylistic idea, that’s always super fun, too. I don’t have pairing-specific art prompts this time, but I hope the tags themselves can work as inspiration.

Mass Effect Trilogy: Male Shepard/Javik

Javik is possibly my favourite companion in ME3 and I love his interactions with Shepard. He’s so abrasive, but the longer you talk to him, the more you realise that the glorious Prothean empire they taught them about was really already a long lost memory in ruins and he lived his whole life in a total dystopian nightmare, only to wake up to the next apocalypse. I like Default Shepard just fine, but feel free to make him look different and give him a different first name. Paragon, Renegade or Paragade/Renegon (mix-and-match choices) all work, too, though I wouldn’t want a Shepard who is totally irredeemable. I also like Javik having touched the Echo Shard, but would not want him to go through with his plans to kill himself (but feel free to have him stop at the last possible moment). As for the Endings… whichever one you want, as long as Shepard lives somehow, really! I’m not a fan of any of them and I’d also be totally fine with an AU ending or with the Crucible just being a big Reaper-targeting gun. For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Javik. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Javik. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Javik and alpha or beta Shepard (scenarios where only one species has A/B/O or they have A/B/O systems that aren’t completely the same are also fun!).

Aliens - Elaborate Courtship/Wedding Rituals and Traditions

I doubt that anyone had time for that kind of thing in Javik’s time, considering they were at the tail end of the death of their species, but maybe he saw some Prothean courtship and wedding traditions on shards and always wanted to try them out. If this is post-ending, he suddenly finds he has time for it now and actually really enjoys it. That, or he incorporates something small in his courting of Shepard even before the ending, maybe a courtship tradition they adapted to the war time pace of life in his times?

Shepard didn’t think he’d be into this kind of thing, but he actually likes it, too, and especially the thought that they now have time for this sort of thing (if this is post-ending). Depending on what culture Shepard is from, maybe there are some traditions of his own he’d like to try out on Javik or incorporate into the wedding, too?

Courtship - Unconventional Courtship that Ends in Marriage

Shepard and Javik are both so deep into the whole soldier aspect of their life that I feel like their courtship could mainly be communicated through dead Reaper creations, silent shared meals in the mess hall and strategy discussions, and they both end up completely understanding what it’s about. Nobody else does, but then again, they don’t have to get married to them, so that’s not that important.

However, I’d also love anything with a different definition of unconventional! What do they/does one of them come up with to impress the other? (This can definitely look weird or even morbid from the outside, but I’d rather if this weren’t crackfic, but something the two of them could conceivably take serious as courtship.)

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

Post-ending or immediately pre-ending seem like great points for this to happen, as would any situation in which Shepard is miraculously revived/narrowly escapes death.

However, I would also enjoy a scene of this happening in a situation that’s actually quite normal – in bed together or while out on a date –, but since they’ve had so few of those, this is actually what spurs on the surprise proposal.

Proposal - Mid-Battle Proposal

This is also a trope I just love! And with as many battles as they take part in, there are ample opportunities. Is the person who is getting proposed to surprised, or do they agree without even thinking about what an odd situation it is? Both Shepard and Javik are so battle-hardened, it’s not difficult to imagine either of them just going with the flow. However, the one being asked may not have dared to hope for a proposal...

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Earthborn Shepard’s family seems to be mostly non-existant, so that would be a given. The other two Shepards could have difficult relationships to their family, too. Javik probably doesn’t have much experience with family, but still hopes he can make a small family that Shepard enjoys more.

On that note, does Javik have a family? I think he mentions incubation facilities where children live at some point, so maybe it was more 200 siblings training from birth to be soldiers and no real parents or something. However it was, it’s a given they likely died horrible deaths and even before that probably never got the chance to be the pinnacle of functional. Shepard wanting to show him a marginally healthy interpersonal relationship would be nice.

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

This seems like exactly the kind of custom Protheans would come up with. Javik really doesn’t expect someone from the new cycle to bother with it (and maybe this is another one of those things that wasn’t even done in his time anymore, which he only knows from shards), but he mentions it at some point. Shepard decides since Javik sounds like he likes the idea, he’ll do it for him.

Or maybe Shepard used to run with people who did this – as a sort of gang custom if he’s Earthborn, or a military brat in-joke if he’s a Spacer, or a thing that established itself as a tradition on Mindoir if that’s his background. He mentions it to Javik, who probably thinks that’s a really fun idea!

Ritual Bride Stealing

Maybe this is a Prothean custom and, as above, Javik doesn’t think someone from the new cycle would do it or want it done to themselves, even though he secretly thinks it would be nice (perhaps having fond memories of that sort of ceremony in the past, or knowing it as an old custom from shards). Shepard decides he’s going to fulfil Javik’s wish.

Javik can be a bit of a troll sometimes, though, so maybe he sneaks up on Shepard and “steals” him without warning him he’s going to do it beforehand.

On the other hand, maybe Shepard just takes in the information about that custom and Javik thinks that’s that, but then Shepard sneaks up on him and steals him away.

Marriage of Convenience - Citizenship Marriage

Javik is in a weird position because he doesn’t have citizenship with any of the new species, considering he’s just basically from another world. Maybe he would like to join the Alliance military, or maybe Shepard is told that he can’t have him on his Spectre ship if he doesn’t have any citizenship, or Javik keeps running into administrative blockades for the smallest things because he doesn’t technically exist to the bureaucracy. Shepard decides this could be easily solved by marrying Javik and Javik agrees, that’s a very pragmatic solution! Except they also end up falling in love/are already in love.

Political Marriage - Real Feelings Develop

A lot of people don’t really trust Javik, who hasn’t made the best case for Prothean pacifism himself, after all. Besides, he’s just kind of unattached to anything or anyone, who knows what he might do? Shepard decides to make a point and marries Javik to show people the Prothean is trustworthy. Turns out, however, that being married to each other is actually really nice for both of them.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Alliance brass thinks it’d be a good idea if Shepard married the Prothean so he wasn’t such an unknown factor, and/or possibly because it’d give the Alliance some cloud to monopolise the only Prothean alive. Shepard would probably tell them to go fuck themselves, actually, but there is the caveat that he has a crush on Javik, and Javik (who is likely used to much more intrusive requests from the nightmare war time military administration back in his day) agrees, which Shepard can’t stop thinking about. How do they figure out they like each other?

Secret Marriage - Becomes Public

Javik and Shepard married sometime during the timeline of ME3 and eventually, Shepard casually drops this bomb into some reporter’s lap, or it’s even revealed against his will. What are the reactions?

Is this news to Shepard’s crew/friends as well and if yes, how do they react? If no, do they tease Shepard and Javik about the ensuing public relations chaos?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

Perhaps Shepard needs a plus one to gain entry into some Omega sex club where you need to bring a partner (bonus if it’s an interesting partner, so Javik would be perfect) or for another type of mission. Maybe Shepard is also just tired of tabloids constantly questioning him about his love life (once the galaxy is back in a state where that is a concern again – which I imagine would be early, since people have always loved gossip) and decides to go for the nuclear option by pretending to date a Prothean. However it happens, the two realise they have a lot of fun playing at being partners. And hey, they know how fast everything can be over, they’ve seen it often enough, so why not marry when the chance presents itself?

Fake Marriage - Undercover As Married Leads To Unexpected Feelings

Somewhat in the vein of the above prompt, maybe they have to pretend to be married to gain access to some kinky or exclusive space while they’re on a mission. Who could have guessed that the Prothean ends up making a pretty good husband? And Javik is really enjoying this one-on-one time with Commander Shepard a lot more than he should, too – maybe those primitive marriage customs are not so bad, but it might have mostly to do with the Commander himself.

Marrying for Love - Everyone Thought They Were Joking About Getting Married

Javik doesn’t seem like the marrying type and depending on his personality, neither does Shepard. Sure, they seemed to be flirting and all, but when they announce their engagement, even the crew is floored.

Marrying for Love - Marrying Someone Who is Carrying Someone Else's Baby

Before Javik was frozen, they made sure he was pregnant just to have the maximum amount of Protheans in the new cycle. Javik might not have been sure if it has taken at all, but he eventually realises he is pregnant. Maybe with the Protheans being such a war-like species, this isn’t actually a problem for Javik while still engaging in war, his biology allows for it. What is an issue is that he’s getting closer to Shepard. Shepard, however, is fully on board with raising a baby Prothean.

Celebrity Marriage - Media Have Strong Reaction to Marriage

Post-ending, but pretty much in any part of the story after he met Javik, Shepard is a pretty big deal. If he got married, I’m sure a lot of people would have an opinion on it. How many thinkpieces, gossip rag articles and social media posts are fired into the extranet once their marriage becomes public?

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

Mabye Protheans are like Asari and can just make more Protheans with any species, so Shepard and him could have a biological child now that the war is over, which Javik ends up carrying? On the other hand, there will also be a ton of war orphans, so they could also decide to have a baby by adopting one (or several) from the overflowing orphanages (or maybe a toddler who is just running around in the rubble imprints on them and while they planned to leave it with the authorities at first, they end up filing for adoption when it becomes clear the kid has no living relatives).

Wedding Night

I assume Javik and Shepard have had sex before marriage, but they might still feel like their wedding night is a special occasion (and even be surprised how much thinking about the fact that they’re now husbands affects them).

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

This is always great too, though. Whether their wedding is a big affair for everybody because Commander Shepard is the biggest celebrity of the galaxy post-Ending, whether the crew just threw one hell of a party, or whether they were interrupted by enemies and had to have an exciting mid-wedding shoot-out, Javik and/or Shepard are very tired by the end of the evening and just enjoy each other’s company while cuddling.

Since he’s so tired, Javik for the first time neglects to hide the fact how much he likes snuggling (the Protheans are a touch-focused species, so this could make sense, right?). Shepard likes learning this about his new husband.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If both humans and Protheans have A/B/O, do both species also have the mating run custom, or is Omega Javik surprised and interested to learn about it? I feel like he would enjoy a rough custom like that. Or maybe it’s Alpha Shepard who is surprised, but hunting down Omega Javik does not sound bad at all to him. However it happens, the both of them decide to stage a mating run (or, if it is a human custom that happens in this cycle, Javik even enters a bigger mating run, with Shepard doing the same to catch him).

Or maybe humans don’t have A/B/O at all, but Shepard learns that Omega Javik would have expected this from an alpha in his time, so he’s going to play alpha and catch him.

Mass Effect Trilogy: Male Shepard/Legion

Legion, to me, is one of the best examples of a character that is both totally removed from the human experience, being a hive-mind collective, and yet both relatable and endlessly likable. His attachment to Shepard (the N7 armour piece!) was great from the beginning and their relationship only evolved from there. If you go post-game, please leave both Legion and Shepard alive. Legion getting changed by the Reaper code and/or the Synthesis ending and having to adjust to his new self would be interesting; however, I would also enjoy him ending up as the only geth who is still a collective, perhaps as an alternative to sacrificing his life, since I also find him interesting like that. I like Default Shepard just fine, but feel free to make him look different and give him a different first name. Paragon, Renegade or Paragade/Renegon (mix-and-match choices) all work, too, though I wouldn’t want a Shepard who is totally irredeemable. As for the Endings… Destroy obviously doesn’t really work for a Shepard/Legion romance, unless it’s a Destroy that only takes out the Reapers. The other two are also fine, as long as Shepard lives somehow, really! I’m not attached to any of them and I’d also be totally fine with modified endings or with the blunt idea of the Crucible just being a big Reaper-targeting gun, if that suits your story better. For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Legion. I’ve seen Legion referred to as it, he, or they (in the plural sense, since he’s a collective, or because they have no human gender) and all works for me!

Courtship - Unconventional Courtship that Ends in Marriage

What does courtship look like for geth? Is it even a concept they have (perhaps gleaned from the Quarians), or is it something Legion has to start discovering for himself? Do his constituent parts have consensus over how they should court Shepard? Does Shepard know what Legion is trying to do?

Similarly, how would one court geth? Maybe Shepard manages to figure it out with the help of other geth (if this is post-ending) or EDI? Maybe Shepard also has some ideas of his own? Does Legion realise what is happening, or does he need it explained to him?

I’d also be happy about ‘courtship’ that really just reads as Commander Shepard working with Legion to other people, but is very romantic to them, thank you very much. Possibly people are a bit surprised when they announce their engagement.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

Post-ending or immediately pre-ending seem like great points for this to happen, as would any situation in which Legion or Shepard are miraculously revived/narrowly escape death.

However, I would also enjoy a scene of this happening in a situation that’s actually quite normal – in bed together or while out on a date –, but since they’ve had so few of those, this is actually what spurs on the surprise proposal.

Proposal - Mid-Battle Proposal

This is also a trope I just love! And with as many battles as they take part in, there are ample opportunities. Is the person who is getting proposed to surprised, or do they agree without even thinking about what an odd situation it is?

Proposal - Attempts to Propose are Continuously Interrupted

I just think this would be cute. I mean, everyone wants Shepard’s attention! And probably also Legion’s if he survives the Reaper code merge, or generally becomes a leading figure among the geth. How does the one trying to propose eventually manage to finish? Seal the door shut and cut comms? (Or maybe both of them are trying to propose and have the same problem.)

Ritual Bride Stealing

Maybe this is a ritual that the geth copied from some Quarian culture? Either way, Legion is convinced he must steal Shepard for this to be an official wedding, or at least suggests this to Shepard. Is Shepard surprised? Amused? If it’s important to Legion, I’m sure he’d let him do it.

That, or Shepard learns that Legion thinks of this as a part of the wedding process and ends up stealing Legion to show him he’s serious about their marriage.

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Earthborn Shepard’s family seems to be mostly non-existant, so that would be a given. The other two Shepard’s could have difficult relationships to their family, too. A geth isn’t exactly a standard spouse, but Legion still hopes they can make a small family that Shepard enjoys more (well, small – Legion is 1,183 geth programs...).

Or perhaps it’s Legion, in case he has any concept of family. After all, we know the geth hardly always had full consensus and, like in A House Divided, it could led to pretty brutal measures. Does he wish for something less stressful than what he has experienced of relationships so far?

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is something Legion picked up from Quarian customs? He mentions it to Shepard (maybe just as an aside, maybe as something he somehow naturally expects to happen) and Shepard is definitely taking that challenge.

Or maybe Shepard used to run with people who did this – as a sort of gang custom if he’s Earthborn, or a military brat in-joke if he’s a Spacer, or a thing that established itself as a tradition on Mindoir if that’s his background. He mentions it to Legion, who is determined to fulfil those customs.

Elopement - Getting Married on a Whim

Maybe they do this after the Citadel DLC party winds down, or after Shepard miraculously survived the ending, or Legion survived the code upload; maybe they do it on a date just because they can. Shepard and Legion having a private wedding (just the 1,184 of them) would be very cute.

Marriage of Convenience - Citizenship Marriage

Shepard wants to make sure Legion has citizenship in Alliance space (all 1,183 of him), since he wants to see him as protected as possible. Immigration officers puzzle over this and eventually inform Shepard that marriage would probably the easiest way, though of course that’s not an option... except to Shepard, it is. Possibly not just because of the citizenship. When do the two realise that this marriage of convenience might be more?

Political Marriage - Real Feelings Develop

Perhaps post-canon or during ME3, Shepard and/or Legion overhears that if there were any synthetic-organic marriages with geth, it would really help people to see them more as living beings. Well, it’s not like either of them plans to marry anyone else and if this can make it easier for the geth to integrate... except, it turns out, Shepard and Legion really enjoy being married to each other.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Tropey prompt, but maybe Shepard is catching heat from the Council or some other organic leading forces for inviting the geth into the fold during ME3. They think if he wants to do this, he should at least help out with interspecies public relations. Maybe Shepard would tell them to go fuck themselves, but marrying Legion doesn’t seem like that terrible of an idea, and he can’t resist when Legion even agrees to it... It was more than a political move for both of them, but how long does it take for them to figure it out?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

Perhaps Shepard needs a plus one to gain entry into some Omega sex club where you need to bring a partner (bonus if it’s an interesting partner, so Legion would be perfect) or for another type of mission. Maybe Shepard is also just tired of tabloids constantly questioning him about his love life (once the galaxy is back in a state where that is a concern again – which I imagine would be early, since people have always loved gossip) and decides to go for the nuclear option by pretending to date 1,183 geth programs in a platform. However it happens, the two realise they have a lot of fun being partners. And hey, they know how fast everything can be over, they’ve seen it often enough, so why not marry when the chance presents itself?

Fake Marriage - Undercover As Married Leads To Unexpected Feelings

Somewhat in the vein of the above prompt, maybe they have to pretend to be married to gain access to some kinky or exclusive space while they’re on a mission. Who knew that this many geth programs consolidate into a pretty great spouse? And Legion is sure enjoying this marriage thing more than he ever had reason to expect he would, too, which may have to do with Shepard-Commander, of course.

Marrying for Love - Everyone Thought They Were Joking About Getting Married

Maybe Shepard’s crew mates and close friends figured out that it wasn’t a joke (they know weirder has happened with, to, and around Shepard), but I can only assume most everyone else wouldn’t actually believe Shepard if he said he plans to marry a geth. Turns out he wasn’t joking and now it’s blasted across galactic news.

Science Fiction - Married to an AI

How does the fact that Shepard is married to 1,183 geth influence the relationship? If he wasn’t consolidated by the Reaper code, Legion is quite a different sort of being, after all, and even afterwards, I must imagine he’s not really like a human. I’d love to see them learn to understand each other, in big and small ways.

Celebrity Marriage - Media Have Strong Reaction to Marriage

Post-ending, but pretty much in any part of the story after he met Legion, Shepard is a pretty big deal. If he got married, I’m sure a lot of people would have an opinion on it. How many thinkpieces, gossip rag articles and social media posts are fired into the extranet once their marriage becomes public?

Secret Marriage - Becomes Public

Or perhaps Shepard and Legion got married way earlier and eventually, Shepard casually drops this bomb into some reporter’s lap, or it’s even revealed against his will. What are the reactions?

Is this news to Shepard’s crew/friends as well and if yes, how do they react? If no, do they tease Shepard and Legion about the ensuing public relations chaos?

Soul Bond - Bonding is the Cultural Equivalent of Marriage

Souls are obviously quite central to the geth understanding of themselves, it’s part of what kicked off their fight to separate themselves from the Quarians, whether they ended up believing in them or not afterwards. Perhaps because of this, geth consider marriage a soul bonding ceremony. Whether you want this to be a universe were actual soul bonds are a thing, or this is just a marriage ritual they perform, I’m sure Shepard would understand it’s important to Legion.

Maybe Shepard, with all his weird cybernetics, ends up being synthetic enough that his “self” can be bonded to the Legion-geth consensus in some small way? That would be a really interesting way to interpret soulbonding, too!

Wedding Night

I’d love to see some wedding night smut! (I mean, I am generally very open to smut, but I’d also like to see something about the wedding night, haha.) If Legion got outfitted with the appropriate software and hardware, maybe they’ve had sex before and just get to do their favourite stuff this night (whether Legion has the expected set for cis male humans, or whether he got a vagina in addition, or whether he has a cock-like appendage and entrance that don’t really look all that human at all but have a similar function during sex). I’m also always here for wireplay and other robot-y types of sex.

Maybe Shepard did not expect anything sexual to happen during the wedding night because, well, geth don’t really have sex and they haven’t done this before. It doesn’t really matter to him; after the hundredth time he almost died in some galaxy-threatening disaster, he decided sex isn’t as important as a partner he really likes. However, it turns out Legion just had to fiddle with his programming a bit before he got the proper parts installed and he has a surprise for Shepard.

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

Or maybe nothing happens during the wedding night at all. Shepard is beat and/or Legion is running a thousand processes at once and they just need some time to decompress. I bet their partner would be happy to cuddle, too.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Mass Effect: Andromeda: Jaal Ama Darav/Evfra de Tershaav

I always thought these two would make a sweet couple. Jaal is very much the quintessential angara with his emotional honesty, whereas Evfra seems unusually closed-off for his kind. Opposites attract! However, they also have a lot of ambitions and skills in common, both being passionate fighters for the freedom of their people. There’s also this conversation (with timestamp at 1:47) of Jaal praising Evfra to Drack, which just sounds like he may have a crush. Whether it’s set before, during, or after the game, it’s all great. For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Evfra. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Evfra. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Evfra and alpha or beta Jaal.

Aliens - Elaborate Courtship/Wedding Rituals and Traditions

Do courtship and wedding traditions differ on Havarl and Voeld? Have Evfra and/or Jaal learned some Aya rituals in the time they spent there that they like? However it goes, it would be fun to see them deal with their potentially different expectations and come up with a a courtship and/or wedding that incorporates both.

Or maybe Evfra, being as jaded as he is, insists he doesn’t care about that sort of thing. However, he knows Jaal does, so he decides to learn a bit about Havarl customs and use that on Jaal. Jaal is over the moon.

Of course, Jaal using his entire charm and all courtship traditions he knows to help him get Evfra would be very cute, too.

Courtship - Unconventional Courtship that Ends in Marriage

Evfra is an unconventional angara, so I imagine the courtship would be just as unconventional. Maybe angara courtships are usually very short, since they’re so emotional, or immediately include sex, but Evfra needs some time to warm up? He thinks this would make him an undesirable partner, but Jaal is willing to go with it.

Maybe Evfra adheres to some local and unusual courtship traditions from Voeld and Jaal is super interested in learning about them (first-hand, by being part of the courtship, which Jaal thinks is the best kind of learning).

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

This is something that would definitely happen to Jaal. He didn’t mean to do it, but he’s just so passionate! Fortunately, even his more reasonable boyfriend is moved by his feelings every once in a while...

However, it would also be very interesting if Evfra was the one who accidentally proposes. He’s much more level-headed than Jaal, but he is still an angara deep down, it appears...

Proposal - Mid-Battle Proposal

Probably also unplanned, but maybe they banter while fighting or just barely escape some life-or-death situation and one of them ends up proposing. Does the other immediately roll with the punches and agree? Or are they surprised because they hadn’t actually dared to hope for a proposal?

Ritual Bride Stealing

Is this a custom for all angara, or just on one of their home planets, or Aya? I assume they at least know the other might be expecting it, though, unless this is a very local tradition. (If it is very local, it would be cute if Jaal ends up learning this about Evfra’s culture and totally wants to steal him, whereas Evfra had not expected to be doing that at his wedding at all, but doesn’t want to disappoint Jaal (and then he ends up having fun, too).)

They decide Evfra is going to be the one who does the stealing (perhaps in same-sex couples, or generally, the older one does the stealing). Jaal intends to give him a good fight, but he might be underestimating the on-field capabilities of their leader. Even after a few years mostly stuck in HQ, Evfra manages to kidnap Jaal in no time flat. Jaal being extremely turned on by Evfra’s competence (while probably a bit shocked how easily he was snatched) would be fun.

On the other hand, maybe Evfra is the one who is supposed to get kidnapped and figured he would have to ‘accidentally’ make a few mistakes, but it turns out Jaal levelled up during his time with the Pathfinder (literally) and it ends up being a really tense chase that Evfra loses for real.

Perhaps they also don’t take it terribly serious and it’s more like one of them putting pink handcuffs on the other in bed and the two having some smutty fun together.

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

As above, this could be a custom for all angara, or just on one of their homeworlds, or maybe just a local tradition for one of them. Does the other know to expect it or are they a bit surprised?

Not many people could beat Jaal in ritual combat – Evfra calls him his best soldier, after all. However, Evfra himself may have a shot...

Maybe after a certain age, it’s tradition you have to offer up your hand in marriage at certain intervals at a trial by combat. Evfra handily beats everyone who tries. However, Jaal has a few tricks up his sleeve after his time with the Pathfinder. Evfra may not be too sad he got beaten, though.

I’d also love a version where Evfra, who has always fought tooth and nails, ends up immediately submitting to Jaal publically and on purpose because he wants to get married to him. I’m sure Jaal would love a gesture like that (whether he already knows Evfra is in love with him, or whether he just decided to take his shot at a ritual battle event against Evfra)!

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Maybe arranged marriages are a thing angara still sometimes make use of and since a lot of people are worried about Jaal travelling with aliens, a suggestion is made he should marry somebody to prove his loyalty to the Resistance. Evfra is approached/volunteers and informs Jaal that Jaal is of course still free to take lovers and so on, he’s just doing this so Jaal doesn’t get in trouble. Jaal would much rather spend time with his husband, though... and Evfra doesn’t want to make a claim on Jaal through a political marriage, but he may also be secretly in love. When do they figure this out?

Political Marriage - Real Feelings Develop

The same as above, but they really did start out thinking of this as a political thing only. However, as they spend some time together as spouses (at public events and such) and start to have a bit of a life together (even if just to deal with the bureaucratic stuff that comes with being married), they realise that this marriage actually is very nice.

Secret Marriage - Becomes Public

Jaal and Evfra have actually been married for a while, perhaps even pre-game. However, since Evfra is worried this will make Jaal a kett target, they are keeping it a secret for now. Perhaps post-game Evfra feels like they are in a stable enough position to finally reveal it? I bet Jaal is just bursting with the need to show/tell everyone how much he loves Evfra, and Evfra actually might be a bit proud to show off Jaal, too.

What do Evfra’s and Jaal’s angara acquaintances think? What about Jaal’s family? And of course the reactions of the Pathfinder crew would be fun!

Fake Marriage - Undercover As Married Leads To Unexpected Feelings

Perhaps they have to go to Kadara for some reason and pose as a married couple (to obfuscate their identities more, or because they need to get into some seedy or exclusive club where you have to bring a partner to get in). Turns out that being married to each other is actually quite fun.

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

Evfra is tired of getting hit on and mentions as much to Jaal, who jokingly suggests he should get a fake partner. Evfra asks where he’s supposed to get something like that, unless Jaal is offering? Well, maybe Jaal is offering because he has a crush on Evfra or because he’s currently uninterested in dating himself and wants to help Evfra out. It turns out that they are really good boyfriends, though, so good that eventually they realise they might want to be together for real.

Marrying for Love - Everyone Thought They Were Joking About Getting Married

Evfra tends to use a pretty flat, sarcastic tone and who would believe he’d marry, anyway? He isn’t even friends with people. Jaal, on the other hand, might just be joking around because again, who could even marry Evfra, and why would someone as exuberant as Jaal do it? Turns out people were wrong, though.

Celebrity Marriage - Media Have Strong Reaction to Marriage

Evfra is like top five most famous angara and Jaal must also be well-known as the guy who went away aboard the ship of the aliens. I’m sure angaran media would have a field day with their wedding, especially if it comes out of nowhere.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

Perhaps some male angara can carry children and Evfra happens to be one of them. They decide now that there is some lull in the war with the kett, it would be a good time to have a child.

That, or they adopt! I’m sure there’s always too many orphans around with how the angara have to fight, so they could decide to take in one/several of those kids.

Did Evfra have children before who were also taken from him? Jaal accepted that this means Evfra may never want to be a parent again. However, Evfra surprises him by coming around to it. Jaal is overjoyed.

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

Whether this is fluffy, with the two having pillow talk about their potential child and looking forward to parenting, or something smutty in the direction of breeding kink, both would be equally great!

Wedding Ceremony - Crying from Happiness

I mean, Jaal absolutely would, wouldn’t he? And since angara are pretty open about their emotions, he definitely wouldn’t even try to hide it. Evfra comforting his very happy husband would be cute.

However, maybe to everybody’s surprise, it’s Evfra who gets teary-eyed. He’ll probably try to hide it (with more or less success), but Jaal obviously won’t miss it since he’s likely standing right next to him.

Wedding Night

I’m sure they’ve had sex before this point, but maybe they are both surprised to find out how meaningful it still feels to have sex on their wedding night (or maybe Jaal expected it, but Evfra thought he’s way too pragmatic, and then whoops, he gets swept away by the emotions).

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

I’m sure angaran marriages are giant family affairs that would be very tiring. Evfra may not have a family anymore, but Jaal does and we know it’s pretty big! So by the time they’re done with the festivities, they might both be tired out (not to mention that Evfra might not be quite used to that much private social interaction anymore). Snuggling on the wedding night is also great, though!

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

A/B/O - Alphas Expected to Marry an Omega by a Certain Age

Alpha Jaal has hit the age where he should marry, but he hasn’t found an omega yet. This is bad because he now risks an arranged marriage (either through the state or his family) and he’s a romantic, after all. Omega Evfra, who was maybe married before and thus doesn’t have to marry again, offers that they can marry and Jaal can spend more time looking for a real partner. After all, Evfra really likes Jaal and doesn’t want to see him suffer through a loveless relationship. Turns out this marriage ends up not being loveless, either, though.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

Maybe omegas have to participate in a mating run every once in a while and Evfra bows to that tradition, but has never let himself get caught. Then Jaal enters the mating run and starts chasing him...

Or Omega Evfra just straight up never participates (because who is really going to order him to do so, even if it is tradition?), but suddenly, he does apply to take part in a mating run. The difference? Well, Jaal is chasing in that one.

Original Work: New Omega King/His Male Alpha Husbands

I really like this tag because it implies a few interesting plot points. Why is the Omega King new to his job? Did his royal parent or older sibling die, or is he actually someone who is pretty low in the chain of inheritance and never expected to get the throne at all, but something wiped out everyone ahead of him? I especially like omegas who are a bit unusual (tall and/or physically strong), but there’s many ways to go with this. For the alphas, I’d be interested whatever you come up with! Are they just there as spouses or do they have positions at court? Have they, or some of them, known each other before? Are they also in a relationship, or in separate relationships, or are some of them rivals? (This is all in case you actually want to write anything plot-related – I’m also very happy about smut that is just about alphas happily fucking their omega.) Generally, I’m more interested in a story about a poly marriage that ends up being loving (though the way there can certainly be rocky and chaotic!), whether the alphas are also sleeping with each other or just friendly; rather than a story about an asshole omega king who forces alphas into his harem, or alphas who are unhappy with their lot in life even by the end of the story. I’d also love to get to know the characters, so I’d somewhat prefer several husbands with distinct personalities to a faceless, bigger group of husbands (unless, again, you’re going for PWP porn, which I would be totally fine with, then all is fair game). For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Omega King. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Omega King.

I’d want all of the people involved in this marriage to be over eighteen and not related to each other (and not having raised each other even if they’re not blood-related, though people of the same age growing up together is totally fine, as long as they didn’t see each other as siblings), but that’s pretty much it!

Soul Bond - Bonding to Multiple People Creates Group Marriage

A lot of the prompts I have are for arranged or political group marriages, but what if group marriages aren’t even the norm at all and this just happened by accident? Is the Omega King responsible? Or maybe it was even one of the alphas who triggered the soul bond and he’s now in hot water because he accidentally bound the king into a multi-way-marriage. Or maybe that alpha is the scheming kind and is only pretending to have done it accidentally? The possibilities here are all fun!

Of course, the characters could also do this on purpose because they are in a poly relationship and all want to be married to each other.

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Any or all of the involved characters could have had difficult childhoods, so it’d be nice to see them reassure each other, or perhaps a new Alpha Husband who comes from a difficult background.

I like the idea of the Omega King coming from a very difficult family, but not wanting to ask his Alpha Husbands to reassure him, since he thinks they have gotten the worse end of the deal (after all, they are basically his harem). However, his Alpha Husbands like him (and perhaps even each other) and do want to make it a good marriage.

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

How does this work in the context of a group marriage? Are they allowed to band together? Or maybe no one ever banded together before because everyone wanted the Omega King (and the position of king’s consort) for themselves, but the Omega King is a very accomplished fighter who beat everyone. However, these Alphas realise the rules don’t specify they can’t band together, and the Omega King decides to honour their clever strategy by marrying all of them.

If they banded together from the start, maybe they are even already in a poly relationship. However, it would also be interesting to see a group of ambitious Alphas do this for political reasons and then start to like each other and the Omega King.

Maybe they also have to beat him one by one. Perhaps the Omega King opens up a spot for a new addition and his already existing Alpha Husbands watch the people trying out with great interest? Or they are all picked at the same time and the Alphas who end up being his husbands all beat him with different strategies (maybe one wins by just having overwhelming strength, one tricks him, one hexes him...).

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

Same as above, can the Husbands band together to catch him? Did they plan to do so, or did they just end up realising on the chase that it would make sense to work together? Or maybe three (or more) of them also accidentally work together by cornering the Omega King and then get in a fight about who has the right to marry him. The Omega King decides that for fairness’s sake, they should all be his husbands.

Ritual Bride Stealing

I’m assuming the Omega King would be the bride. Does he just let the Alphas steal him because it’s just a ritual, anyway, or does he try to escape them? How quickly can the Alphas capture him? Maybe the Omega King is a bit of a trickster or has pride in his skills as a warrior, so it ends up being more of a struggle than the Alphas figured?

Courtship - Unconventional Courtship that Ends in Marriage

Obviously, a courtship that includes at least three and possibly more people is always going to be a bit unconventional. Do the Alphas court the Omega King together or do they make a bit of a competition out of it? Maybe the Omega King runs himself ragged trying to show every Alpha the same amount of attention?

Perhaps it’s not unusual for a king to have several spouses, but the fact that he also allows them to court each other is very unconventional.

Maybe the courtship is also considered unconventional because the Omega King has a specific sort of personality. He might be a warrior (whether that is unusual for omegas or not), so he’s more charmed by a sword than a pretty necklace; he could be a wizard, so strange ingredients or old books make good gifts for him; or maybe it has something to do with his culture or that of the Alphas. (The same, of course, could go for the Omega King courting one or several of his Alpha Husbands, alone or with the help of perhaps already existent husbands.)

Arranged Marriage - Expecting Hurt; Receiving Kindness

The Omega King is unsure whether the Alphas that he has been alotted for various political reasons actually want to be in this marriage and he wonders if they’re going to take this out on him various ways, including in the bedroom. However, it turns out his Husbands are actually quite nice.

On the other hand, perhaps the Alphas were the ones expecting this to end badly because the Omega King has a reputation as a jaded warrior or stern high priest or dangerous wizard, but it turns out he’s actually a lot less terrifying than advertised.

Perhaps two or more Alphas were already in a relationship before entering an arranged marriage with the Omega King. They planned to keep it a secret, but the Omega King finds out. To their surprise, this doesn’t really bother the Omega King at all. (Due to the set-up of arranged marriages, and the Omega King never making any rules, anyway, I would not consider this hitting the cheating DNW.)

Arranged Marriage - For Royal Alliances

If group marriages are common, there might even be different kinds of alliances the husbands are for – one is connected to a neighbouring country, one to a powerful vassal, one is the scion of a rich merchant’s guild, or similar stuff. This would mean they all have different backgrounds to each other, too. It would be interesting to see them all dealing with each other and the Omega King.

A royal alliance between several countries/cultural groups that is sealed by the Omega King marrying an Alpha from each of them would also be interesting.

Political Marriage - Arranged To End Conflict

The Omega King is new, so maybe he inherited this conflict from the person who had the throne before? It might have been a long, bloody fight and the Omega King seeks peace for his people. If this means he has to have several husbands to make several sides happy, well, he’ll do it.

Perhaps the Omega King is also backed into a corner and forced to accept the the terms the other side has (they may have even killed his predecessor(s)). If they want him to marry like four or five of their alphas, well, group marriages may not be a thing in his culture, but what can he do but agree to protect his country? However, the actual marriage ends up not being as bad as he feared.

Arranged Marriage - Characters First Meet on Their Wedding Day

If the marriage is arranged for political reasons, this would not be uncommon. I’d love to see the Omega King and his Alpha Husbands feel out each other on their wedding day. Do they get along from the start? Do they need time to warm up to each other? How do they deal with the festivities and rituals and what does it teach them about each other?

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

The Omega King thinks the Alpha Husbands only agreed to this marriage for political reasons and must be unhappy with this, so he doesn’t want to push them into anything that could be considered marital duties (except maybe he’s forced to ask when it comes to procreation, since he needs an heir – sex while mutually pining is also great!). The Alpha Husbands think the Omega King is uncomfortable with this arrangement and don’t want to force him into anything. How do they figure out they all want the same thing?

Some pining between the Alpha Husbands would also be interesting. Maybe the Omega King ends up brokering relationships between them, since he feels bad they all have to share him, and would rather see them happy, since he is actually crushing on them. However, it turns out the Alpha Husbands don’t just like each other, but the Omega King, too.

Arranged Marriage - Slowly Falling in Love with Spouse

Considering this is likely a political marriage, no one expects them to be in love, and they were mostly hoping for just an amicable relationship with their spouses. However, as they are married, they end up slowly falling for each other.

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

Maybe the reason for the marriage was not strictly political, but magical in nature. The Omega King picked Alpha Husbands with specific magic talents to revive his country/a part of his country (or just people who would work well with the ritual in general). This is a price they’re all willing to pay, but in the end, their magical marriage ends up being something they are all very much into as well.

Poly Marriage - Figuring Out New Routine/Moving Into Each Others Space

If they all just met on the wedding day or were never all in a room together before that, I’m sure it would be a challenge to figure out this poly marriage at first. How do they fare and how do they get comfortable with each other?

However, this would also be an interesting prompt if the poly marriage was not actually a political necessity, but a decision the Omega King and his Alpha Husbands made because they were in love and all wanted to be married.

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

Maybe the Omega King is an animal shifter of some kind or maybe one or several of the Alpha Husbands are. Was this known before? If it wasn’t, how do the others find out?

Wedding Night

I would love to see them sleep together on the wedding night. Is it a lot of limbs all over the place and a bit awkward? Is it surprisingly good? How do the Alpha Husbands deal with each other and with the Omega King?

Every Alpha Husband has to be with the Omega King at least once according to tradition, so depending on how many there are, the Omega King might be pretty exhausted afterwards. Both the process and the Alphas perhaps cuddling him afterwards would be fun.

A wedding night introducing a new Alpha Husband that they all like into the fold could also be really cool!

Wedding Night - First Time

If bloodlines are important, it’s a good guess the Omega King would still be a virgin – and now he gets to have his first time with several people at once. Do the Alpha Husbands try to make it a little bit less overwhelming?

However, maybe the Omega King had some clandestine affairs, but one of the Alpha Husbands happens to be a virgin. The Omega King and the other Alpha Husbands teaching him what to do would be interesting.

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

Royal weddings are giant, no doubt exhausting affairs. Perhaps one or several people who should be involved in this wedding night end up half-asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow. A communal decision is made to maybe wait until tomorrow.

The Omega King might be anxious about feeling so tired – as a king, he should perform all necessary duties –, but is surprised that his Alpha Husbands are actually understanding.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This is kind of a given considering an Omega King implies a bloodline-based inheritance system, but perhaps there was a war or another conflict they had to solve first and the Omega King was taking contraception because he couldn’t risk having a child right then. However, with the obstacles out of the way, they can finally think about children.

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

Whether this is fluffy, with them having pillow talk about their potential child and looking forward to parenting, or something smutty in the direction of breeding kink, both would be equally great!

魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Nie Mingjue/Lan Xichen

I really enjoyed the relationship between those two. Nie Mingjue does not seem to have many, or any other close friends, aside from Meng Yao, though that doesn’t last too long. What was it that made Lan Xichen different, made him fascinating to someone who, according to Jin Guangyao, is interested in nothing but decimating the Wen sect and his sabre? And how did someone as clement as Lan Xichen befriend the hot-tempered heir of the Unclean Realm? When Nie Mingjue isn’t currently trying to kill someone (usually Jin Guangyao), Lan Xichen doesn’t even seem too bothered by his temper at all, and he seems to genuinely enjoy his company as well. I would love to see anything, from childhood stories (perhaps with clandestine first kisses), to their time as young men, to fighting in the war, to a fix-it were everything works out differently and Nie Mingjue doesn’t die. For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Lan Xichen. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Lan Xichen. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Lan Xichen and alpha or beta Nie Mingjue.

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is a general tradition the Lan have (special cases like Lan Xichen’s parents nonwithstanding). So far, Lan Xichen has beaten every suitor, but then Nie Mingjue comes along.

Similarly, maybe this is a Nie tradition. In that case, does Nie Mingjue even have many suitors? They might want to marry him, but who dares go up against Nie Mingjue in a fight? Turns out Lan Xichen is brave enough.

I love the trope of the characters agreeing to honourable combat and doing it seriously, as much as one character ‘accidentally’ stumbling or something to get their preferred suitor to win, or even the character who is supposed to fight laying down their weapons and admitting defeat immediately because they want to marry the suitor.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

Nie Mingjue can be temperamental, so he seems predestined for this. How does it happen? During the war? After Nie Mingjue almost qi deviates and Lan Xichen saves him with his music? When Nie Mingjue (somehow) comes back as a fierce corpse? Just during a sweet shared moment between them?

On the other hand, we know that Lan Xichen can have his rare moments where he loses control, too. What are the circumstances in which he accidentally proposes?

Proposal - Mid-Battle Proposal

This would be perfect for an intense night hunt or a scene during the war. Who is the one who proposes? Does the other one who was asked roll with the punches and agree immediately, or are they too shocked (and happy) that they even got proposed to?

Engagement - Childhood Marriage Promise

This would be such a sweet trope for them. They have presumably known each other for a long time and maybe they promised to marry each other when they were very young? Now that they’re older, they both know that sort of thing doesn’t mean much, of course, and they can’t even be sure if the other remembers that random conversation from childhood! But in truth they’re both still holding on to it...

Another idea for this could be that they were actually officially promised to each other since they were children. How did this influence their relationship? Maybe they spent time as best friends and couldn’t really imagine what would or could ever change, but then they hit puberty or, if you wanna set it later, start going through the war together and suddenly they see each other in a new light.

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Lan Xichen’s family was difficult to say the least. His parents are... an entire matter unto their own, and his uncle tried his best, but was obviously very strict, leaving Lan Xichen to perhaps feel in many way responsible for Lan Wangji when he wasn’t old enough to be so, and wondering now if he’ll be a good husband and/or father. Nie Mingjue reassuring him that their family will be different would be great.

Were the Nie a functional family? It’s definitely possible the old Sect Leader Nie’s wife and concubine lived together harmoniously, but it’s also not the only option. Either way, Nie Mingjue lost both of his parents and Nie Huaisang’s mother quite early, so he might still have some trauma from that, especially since an early death also seems in the cards for him thanks to the Nie sabre spirit. Lan Xichen convincing him that he will help him in any way he can would be nice.

Ritual Bride Stealing

This could be fun! Maybe it’s a Nie tradition and Nie Mingjue ends up sneaking in to the Cloud Recesses to pluck Lan Xichen directly from the hanshi, or otherwise ends up capturing him? Or he thinks Lan Xichen will be a bit too prim for that sort of thing, but then Lan Xichen is actually the one who ends up stealing Nie Mingjue because he has gathered that Nie Mingjue thinks this ritual is fun.

Or perhaps it’s a tradition of the Lan/Gusu region and Lan Xichen should do it when he wants to marry, but he has always felt a bit conflicted about stealing someone because of the, er, unfortunate history of his parents, where it’s not fully clear to him what happened with his mother and how willingly she was in the Cloud Recesses. Nie Mingjue suggests he can be the one to do the stealing instead if the tradition is supposed to be fulfilled and they actually have fun with it.

Arranged Marriage - Married as Children

Like betrothed as children, but a bit more binding (though as for the consummation, I would like for that not to be a thing until they’re adults)! Did Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen like each other and figured that was pretty good for an arranged marriage already, but then as they grow older they actually shift from friendship to romantic love, especially as they go through many losses and difficulties with their family and the war together? How do they manage to communicate to the other that they want to be be actual lovers in that case?

Or maybe their dynamic was actually a bit more fraught due to the marriage, but when Nie Mingjue’s father dies, Lan Xichen is the one who is there for him as his husband (young as they are), and they actually start to fall for each other.

Marriage of Convenience - Marrying Pregnant Person So Child (Not Theirs) Will Be Born In Wedlock

Mpregnable Lan Xichen is raped, perhaps by Wen soldiers during the war, or he had an affair with someone he figured he would marry who then left him hanging. Now he’s pregnant and has no idea what to do. He tells Nie Mingjue the whole story, since he’s his best friend, and Nie Mingjue offers to marry him to save his honour. Whether he’s already pining for Lan Xichen or feelings develop between them afterwards, both would be great.

Maybe Lan Xichen rejects the proposal because he wants Nie Mingjue to marry someone he loves (after all, he wants that for Nie Mingjue, since he also loves him), which prompts Nie Mingjue to confess his love.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Always one of my favourite tropes. They’re good friends and really, a lot of people don’t even get that in an arranged marriage, but oh no, they both want more! However, they also both don’t want to jeopardise what they have. How do they eventually figure out the other feels the same way?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

This seems more like a Modern AU thing to me, since ‘dating’ is more of a modern concept (especially if you have a very valuable hand in marriage to give away), but if you can make it fit with the canon timeline, I’d also be very interested in it! Perhaps Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen, as very eligible bachelors, are both a bit tired of people trying to set them up on dates, and since neither is super interested in dating right now, they decide they’ll just pretend to be a couple. However, it turns out they make a really, really good couple.

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

This falls vaguely under the idea of night hunting, I think, since the land isn’t just ‘regularly’ ruined and needs magic to fix it, so the cultivation sects might feel responsible for it. Has this part of the land been ruined for a long time or is it because of the war with the Wen? Whatever it is, Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen will be responsible sect leaders and fix it by getting married. Is a magic wedding night required, too? Are they already pining or does that start after the wedding?

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

I love shifter AUs! Are both of them shifters or just one of them? Is it known (maybe they even have ears and a tail when they are humans) or is it a secret? (Maybe an additional thing no one knows about the Nie is that the monster that is their emblem is actually the type of monster they shift into?)

Wedding Night

I do love wedding night smut! Whether they’ve slept together many times before or this is their first time, I would love to see what they get up to. If they’ve slept together before, maybe they’re both surprised how special sleeping together on their wedding night still feels (or maybe they fully expected it and enjoy it)?

Wedding Night - First Time

Is it both their first time or just one of them? Is it awkward at first? Maybe surprisingly good despite of that? If round one doesn’t work out quite as expected, maybe they just immediately move on to round two and three?

If Lan Xichen is a virgin, does he have any hang-ups about sex because he was raised in a very strict environment, or does he perhaps know very little about it? Does Nie Mingjue have more experience and blow his mind? Or has he never paid much mind to these things, either, because he was too busy sabre training and doesn’t know all that much more? I guess they’ll have to figure it out together...

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

On the other hand, I bet big gentry weddings between important families can be really tiresome affairs. One or both of them end up half-asleep as soon as they are in bed and they decide that post-poning the wedding night is not a problem if they still get to cuddle.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This would be great! As sect leaders, they kind of have to raise heirs, anyway, of course. Whether Lan Xichen can get mpregnant or they adopt a child (especially after the war, I assume there are a lot of orphans in both their sects and also in general, but I’m also happy for this happening in a different moment in time), I would love to read about it.

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

If Lan Xichen can get mpregnant, I’d also be interested in a story of them attempting that. Whether it’s more fluffy, with the two of them having pillow talk about their potential baby and wondering how parenting will go, or whether this goes in the smutty direction of breeding kink, both would be great.

A/B/O - Alpha Marries Omega

I do love A/B/O, so Alpha Nie Mingjue and Omega Lan Xichen getting together would be great. How do their natures influence their relationship? Is Nie Mingjue considered an especially stellar alpha? Is Lan Xichen considered an unusual omega because of his strength and power, and what does Nie Mingjue think about that? Perhaps the Nie generally prefer omegas who can fight, unlike most other people, or at least Nie Mingjue really does? Does Lan Xichen realise this or does he worry that as an omega, he’s not to Nie Mingjue’s liking?

If you want to go into a smutty direction, the two of them handling an unexpected heat or rut would be fun, too.

A/B/O - Beta Marries Omega

Beta Nie Mingjue is worried that due to his nature, being in love with Omega Lan Xichen will never amount to anything, especially since he likely has many offers from alphas due to his status. However, Lan Xichen fully doesn’t care that Nie Mingjue isn’t an alpha and thinks he would be the best possible mate for him.

Beta Nie Mingjue figuring out ways to help Lan Xichen during the heat (which Lan Xichen thinks are just as good as what any alpha could possibly do) and them having fun with that would also be great.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If mating runs are a tradition, Lan Xichen is going to participate – the Lan sect follows the rules, after all. So far, he has managed to slip away from all pursuers or fight them off. This time, however, Nie Mingjue takes part. Is Lan Xichen surprised to see him (though still happily so)? Or did he know he was participating and is secretly hoping that Nie Mingjue might catch up?

Maybe mating runs are a Nie/Qinghe area tradition, but technically everybody can participate. To Nie Mingjue’s great surprise, Lan Xichen is among the omegas that are going to run. Of course, Lan Xichen has a specific predator in mind, which I’m sure Nie Mingjue must realise...

魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Jin Guangyao/Lan Xichen

The story of these two really hurt me deeply in the best way. It is such a sweet friendship, with Jin Guangyao honestly caring for Lan Xichen despite seeing most everyone else as pawns, and Lan Xichen being so convinced that the world is wrong about Jin Guangyao and unfair to him – and you know, in many ways they really are, but in the end, there were also too many crimes Jin Guangyao actually committed. For Qin Su, I would like it if her and Jin Guangyao had never met/gotten married, or if she had died at some point, or ran off with a guy/woman she fell in love with to have a happy life somewhere away from cultivation drama. For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Lan Xichen. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Lan Xichen. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Lan Xichen and alpha or beta Jin Guangyao.

If you’re going for a full redemption arc plus happy ending, I’d rather if the fic diverged from canon before Jin Guangyao kills Nie Mingjue (which I don’t think Lan Xichen could get over) and before Jin Guangyao kills his father. It could also be an AU where neither murder happens for Reasons, even if those Reasons are just Jin Guangyao being foiled/people dying on their own and he totally might have killed them if he’d gotten the chance (or he finds a way to kill his father that doesn’t involve also killing prostitutes, I’m really not actually bothered by him killing his father, just the other people that died as a result of Jin Guangyao’s canonical plan). Of course, if you’re not going for redemption, there’s also the possibility of the fic just being somewhat bittersweet, in that it happens after the murder of Nie Mingjue, but before Lan Xichen finds out about it.

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is a general tradition the Lan have (special cases like Lan Xichen’s parents nonwithstanding). So far, Lan Xichen has beaten every suitor, but then Jin Guangyao comes along with some tricks up his sleeve.

Similarly, maybe this is a Jin tradition. In that case, does Jin Guangyao have a lot of suitors? He is still the non-preferred illegitimate son of Jin Guangshan, so he might not get much attention. However, that is when Lan Xichen asks for a fight.

I love the trope of the characters agreeing to honourable combat and doing it seriously, as much as one character ‘accidentally’ stumbling or something to get their preferred suitor to win (definitely a move Jin Guangyao would pull, though maybe he also recognises that Lan Xichen does it!), or even the character who is supposed to fight laying down their weapons and admitting defeat immediately because they want to marry the suitor.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

We know that Lan Xichen can have his rare moments where he loses control. What are the circumstances in which he accidentally proposes? Is it as early as when Jin Guangyao hides him, or during the war, or much later?

Jin Guangyao is not the type of person who would say something so important without planning it. Maybe that’s why he’s so surprised the proposal slips out. How did that happen?

Engagement - Childhood Marriage Promise

Possible due to early exposure to anime, I love the “lost childhood friends who promised to marry each other” trope. Perhaps Lan Xichen ran into Jin Guangyao on a longer visit to Yunping City with his uncle and they struck up a friendship and a bit of puppy love when they were kids and promised to marry each other. Years later, Lan Xichen meets Jin Guangyao again. Jin Guangyao with his photographic memory probably recognises him immediately, but what about Lan Xichen? Maybe Jin Guangyao can jog his memory, or maybe Lan Xichen also knows who he is from the start. And of course, that childhood promise they made doesn’t mean much between adults, but then they still get along...

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Lan Xichen’s family was difficult to say the least. His parents are... an entire matter unto their own, and his uncle tried his best, but was obviously very strict, leaving Lan Xichen to perhaps feel in many way responsible for Lan Wangji when he wasn’t old enough to be so, and wondering now if he’ll be a good husband and/or father. Jin Guangyao reassuring him that things will be different with the family they plan to build would be great.
Jin Guangyao was obviously attached to his mother, who loved him very much, but on his father’s side, the matter of family was just as obviously a catastrophe. Lan Xichen helping him to work through his concerns would be great (and also Lan Xichen just being who he is, someone who always respected Jin Guangyao, which probably makes Jin Guangyao feel a lot calmer about the whole “marrying a nobleman of his father’s exact status” thing).

Ritual Bride Stealing

This could be fun! Maybe it’s a Jin tradition (or one from Yunping City) and Jin Guangyao ends up sneaking in to the Cloud Recesses to pluck Lan Xichen directly from the hanshi with some trick, or otherwise ends up capturing him? Or he thinks Lan Xichen will be a bit too prim for that sort of thing, but then Lan Xichen is actually the one who ends up stealing Jin Guangyao because he has gathered that Jin Guangyao thinks this ritual is fun.

Or perhaps it’s a tradition of the Lan/Gusu region and Lan Xichen should do it when he wants to marry, but he has always felt a bit conflicted about stealing someone because of the, er, unfortunate history of his parents, where it’s not fully clear to him what happened with his mother and how willingly she was in the Cloud Recesses. Jin Guangyao suggests he can be the one to do the stealing instead if the tradition is supposed to be fulfilled and they actually have fun with it.

Arranged Marriage - Expecting Hurt; Receiving Kindness

Perhaps Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen don’t know each other well yet when Jin Guangshan manages to force the Lan into a marriage with one of his bastard sons; or they do know each other, but Jin Guangyao figures Lan Xichen might still want a much better marriage. At the very least, Jin Guangyao expects Lan Xichen to be cold towards him. However, Lan Xichen actually recognises Jin Guangyao’s difficult situation in Jin Guangshan’s family and is all around very kind and they get along really well...

Perhaps Lan Xichen only knows rumours of Jin Guangyao and wonders if he’ll be resentful towards Lan Xichen for the things Jin Guangyao’s also noble father has done to him, and prepares for an uncomfortable marriage. However, Jin Guangyao recognises quickly that Lan Xichen is a very different sort of person and they actually get along right away.

Marriage of Convenience - Marrying Pregnant Person So Child (Not Theirs) Will Be Born In Wedlock

Mpregnable Lan Xichen is raped, perhaps by Wen soldiers during the war, or he had an affair with someone he figured he would marry who then left him hanging. Now he’s pregnant and has no idea what to do. He tells Jin Guangyao the whole story, since he’s close to him, and Jin Guangyao offers to marry him to save his honour. Whether he’s already pining for Lan Xichen or feelings develop between them afterwards, both would be great. (Maybe Jin Guangyao also does this mainly to get power, but then falls in love for real.)

Maybe Lan Xichen rejects the proposal because he wants Jin Guangyao to marry someone he loves (after all, he wants that for Jin Guangyao, since he also loves him), which prompts Jin Guangyao to confess his love.

Arranged Marriage - Slowly Falling in Love with Spouse

Perhaps they started out as genuinely just friendly, but as they get to know each other as spouses, it becomes clear eventually that they are also romantically interested in each other. I would love to see this development, or a key moment that leads both of them to realise they are falling for each other.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Always one of my favourite tropes. They’re good friends and really, a lot of people don’t even get that in an arranged marriage, but oh no, they both want more! However, they also both don’t want to jeopardise what they have. How do they eventually figure out the other feels the same way?

Does Jin Guangyao engineer a giant plot to seduce Lan Xichen to realise halfway that it’s totally unnecessary?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

This seems more like a Modern AU thing to me, since ‘dating’ is more of a modern concept (especially if you have a very valuable hand in marriage to give away), but if you can make it fit with the canon timeline, I’d also be very interested in it! Perhaps Lan Xichen, as a very eligible bachelor, is a bit tired of people trying to set him up on dates, whereas Jin Guangyao could really use a boyfriend from an important family to impress his father. They decide they’ll just pretend to be a couple. However, it turns out they make a really, really good couple...

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

This falls vaguely under the idea of night hunting, I think, since the land isn’t just ‘regularly’ ruined and needs magic to fix it, so the cultivation sects might feel responsible for it. Has this part of the land been ruined for a long time or is it because of the war with the Wen? Whatever it is, Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen will be responsible and fix it by getting married (which may at first be strategy on Jin Guangyao’s part to get into a more powerful position, but whoops, now he’s in love). Is a magic wedding night required, too? Are they already pining or does that start after the wedding?

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

I love shifter AUs! Are both of them shifters or just one of them? Is it known (maybe they even have ears and a tail when they are humans) or is it a secret? Maybe Jin Guangyao is part huli jing?

Wedding Night

I do love wedding night smut! Whether they’ve slept together many times before or this is their first time, I would love to see what they get up to. If they’ve slept together before, maybe they’re both surprised how special sleeping together on their wedding night still feels (or maybe they fully expected it and enjoy it)?

Wedding Night - First Time

Is it both their first time or just one of them? Is it awkward at first? Maybe surprisingly good despite of that? If round one doesn’t work out quite as expected, maybe they just immediately move on to round two and three?

If Lan Xichen is a virgin, does he have any hang-ups about sex because he was raised in a very strict environment, or does he perhaps know very little about it? Does Jin Guangyao know more from personal experience and blows Lan Xichen’s mind? Or maybe he just knows what he heard/saw at the brothel, so he has no first-hand knowledge, either. I guess they’ll have to figure it out together...

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

On the other hand, I bet big gentry weddings between important families can be really tiresome affairs. One or both of them end up half-asleep as soon as they are in bed and they decide that post-poning the wedding night is not a problem if they still get to cuddle.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This would be great! With Lan Xichen being a sect leader, they kind of have to raise heirs, anyway, of course. Whether Lan Xichen can get mpregnant or they adopt a child (especially after the war, I assume there are a lot of orphans in both their sects and also in general, but I’m also happy for this happening in a different moment in time), I would love to read about it.

If Jin Guangyao somehow has Jin Rusong (maybe that enemy sect was actually responsible, but they killed his wife instead of his son in this timeline, or something else happened to her) and/or potentially also co-parents Jin Ling, how do they prepare them for becoming big brothers?

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

If Lan Xichen can get mpregnant, I’d also be interested in a story of them attempting that. Whether it’s more fluffy, with the two of them having pillow talk about their potential baby and wondering how parenting will go, or whether this goes in the smutty direction of breeding kink, both would be great.

A/B/O - Alpha Marries Omega

I do love A/B/O, so Alpha Jin Guangyao and Omega Lan Xichen getting together would be great. How do their natures influence their relationship? Is Jin Guangyao considered an unusual alpha because he has to rely on tricks instead of raw strength, and does he worry about that when it comes to finding a mate? Is Lan Xichen thought to be an unusual omega because he is strong and powerful, and what does Jin Guangyao think about that (and does Lan Xichen worry Jin Guangyao might not want to be with someone stronger than him)? Perhaps an unconvential alpha/omega pair just matches that much better, even if both think the other might not be into them. How do they find out they are wrong?

If you want to go into a smutty direction, the two of them handling an unexpected heat or rut would be fun, too.

A/B/O - Beta Marries Omega

Beta Jin Guangyao is worried that due to his nature, being in love with Omega Lan Xichen will never amount to anything, especially since he likely has many offers from alphas due to his status (who also happen to be of better birth than Jin Guangyao). However, Lan Xichen fully doesn’t care that Jin Guangyao isn’t an alpha and thinks he would be the best possible mate for him.

Beta Jin Guangyao figuring out ways to help Lan Xichen during the heat (which Lan Xichen thinks are just as good as what any alpha could possibly do) and them having fun with that would also be great.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If mating runs are a tradition, Lan Xichen is going to participate – the Lan clan follows the rules, after all. So far, he has managed to slip away from all pursuers or fight them off. Jin Guangyao, however, has a plan. Is Lan Xichen surprised to see him (though still happily so)? Or was he aware Jin Guangyao is participating and secretly hoping that he might catch up?

Maybe mating runs are a Jin/Lanling area tradition, but technically everybody can participate. To Jin Guangyao’s great surprise, Lan Xichen is among the omegas that are going to run. Of course, Lan Xichen has a specific predator in mind, which Jin Guangyao realises soon...

魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen & Nie Huaisang/Lan Xichen

Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen
This is a pairing I’ve really come to enjoy despite the fact that they don’t have that much contact in canon – at least not that we see because I assume as leaders of major sects, and with Lan Xichen being so close to Jin Ling’s other guardian, they have actually met quite a bit. We know from Lan Xichen’s friendship with Nie Mingjue that he can handle tempestuous temperaments. Also, I feel like Lan Xichen ticks, though not at all, quite a few boxes on Jiang Cheng’s romance checklist, so that’s good! This could be set right after the war (it would probably be difficult after Wei Wuxian’s death due to Lan Xichen’s loyalty to his brother, who does not like Jiang Cheng past the Burial Mound siege, but perhaps Lan Xichen’s and Jiang Cheng’s relationship somehow ends up preventing the whole Wei Wuxian thing from going really south in the first place, or the Wen fled and that whole plot disappears entirely); or it could be post-canon, when they both have to work through their pain. Either way would be interesting! Post-canon, Jiang Cheng is probably not super welcome in the Cloud Recesses courtesy of Lan Wangji as long as he and Wei Wuxian haven’t had some sort of reconciliation, but does Lan Xichen end up facilitating it, or do the two of them end up meeting more once Jiang Cheng drops by sometimes to see Wei Wuxian after having a heart-to-heart with him? For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Lan Xichen. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Lan Xichen. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Lan Xichen and alpha or beta Jiang Cheng.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

Jiang Cheng can be temperamental, so he seems predestined for this. How does it happen? During the war? During an argument? After Guanyin Temple? Just during a sweet shared moment between them?

On the other hand, we know that Lan Xichen can have his rare moments where he loses control, too. What are the circumstances in which he accidentally proposes?

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is a general tradition the Lan have (special cases like Lan Xichen’s parents nonwithstanding). So far, Lan Xichen has beaten every suitor, but then Jiang Cheng comes along.

Similarly, maybe this is a Jiang tradition. We know from additional material that Jiang Cheng has had a bit of trouble finding marriage prospects and even leaving that aside, he’s pretty damn strong, so most people probably don’t dare go up against him. However, turns out Lan Xichen is brave enough.

I love the trope of the characters agreeing to honourable combat and doing it seriously, as much as one character ‘accidentally’ stumbling or something to get their preferred suitor to win, or even the character who is supposed to fight laying down their weapons and admitting defeat immediately because they want to marry the suitor.

Engagement - Childhood Marriage Promise

I thought this would be a cute idea for them. They don’t seem to have had that much contact when they were younger, but perhaps Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng ran into each other at discussion conferences and such when they were children. Jiang Cheng has a puppy crush on Lan Xichen (who is totally so much more mature, almost three years older probably!) and maybe he asks for his hand in marriage. Lan Xichen, who thinks it’s cute, agrees. Now they’re adults reconnecting while they fight a war and it’d be such a childish thing to even bring up again, except they both kind of wish they could hold to it...

Another idea for this could be that they were actually officially promised to each other since they were children. How did this influence their relationship? Did they meet more often before the summer camp or do they only really spend time together once the war starts? Maybe now that both their parents are dead and they’re both sect leaders who can decide for themselves, nothing is really holding them to the promise anymore, but they realise they would actually like to go through with it still.

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Lan Xichen’s family was difficult to say the least. His parents are... an entire matter unto their own, and his uncle tried his best, but was obviously very strict, leaving Lan Xichen to perhaps feel in many way responsible for Lan Wangji when he wasn’t old enough to be so, and wondering now if he’ll be a good husband and/or father. Jiang Cheng reassuring him that things will be different with the family they will build would be great.
Jiang Cheng obviously grew up with a massive inferiority complex due to the amazing parenting he was subjected to, so maybe he worries about not being good enough in his new role as husband and potentially eventual father, either? Or he is afraid that due to his personality, he’s going to replicate what happened in his mother’s marriage? Lan Xichen helping him through that would be great.

Ritual Bride Stealing

This could be fun! Maybe it’s a Jiang tradition and Jiang Cheng ends up sneaking into the Cloud Recesses to pluck Lan Xichen directly from the hanshi, or otherwise ends up capturing him? Or he thinks Lan Xichen will be a bit too prim for that sort of thing, but then Lan Xichen is actually the one who ends up stealing Jiang Cheng because he has gathered that Jiang Cheng thinks this ritual is fun.

Or perhaps it’s a tradition of the Lan/Gusu region and Lan Xichen should do it when he wants to marry, but he has always felt a bit conflicted about stealing someone because of the, er, unfortunate history of his parents, where it’s not fully clear to him what happened with his mother and how willingly she was in the Cloud Recesses. Jiang Cheng suggests he can be the one to do the stealing instead if the tradition is supposed to be fulfilled and they actually have fun with it.

Arranged Marriage - Married as Children

Like betrothed as children, but a bit more binding (though as for the consummation, I would like for that not to be a thing until they’re adults)! Did Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen distantly like each other and figured that was pretty good for an arranged marriage, but then as they grow older they actually shift from friendly acquaintance to romantic love, especially as they go through the war together? How do they manage to communicate to the other that they want to be be actual lovers in that case?

Or maybe their dynamic was actually a bit more fraught due to the marriage, but when the war starts and the Jiang sect falls, Lan Xichen is there for his husband and they start to fall for each other.

Marriage of Convenience - Marrying Pregnant Person So Child (Not Theirs) Will Be Born In Wedlock

Mpregnable Lan Xichen is raped, perhaps by Wen soldiers during the war, or he had an affair with someone he figured he would marry who then left him hanging. Now he’s pregnant and has no idea what to do. He ends up telling Jiang Cheng (maybe he helped him if it was an assault, or overheard something of Lan Xichen’s ill-advised affair), and Jiang Cheng offers to marry him to save his honour. Whether he’s already pining for Lan Xichen or feelings develop between them afterwards, both would be great.

Maybe Lan Xichen rejects the proposal because he wants Jiang Cheng to marry someone he loves (after all, he wants that for Jiang Cheng, since he also loves him), which prompts Jiang Cheng to confess his love.

Arranged Marriage - Slowly Falling in Love with Spouse

Perhaps they started out as genuinely just friendly, but as they get to know each other as spouses, it becomes clear eventually that they are also romantically interested in each other. I would love to see this development, or a key moment that leads both of them to realise they are falling for each other.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Always one of my favourite tropes. They’re on friendly terms and really, a lot of people don’t even get that in an arranged marriage, but oh no, they both want more! However, they also both don’t want to jeopardise what they have. How do they eventually figure out the other feels the same way?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

This seems more like a Modern AU thing to me, since ‘dating’ is more of a modern concept (especially if you have a very valuable hand in marriage to give away), but if you can make it fit with the canon timeline, I’d also be very interested in it! Perhaps Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen, as very eligible bachelors, are both a bit tired of peopletrying to set them up on dates, and since neither is super interested in dating right now, they decide they’ll just pretend to be a couple. However, it turns out they make a really, really good couple...

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

This falls vaguely under the idea of night hunting, I think, since the land isn’t just ‘regularly’ ruined and needs magic to fix it, so the cultivation sects might feel responsible for it. Has this part of the land been ruined for a long time or is it because of the war with the Wen? Whatever it is, Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen will be responsible sect leaders and fix it by getting married. Is a magic wedding night required, too? Are they already pining or does that start after the wedding?

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

I love shifter AUs! Are both of them shifters or just one of them? Is it known (maybe they even have ears and a tail when they are humans) or is it a secret?

Wedding Night

I do love wedding night smut! Whether they’ve slept together many times before or this is their first time, I would love to see what they get up to. If they’ve slept together before, maybe they’re both surprised how special sleeping together on their wedding night still feels (or maybe they fully expected it and enjoy it)?

Wedding Night - First Time

Is it both their first time or just one of them? Is it awkward at first? Maybe surprisingly good despite of that? If round one doesn’t work out quite as expected, maybe they just immediately move on to round two and three?

If Lan Xichen is a virgin, does he have any hang-ups about sex because he was raised in a very strict environment, or does he perhaps know very little about it? Does Jiang Cheng have more experience and blows his mind? Or does he also know nothing more than whatever the smutty books he may have ended up leafing through in his teens contained? I guess they’ll have to figure it out together...

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

On the other hand, I bet big gentry weddings between important families can be really tiresome affairs. One or both of them end up half-asleep as soon as they are in bed and they decide that post-poning the wedding night is not a problem if they still get to cuddle.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This would be great! As sect leaders, they kind of have to raise heirs, anyway, of course. Whether Lan Xichen can get mpregnant or they adopt a child (especially after the war, I assume there are a lot of orphans in both their sects and also in general, but I’m also happy for this happening in a different moment in time), I would love to read about it.

If Jiang Cheng co-parents Jin Ling in this version, how do they prepare him for becoming a big brother?

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

If Lan Xichen can get mpregnant, I’d also be interested in a story of them attempting that. Whether it’s more fluffy, with the two of them having pillow talk about their potential baby and wondering how parenting will go, or whether this goes in the smutty direction of breeding kink, both would be great.

A/B/O - Alpha Marries Omega

I do love A/B/O, so Alpha Jiang Cheng and Omega Lan Xichen getting together would be great. How do their natures influence their relationship? Did Jiang Cheng also feel in Wei Wuxian’s shadow as an alpha, maybe because Wei Wuxian is considered the stronger alpha (or still considered stronger even though he’s a beta or omega)? Is Lan Xichen considered an unusual omega because he’s strong and powerful, and what does Jiang Cheng think about that? Does Lan Xichen worry that as an omega, he’s not to Jiang Cheng’s liking while Jiang Cheng is worried he can’t impress?

If you want to go into a smutty direction, the two of them handling an unexpected heat or rut would be fun, too.

A/B/O - Beta Marries Omega

Beta Jiang Cheng is worried that due to his nature, being in love with Omega Lan Xichen will never amount to anything, especially since he likely has many offers from alphas due to his status. However, Lan Xichen fully doesn’t care that Jiang Cheng isn’t an alpha and thinks he would be the best possible mate for him.

Beta Jiang Cheng figuring out ways to help Lan Xichen during the heat (which Lan Xichen thinks are just as good as what any alpha could possibly do) and them having fun with that would also be great.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If mating runs are a tradition, Lan Xichen is going to participate – the Lan sect follows the rules, after all. So far, he has managed to slip away from all pursuers or fight them off. This time, however, Jiang Cheng takes part. Is Lan Xichen surprised to see him (though still happily so)? Or did he know he was participating and was he secretly hoping that Jiang Cheng might catch up?

Maybe mating runs are a Jiang/Yungmeng area tradition, but technically everybody can participate. To Jiang Cheng’s great surprise, Lan Xichen is among the omegas that are going to run. Of course, Lan Xichen has a specific predator in mind, which perhaps he manages to communicate to Jiang Cheng...

Nie Huaisang/Lan Xichen
This is such an interesting pairing because depending on the point in the timeline, it could be a cute story about Nie Huaisang’s crush on his older brother’s best friend, or an extremely fraught tale about two men who just came out of a very complicated situation that will leave them unsure about how the other feels about them, or maybe even how they feel about the other. Inbetween are potential AUs where they get in a relationship in the thirteen years between Nie Mingjue’s death and canon and Nie Huaisang tips Lan Xichen off much earlier (we do know from canon Lan Xichen does act against Jin Guangyao when presented with evidence he can’t refute), or where perhaps he doesn’t and leaves his lover Lan Xichen in the dark (maybe because he thinks Lan Xichen is just not a good enough liar to help with his plan, or wouldn’t want to believe him, or would do unwise things like confront Jin Guangyao directly) and they have to mend their broken trust later. All options sound great to me, so have at it! For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Lan Xichen. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Lan Xichen. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Lan Xichen and alpha or beta Nie Huaisang.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

Nie Huaisang is a lot more clever than he lets on, so what could drive him to just blurting out a proposal? Maybe he actually is somewhat younger, like during the war, and it’s the kind of slip-up that just happens to him sometimes. However, maybe he’s also eight years deep into his revenge plan at this point and this was decidedly not a part of it. How did it happen?

On the other hand, we know that Lan Xichen can have his rare moments where he loses control, too. What are the circumstances in which he accidentally proposes?

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is a general tradition the Lan have (special cases like Lan Xichen’s parents nonwithstanding). So far, Lan Xichen has beaten every suitor, but then Nie Huaisang comes along. People are somewhat amused – what is Nie Huaisang going to do, considering he’s not exactly known for his fighting prowess? But maybe Nie Huaisang has a plan.

Similarly, maybe this is a Nie tradition. In that case, does Nie Huaisang even have many suitors? His reputation is rather bad, and I’m sure Nie Mingjue would chase off anyone who only has ulterior motives of using Nie Huaisang to get into the Nie sect. However, there’s no reason to send Lan Xichen away...

I love the trope of the characters agreeing to honourable combat and doing it seriously, as much as one character ‘accidentally’ stumbling or something to get their preferred suitor to win (hey, Lan Xichen knows Nie Huaisang has other qualities, he doesn’t need him to be the best fighter), or even the character who is supposed to fight laying down their weapons and admitting defeat immediately because they want to marry the suitor.

Engagement - Childhood Marriage Promise

I thought this would be a cute idea for them. Lan Xichen was probably at the Unclean Realm quite a bit when he was younger to visit Nie Mingjue. In that time, little Nie Huaisang developed a puppy crush on his older brother’s kind friend (who is so great at music and drawing, wow, how could he not love him). He makes Lan Xichen promise to marry him when they’re older, which Lan Xichen jokingly agrees to. However, at some point, they are actually older, adults even, and that promise honestly doesn’t sound so bad, even if they both know it was just children’s talk.

Another idea for this could be that they were actually officially promised to each other since they were children. How did this influence their relationship? They still probably were around each other quite a bit. When does the shift happen when Lan Xichen realises Nie Huaisang is not just his best friend’s little brother anymore, but a man he could imagine marrying? When does Nie Huaisang fall for him?

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Lan Xichen’s family was difficult to say the least. His parents are... an entire matter unto their own, and his uncle tried his best, but was obviously very strict, leaving Lan Xichen to perhaps feel in many way responsible for Lan Wangji when he wasn’t old enough to be so, and wondering now if he’ll be a good husband and/or father. Nie Huaisang reassuring him that things will be different with the family they plan to build would be great.
Were the Nie a functional family? It’s definitely possible the old Sect Leader Nie’s wife and concubine lived together harmoniously, but it’s also not the only option. Either way, Nie Huaisang lost both of his parents and Nie Mingjue’s mother quite early and he never fit in well with the martial Nie, so he might still have worries concerning that. Lan Xichen helping him here would be great.

Ritual Bride Stealing

This could be fun! Maybe it’s a Nie tradition and Nie Huaisang ends up sneaking into the Cloud Recesses to pluck Lan Xichen directly from the hanshi with a trick, or otherwise ends up capturing him? Or he thinks Lan Xichen will be a bit too prim for that sort of thing, but then Lan Xichen is actually the one who ends up stealing Nie Huaisang because he has gathered that Nie Huaisang thinks this ritual is fun.

Or perhaps it’s a tradition of the Lan/Gusu region and Lan Xichen should do it when he wants to marry, but he has always felt a bit conflicted about stealing someone because of the, er, unfortunate history of his parents, where it’s not fully clear to him what happened with his mother and how willingly she was in the Cloud Recesses. Nie Huaisang suggests he can be the one to do the stealing instead if the tradition is supposed to be fulfilled and they actually have fun with it.

Arranged Marriage - Married as Children

Like betrothed as children, but a bit more binding (though as for the consummation, I would like for that not to be a thing until they’re adults)! Did Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen like each other and figured that was pretty good for an arranged marriage, but then as they grow older they actually shift from friendship to romantic love? How do they manage to communicate to the other that they want to be be actual lovers in that case?

Or maybe their dynamic was actually a bit more complicated due to the marriage (maybe Nie Huaisang was worried he wasn’t living up to Lan Xichen’s expectations, and Lan Xichen thinks he might be a bit boring for Nie Huaisang), but when the war starts and Lan Xichen is so firmly on his brother’s side, Nie Huaisang appreciates that a lot and it opens a way for them to start communicating anew.

Marriage of Convenience - Marrying Pregnant Person So Child (Not Theirs) Will Be Born In Wedlock

Mpregnable Lan Xichen is raped, perhaps by Wen soldiers during the war, or he had an affair with someone he figured he would marry who then left him hanging. Now he’s pregnant and has no idea what to do. He tells Nie Huaisang the whole story, since they are friendly (and Nie Huaisang’s reaction might be less explosive than that of his brother), and Nie Huaisang offers to marry him to save his honour. Whether he’s already pining for Lan Xichen or feelings develop between them afterwards, both would be great.

Maybe Lan Xichen rejects the proposal because he wants Nie Huaisang to marry someone he loves (after all, he wants that for Nie Huaisang, since he also loves him), which prompts Nie Huaisang to confess his love.

Arranged Marriage - Slowly Falling in Love with Spouse

Perhaps they started out as genuinely just friendly, but as they get to know each other as spouses, it becomes clear eventually that they are also romantically interested in each other. I would love to see this development, or a key moment that leads both of them to realise they are falling for each other.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Always one of my favourite tropes. They’re friends and really, a lot of people don’t even get that in an arranged marriage, but oh no, they both want more! However, they also both don’t want to jeopardise what they have. How do they eventually figure out the other feels the same way?

Does Nie Huaisang engineer a giant plot to seduce Lan Xichen to realise halfway that it’s totally unnecessary?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

This seems more like a Modern AU thing to me, since ‘dating’ is more of a modern concept (especially if you have a very valuable hand in marriage to give away), but if you can make it fit with the canon timeline, I’d also be very interested in it! Perhaps Lan Xichen, as a very eligible bachelor, is a bit tired of people trying to set him up on dates, and Nie Huaisang just wants to have fun and not argue with his family about finally getting a steady, responsible boyfriend. Since it solves both their problems, they decide they’ll just pretend to be a couple. However, it turns out they make a really, really good couple...

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

This falls vaguely under the idea of night hunting, I think, since the land isn’t just ‘regularly’ ruined and needs magic to fix it, so the cultivation sects might feel responsible for it. Has this part of the land been ruined for a long time or is it because of the war with the Wen? Whatever it is, Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen will be responsible and fix it by getting married. Is a magic wedding night required, too? Are they already pining or does that start after the wedding?

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

I love shifter AUs! Are both of them shifters or just one of them? Is it known (maybe they even have ears and a tail when they are humans) or is it a secret? (Maybe an additional thing no one knows about the Nie is that the monster that is their emblem is actually the type of monster they shift into?)

Wedding Night

I do love wedding night smut! Whether they’ve slept together many times before or this is their first time, I would love to see what they get up to. If they’ve slept together before, maybe they’re both surprised how special sleeping together on their wedding night still feels (or maybe they fully expected it and enjoy it)?

Wedding Night - First Time

Is it both their first time or just one of them? Is it awkward at first? Maybe surprisingly good despite of that? If round one doesn’t work out quite as expected, maybe they just immediately move on to round two and three?

If Lan Xichen is a virgin, does he have any hang-ups about sex because he was raised in a very strict environment, or does he perhaps know very little about it? Does Nie Huaisang have more experience and blows his mind? Or is all he knows just from his smutty books? I guess they’ll have to figure it out together...

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

On the other hand, I bet big gentry weddings between important families can be really tiresome affairs. One or both of them end up half-asleep as soon as they are in bed and they decide that post-poning the wedding night is not a problem if they still get to cuddle.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This would be great! As sect leaders (or at least with Lan Xichen being one), they kind of have to raise heirs, anyway, of course. Whether Lan Xichen can get mpregnant or they adopt a child (especially after the war, I assume there are a lot of orphans in both their sects and also in general, but I’m also happy for this happening in a different moment in time), I would love to read about it.

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

If Lan Xichen can get mpregnant, I’d also be interested in a story of them attempting that. Whether it’s more fluffy, with the two of them having pillow talk about their potential baby and wondering how parenting will go, or whether this goes in the smutty direction of breeding kink, both would be great.

A/B/O - Alpha Marries Omega

I do love A/B/O, so Alpha Nie Huaisang and Omega Lan Xichen getting together would be great. How do their natures influence their relationship? Is Nie Huaisang considered an bad alpha because he doesn’t have a lot of raw strength, and does he worry about that when it comes to finding a mate? Is Lan Xichen thought to be an unusual omega because he does have so much power and strength, and what does Nie Huaisang think about that (and does Lan Xichen worry Nie Huaisang might not want to be with someone stronger than him)? Perhaps an unconvential alpha/omega pair just matches that much better, even if both think the other might not be into them. How do they find out they are wrong?

If you want to go into a smutty direction, the two of them handling an unexpected heat or rut would be fun, too.

A/B/O - Beta Marries Omega

Beta Nie Huaisang is worried that due to his nature, being in love with Omega Lan Xichen will never amount to anything, especially since he likely has many offers from alphas due to his status. However, Lan Xichen fully doesn’t care that Nie Huaisang isn’t an alpha and thinks he would be the best possible mate for him.

Beta Nie Huasang figuring out ways to help Lan Xichen during the heat (which Lan Xichen thinks are just as good as what any alpha could possibly do) and them having fun with that would also be great.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If mating runs are a tradition, Lan Xichen is going to participate – the Lan sect follows the rules, after all. So far, he has managed to slip away from all pursuers or fight them off. This time, however, Nie Huaisang takes part. Is Lan Xichen surprised to see him (though still happily so)? Or did he know he was participating and is he secretly hoping that Nie Huaisang might catch up? Meanwhile, Nie Huaisang might worry that he won’t be able to do that, but perhaps Lan Xichen can ‘accidentally’ stumble over a root, or Nie Huaisang thinks of a strategy to capture him.

Maybe mating runs are a Nie/Qinghe area tradition, but technically everybody can participate. To Nie Huaisang’s great surprise, Lan Xichen is among the omegas that are going to run. Lan Xichen has a specific predator in mind, which maybe he manages to communicate to Nie Huaisang...

陈情令 | The Untamed: Nie Mingjue/Lan Xichen

I really enjoyed the relationship between those two. Nie Mingjue does not seem to have many, or any other close friends, aside from Meng Yao, though that doesn’t last too long. What was it that made Lan Xichen different, made him fascinating to someone who, according to Jin Guangyao, is interested in nothing but decimating the Wen sect and his sabre? And how did someone as clement as Lan Xichen befriend the hot-tempered heir of the Unclean Realm? When Nie Mingjue isn’t currently trying to kill someone (usually Jin Guangyao), Lan Xichen doesn’t even seem too bothered by his temper at all, and he seems to genuinely enjoy his company as well. I would love to see anything, from childhood stories (perhaps with clandestine first kisses), to their time as young men, to fighting in the war, to a fix-it were all works out differently and Nie Mingjue doesn’t die. For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Lan Xichen. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Lan Xichen. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Lan Xichen and alpha or beta Nie Mingjue.

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is a general tradition the Lan have (special cases like Lan Xichen’s parents nonwithstanding). So far, Lan Xichen has beaten every suitor, but then Nie Mingjue comes along.

Similarly, maybe this is a Nie tradition. In that case, does Nie Mingjue even have many suitors? They might want to marry him, but who dares go up against Nie Mingjue in a fight? Turns out Lan Xichen is brave enough.

I love the trope of the characters agreeing to honourable combat and doing it seriously, as much as one character ‘accidentally’ stumbling or something to get their preferred suitor to win, or even the character who is supposed to fight laying down their weapons and admitting defeat immediately because they want to marry the suitor.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

Nie Mingjue can be temperamental, so he seems predestined for this. How does it happen? During the war? After Nie Mingjue almost qi deviates and Lan Xichen saves him with his music? When Nie Mingjue (somehow) comes back as a fierce corpse? Just during a sweet shared moment between them?

On the other hand, we know that Lan Xichen can have his rare moments where he loses control, too. What are the circumstances in which he accidentally proposes?

Proposal - Mid-Battle Proposal

This would be perfect for an intense night hunt or a scene during the war. Who is the one who proposes? Does the other one who was asked roll with the punches and agree immediately, or are they too shocked (and happy) that they even got proposed to?

Engagement - Childhood Marriage Promise

This would be such a sweet trope for them. They have presumably known each other for a long time and maybe they promised to marry each other when they were very young? Now that they’re older, they both know that sort of thing doesn’t mean much, of course, and they can’t even be sure if the other remembers that random conversation from childhood! But in truth they’re both still holding on to it...

Another idea for this could be that they were actually officially promised to each other since they were children. How did this influence their relationship? Maybe they spent time as best friends and couldn’t really imagine what would or could ever change, but then they hit puberty or, if you wanna set it later, start going through the war together and suddenly they see each other in a new light.

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Lan Xichen’s family was difficult to say the least. His parents are... an entire matter unto their own, and his uncle tried his best, but was obviously very strict, leaving Lan Xichen to perhaps feel in many way responsible for Lan Wangji when he wasn’t old enough to be so, and wondering now if he’ll be a good husband and/or father. Nie Mingjue reassuring him that their family will be different would be great.

Were the Nie a functional family? It’s definitely possible the old Sect Leader Nie’s wife and concubine lived together harmoniously, but it’s also not the only option. Either way, Nie Mingjue lost both of his parents and Nie Huaisang’s mother quite early, so he might still have some trauma from that, especially since an early death also seems in the cards for him thanks to the Nie sabre spirit. Lan Xichen convincing him that he will help him in any way he can would be nice.

Ritual Bride Stealing

This could be fun! Maybe it’s a Nie tradition and Nie Mingjue ends up sneaking in to the Cloud Recesses to pluck Lan Xichen directly from the hanshi, or otherwise ends up capturing him? Or he thinks Lan Xichen will be a bit too prim for that sort of thing, but then Lan Xichen is actually the one who ends up stealing Nie Mingjue because he has gathered that Nie Mingjue thinks this ritual is fun.

Or perhaps it’s a tradition of the Lan/Gusu region and Lan Xichen should do it when he wants to marry, but he has always felt a bit conflicted about stealing someone because of the, er, unfortunate history of his parents, where it’s not fully clear to him what happened with his mother and how willingly she was in the Cloud Recesses. Nie Mingjue suggests he can be the one to do the stealing instead if the tradition is supposed to be fulfilled and they actually have fun with it.

Arranged Marriage - Married as Children

Like betrothed as children, but a bit more binding (though as for the consummation, I would like for that not to be a thing until they’re adults)! Did Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen like each other and figured that was pretty good for an arranged marriage already, but then as they grow older they actually shift from friendship to romantic love, especially as they go through many losses and difficulties with their family and the war together? How do they manage to communicate to the other that they want to be be actual lovers in that case?

Or maybe their dynamic was actually a bit more fraught due to the marriage, but when Nie Mingjue’s father dies, Lan Xichen is the one who is there for him as his husband (young as they are), and they actually start to fall for each other.

Marriage of Convenience - Marrying Pregnant Person So Child (Not Theirs) Will Be Born In Wedlock

Mpregnable Lan Xichen is raped, perhaps by Wen soldiers during the war, or he had an affair with someone he figured he would marry who then left him hanging. Now he’s pregnant and has no idea what to do. He tells Nie Mingjue the whole story, since he’s his best friend, and Nie Mingjue offers to marry him to save his honour. Whether he’s already pining for Lan Xichen or feelings develop between them afterwards, both would be great.

Maybe Lan Xichen rejects the proposal because he wants Nie Mingjue to marry someone he loves (after all, he wants that for Nie Mingjue, since he also loves him), which prompts Nie Mingjue to confess his love.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Always one of my favourite tropes. They’re good friends and really, a lot of people don’t even get that in an arranged marriage, but oh no, they both want more! However, they also both don’t want to jeopardise what they have. How do they eventually figure out the other feels the same way?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

This seems more like a Modern AU thing to me, since ‘dating’ is more of a modern concept (especially if you have a very valuable hand in marriage to give away), but if you can make it fit with the canon timeline, I’d also be very interested in it! Perhaps Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen, as very eligible bachelors, are both a bit tired of people trying to set them up on dates, and since neither is super interested in dating right now, they decide they’ll just pretend to be a couple. However, it turns out they make a really, really good couple.

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

This falls vaguely under the idea of night hunting, I think, since the land isn’t just ‘regularly’ ruined and needs magic to fix it, so the cultivation sects might feel responsible for it. Has this part of the land been ruined for a long time or is it because of the war with the Wen? Whatever it is, Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen will be responsible sect leaders and fix it by getting married. Is a magic wedding night required, too? Are they already pining or does that start after the wedding?

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

I love shifter AUs! Are both of them shifters or just one of them? Is it known (maybe they even have ears and a tail when they are humans) or is it a secret? (Maybe an additional thing no one knows about the Nie is that the monster that is their emblem is actually the type of monster they shift into?)

Wedding Night

I do love wedding night smut! Whether they’ve slept together many times before or this is their first time, I would love to see what they get up to. If they’ve slept together before, maybe they’re both surprised how special sleeping together on their wedding night still feels (or maybe they fully expected it and enjoy it)?

Wedding Night - First Time

Is it both their first time or just one of them? Is it awkward at first? Maybe surprisingly good despite of that? If round one doesn’t work out quite as expected, maybe they just immediately move on to round two and three?

If Lan Xichen is a virgin, does he have any hang-ups about sex because he was raised in a very strict environment, or does he perhaps know very little about it? Does Nie Mingjue have more experience and blow his mind? Or has he never paid much mind to these things, either, because he was too busy sabre training and doesn’t know all that much more? I guess they’ll have to figure it out together...

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

On the other hand, I bet big gentry weddings between important families can be really tiresome affairs. One or both of them end up half-asleep as soon as they are in bed and they decide that post-poning the wedding night is not a problem if they still get to cuddle.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This would be great! As sect leaders, they kind of have to raise heirs, anyway, of course. Whether Lan Xichen can get mpregnant or they adopt a child (especially after the war, I assume there are a lot of orphans in both their sects and also in general, but I’m also happy for this happening in a different moment in time), I would love to read about it.

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

If Lan Xichen can get mpregnant, I’d also be interested in a story of them attempting that. Whether it’s more fluffy, with the two of them having pillow talk about their potential baby and wondering how parenting will go, or whether this goes in the smutty direction of breeding kink, both would be great.

A/B/O - Alpha Marries Omega

I do love A/B/O, so Alpha Nie Mingjue and Omega Lan Xichen getting together would be great. How do their natures influence their relationship? Is Nie Mingjue considered an especially stellar alpha? Is Lan Xichen considered an unusual omega because of his strength and power, and what does Nie Mingjue think about that? Perhaps the Nie generally prefer omegas who can fight, unlike most other people, or at least Nie Mingjue really does? Does Lan Xichen realise this or does he worry that as an omega, he’s not to Nie Mingjue’s liking?

If you want to go into a smutty direction, the two of them handling an unexpected heat or rut would be fun, too.

A/B/O - Beta Marries Omega

Beta Nie Mingjue is worried that due to his nature, being in love with Omega Lan Xichen will never amount to anything, especially since he likely has many offers from alphas due to his status. However, Lan Xichen fully doesn’t care that Nie Mingjue isn’t an alpha and thinks he would be the best possible mate for him.

Beta Nie Mingjue figuring out ways to help Lan Xichen during the heat (which Lan Xichen thinks are just as good as what any alpha could possibly do) and them having fun with that would also be great.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If mating runs are a tradition, Lan Xichen is going to participate – the Lan sect follows the rules, after all. So far, he has managed to slip away from all pursuers or fight them off. This time, however, Nie Mingjue takes part. Is Lan Xichen surprised to see him (though still happily so)? Or did he know he was participating and is secretly hoping that Nie Mingjue might catch up?

Maybe mating runs are a Nie/Qinghe area tradition, but technically everybody can participate. To Nie Mingjue’s great surprise, Lan Xichen is among the omegas that are going to run. Of course, Lan Xichen has a specific predator in mind, which I’m sure Nie Mingjue must realise...

陈情令 | The Untamed: Jin Guangyao/Lan Xichen

The story of these two really hurt me deeply in the best way. It is such a sweet friendship, with Jin Guangyao honestly caring for Lan Xichen despite seeing most everyone else as pawns, and Lan Xichen being so convinced that the world is wrong about Jin Guangyao and unfair to him – and you know, in many ways they really are, but in the end, there were also too many crimes Jin Guangyao actually committed. For Qin Su, I would like it if her and Jin Guangyao had never met/gotten married, or if she had died a natural death at some point, or ran off with a guy/woman she fell in love with to have a happy life somewhere away from cultivation drama. For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Lan Xichen. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Lan Xichen. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Lan Xichen and alpha or beta Jin Guangyao.

If you’re going for a full redemption arc plus happy ending, I’d rather if the fic diverged from canon before Jin Guangyao kills Nie Mingjue (which I don’t think Lan Xichen could get over) and before Jin Guangyao kills his father. It could also be an AU where neither murder happens for Reasons, even if those Reasons are just Jin Guangyao being foiled/people dying on their own and he totally might have killed them if he’d gotten the chance (or he finds a way to kill his father that doesn’t involve also killing prostitutes, I’m really not actually bothered by him killing his father, just the other people that died as a result of Jin Guangyao’s canonical plan). Of course, if you’re not going for redemption, there’s also the possibility of the fic just being somewhat bittersweet, in that it happens after the murder of Nie Mingjue, but before Lan Xichen finds out about it.

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is a general tradition the Lan have (special cases like Lan Xichen’s parents nonwithstanding). So far, Lan Xichen has beaten every suitor, but then Jin Guangyao comes along with some tricks up his sleeve.

Similarly, maybe this is a Jin tradition. In that case, does Jin Guangyao have a lot of suitors? He is still the non-preferred illegitimate son of Jin Guangshan, so he might not get much attention. However, that is when Lan Xichen asks for a fight.

I love the trope of the characters agreeing to honourable combat and doing it seriously, as much as one character ‘accidentally’ stumbling or something to get their preferred suitor to win (definitely a move Jin Guangyao would pull, though maybe he also recognises that Lan Xichen does it!), or even the character who is supposed to fight laying down their weapons and admitting defeat immediately because they want to marry the suitor.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

We know that Lan Xichen can have his rare moments where he loses control. What are the circumstances in which he accidentally proposes? Is it as early as when Jin Guangyao hides him, or during the war, or much later?

Jin Guangyao is not the type of person who would say something so important without planning it. Maybe that’s why he’s so surprised the proposal slips out. How did that happen?

Engagement - Childhood Marriage Promise

Possible due to early exposure to anime, I love the “lost childhood friends who promised to marry each other” trope. Perhaps Lan Xichen ran into Jin Guangyao on a longer visit to Yunping City with his uncle and they struck up a friendship and a bit of puppy love when they were kids and promised to marry each other. Years later, Lan Xichen meets Jin Guangyao again. Jin Guangyao with his photographic memory probably recognises him immediately, but what about Lan Xichen? Maybe Jin Guangyao can jog his memory, or maybe Lan Xichen also knows who he is from the start. And of course, that childhood promise they made doesn’t mean much between adults, but then they still get along...

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Lan Xichen’s family was difficult to say the least. His parents are... an entire matter unto their own, and his uncle tried his best, but was obviously very strict, leaving Lan Xichen to perhaps feel in many way responsible for Lan Wangji when he wasn’t old enough to be so, and wondering now if he’ll be a good husband and/or father. Jin Guangyao reassuring him that things will be different with the family they plan to build would be great.
Jin Guangyao was obviously attached to his mother, who loved him very much, but on his father’s side, the matter of family was just as obviously a catastrophe. Lan Xichen helping him to work through his concerns would be great (and also Lan Xichen just being who he is, someone who always respected Jin Guangyao, which probably makes Jin Guangyao feel a lot calmer about the whole “marrying a nobleman of his father’s exact status” thing).

Ritual Bride Stealing

This could be fun! Maybe it’s a Jin tradition (or one from Yunping City) and Jin Guangyao ends up sneaking in to the Cloud Recesses to pluck Lan Xichen directly from the hanshi with some trick, or otherwise ends up capturing him? Or he thinks Lan Xichen will be a bit too prim for that sort of thing, but then Lan Xichen is actually the one who ends up stealing Jin Guangyao because he has gathered that Jin Guangyao thinks this ritual is fun.

Or perhaps it’s a tradition of the Lan/Gusu region and Lan Xichen should do it when he wants to marry, but he has always felt a bit conflicted about stealing someone because of the, er, unfortunate history of his parents, where it’s not fully clear to him what happened with his mother and how willingly she was in the Cloud Recesses. Jin Guangyao suggests he can be the one to do the stealing instead if the tradition is supposed to be fulfilled and they actually have fun with it.

Arranged Marriage - Expecting Hurt; Receiving Kindness

Perhaps Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen don’t know each other well yet when Jin Guangshan manages to force the Lan into a marriage with one of his bastard sons; or they do know each other, but Jin Guangyao figures Lan Xichen might still want a much better marriage. At the very least, Jin Guangyao expects Lan Xichen to be cold towards him. However, Lan Xichen actually recognises Jin Guangyao’s difficult situation in Jin Guangshan’s family and is all around very kind and they get along really well...

Perhaps Lan Xichen only knows rumours of Jin Guangyao and wonders if he’ll be resentful towards Lan Xichen for the things Jin Guangyao’s also noble father has done to him, and prepares for an uncomfortable marriage. However, Jin Guangyao recognises quickly that Lan Xichen is a very different sort of person and they actually get along right away.

Marriage of Convenience - Marrying Pregnant Person So Child (Not Theirs) Will Be Born In Wedlock

Mpregnable Lan Xichen is raped, perhaps by Wen soldiers during the war, or he had an affair with someone he figured he would marry who then left him hanging. Now he’s pregnant and has no idea what to do. He tells Jin Guangyao the whole story, since he’s close to him, and Jin Guangyao offers to marry him to save his honour. Whether he’s already pining for Lan Xichen or feelings develop between them afterwards, both would be great. (Maybe Jin Guangyao also does this mainly to get power, but then falls in love for real.)

Maybe Lan Xichen rejects the proposal because he wants Jin Guangyao to marry someone he loves (after all, he wants that for Jin Guangyao, since he also loves him), which prompts Jin Guangyao to confess his love.

Arranged Marriage - Slowly Falling in Love with Spouse

Perhaps they started out as genuinely just friendly, but as they get to know each other as spouses, it becomes clear eventually that they are also romantically interested in each other. I would love to see this development, or a key moment that leads both of them to realise they are falling for each other.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Always one of my favourite tropes. They’re good friends and really, a lot of people don’t even get that in an arranged marriage, but oh no, they both want more! However, they also both don’t want to jeopardise what they have. How do they eventually figure out the other feels the same way?

Does Jin Guangyao engineer a giant plot to seduce Lan Xichen to realise halfway that it’s totally unnecessary?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

This seems more like a Modern AU thing to me, since ‘dating’ is more of a modern concept (especially if you have a very valuable hand in marriage to give away), but if you can make it fit with the canon timeline, I’d also be very interested in it! Perhaps Lan Xichen, as a very eligible bachelor, is a bit tired of people trying to set him up on dates, whereas Jin Guangyao could really use a boyfriend from an important family to impress his father. They decide they’ll just pretend to be a couple. However, it turns out they make a really, really good couple...

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

This falls vaguely under the idea of night hunting, I think, since the land isn’t just ‘regularly’ ruined and needs magic to fix it, so the cultivation sects might feel responsible for it. Has this part of the land been ruined for a long time or is it because of the war with the Wen? Whatever it is, Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen will be responsible and fix it by getting married (which may at first be strategy on Jin Guangyao’s part to get into a more powerful position, but whoops, now he’s in love). Is a magic wedding night required, too? Are they already pining or does that start after the wedding?

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

I love shifter AUs! Are both of them shifters or just one of them? Is it known (maybe they even have ears and a tail when they are humans) or is it a secret? Maybe Jin Guangyao is part huli jing?

Wedding Night

I do love wedding night smut! Whether they’ve slept together many times before or this is their first time, I would love to see what they get up to. If they’ve slept together before, maybe they’re both surprised how special sleeping together on their wedding night still feels (or maybe they fully expected it and enjoy it)?

Wedding Night - First Time

Is it both their first time or just one of them? Is it awkward at first? Maybe surprisingly good despite of that? If round one doesn’t work out quite as expected, maybe they just immediately move on to round two and three?

If Lan Xichen is a virgin, does he have any hang-ups about sex because he was raised in a very strict environment, or does he perhaps know very little about it? Does Jin Guangyao know more from personal experience and blows Lan Xichen’s mind? Or maybe he just knows what he heard/saw at the brothel, so he has no first-hand knowledge, either. I guess they’ll have to figure it out together...

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

On the other hand, I bet big gentry weddings between important families can be really tiresome affairs. One or both of them end up half-asleep as soon as they are in bed and they decide that post-poning the wedding night is not a problem if they still get to cuddle.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This would be great! With Lan Xichen being a sect leader, they kind of have to raise heirs, anyway, of course. Whether Lan Xichen can get mpregnant or they adopt a child (especially after the war, I assume there are a lot of orphans in both their sects and also in general, but I’m also happy for this happening in a different moment in time), I would love to read about it.

If Jin Guangyao somehow has Jin Rusong (maybe that enemy sect was actually responsible, but they killed his wife instead of his son in this timeline, or something else happened to her) and/or potentially also co-parents Jin Ling, how do they prepare them for becoming big brothers?

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

If Lan Xichen can get mpregnant, I’d also be interested in a story of them attempting that. Whether it’s more fluffy, with the two of them having pillow talk about their potential baby and wondering how parenting will go, or whether this goes in the smutty direction of breeding kink, both would be great.

A/B/O - Alpha Marries Omega

I do love A/B/O, so Alpha Jin Guangyao and Omega Lan Xichen getting together would be great. How do their natures influence their relationship? Is Jin Guangyao considered an unusual alpha because he has to rely on tricks instead of raw strength, and does he worry about that when it comes to finding a mate? Is Lan Xichen thought to be an unusual omega because he is strong and powerful, and what does Jin Guangyao think about that (and does Lan Xichen worry Jin Guangyao might not want to be with someone stronger than him)? Perhaps an unconvential alpha/omega pair just matches that much better, even if both think the other might not be into them. How do they find out they are wrong?

If you want to go into a smutty direction, the two of them handling an unexpected heat or rut would be fun, too.

A/B/O - Beta Marries Omega

Beta Jin Guangyao is worried that due to his nature, being in love with Omega Lan Xichen will never amount to anything, especially since he likely has many offers from alphas due to his status (who also happen to be of better birth than Jin Guangyao). However, Lan Xichen fully doesn’t care that Jin Guangyao isn’t an alpha and thinks he would be the best possible mate for him.

Beta Jin Guangyao figuring out ways to help Lan Xichen during the heat (which Lan Xichen thinks are just as good as what any alpha could possibly do) and them having fun with that would also be great.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If mating runs are a tradition, Lan Xichen is going to participate – the Lan clan follows the rules, after all. So far, he has managed to slip away from all pursuers or fight them off. Jin Guangyao, however, has a plan. Is Lan Xichen surprised to see him (though still happily so)? Or was he aware Jin Guangyao is participating and secretly hoping that he might catch up?

Maybe mating runs are a Jin/Lanling area tradition, but technically everybody can participate. To Jin Guangyao’s great surprise, Lan Xichen is among the omegas that are going to run. Of course, Lan Xichen has a specific predator in mind, which Jin Guangyao realises soon...

陈情令 | The Untamed: Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen & Nie Huaisang/Lan Xichen

Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen
This is a pairing I’ve really come to enjoy despite the fact that they don’t have that much contact in canon – at least not that we see because I assume as leaders of major sects, and with Lan Xichen being so close to Jin Ling’s other guardian, they have actually met quite a bit. We know from Lan Xichen’s friendship with Nie Mingjue that he can handle tempestuous temperaments. Also, I feel like Lan Xichen ticks, though not at all, quite a few boxes on Jiang Cheng’s romance checklist, so that’s good! This could be set right after the war (it would probably be difficult after Wei Wuxian’s death due to Lan Xichen’s loyalty to his brother, who does not like Jiang Cheng past the Nightless City siege, but perhaps Lan Xichen’s and Jiang Cheng’s relationship somehow ends up preventing the whole Wei Wuxian thing from going really south in the first place, or the Wen fled and that entire plot disappears entirely); or it could be post-canon, when they both have to work through their pain. Either way would be interesting! Post-canon, Jiang Cheng is probably not super welcome in the Cloud Recesses courtesy of Lan Wangji as long as he and Wei Wuxian haven’t had some sort of reconciliation, but does Lan Xichen end up facilitating it, or do the two of them end up meeting more once Jiang Cheng drops by sometimes to see Wei Wuxian after having a heart-to-heart with him? For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Lan Xichen. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Lan Xichen. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Lan Xichen and alpha or beta Jiang Cheng.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

Jiang Cheng can be temperamental, so he seems predestined for this. How does it happen? During the war? During an argument? After Guanyin Temple? Just during a sweet shared moment between them?

On the other hand, we know that Lan Xichen can have his rare moments where he loses control, too. What are the circumstances in which he accidentally proposes?

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is a general tradition the Lan have (special cases like Lan Xichen’s parents nonwithstanding). So far, Lan Xichen has beaten every suitor, but then Jiang Cheng comes along.

Similarly, maybe this is a Jiang tradition. We know from additional material that Jiang Cheng has had a bit of trouble finding marriage prospects and even leaving that aside, he’s pretty damn strong, so most people probably don’t dare go up against him. However, turns out Lan Xichen is brave enough.

I love the trope of the characters agreeing to honourable combat and doing it seriously, as much as one character ‘accidentally’ stumbling or something to get their preferred suitor to win, or even the character who is supposed to fight laying down their weapons and admitting defeat immediately because they want to marry the suitor.

Engagement - Childhood Marriage Promise

I thought this would be a cute idea for them. They don’t seem to have had that much contact when they were younger, but perhaps Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng ran into each other at discussion conferences and such when they were children. Jiang Cheng has a puppy crush on Lan Xichen (who is totally so much more mature, almost three years older probably!) and maybe he asks for his hand in marriage. Lan Xichen, who thinks it’s cute, agrees. Now they’re adults reconnecting while they fight a war and it’d be such a childish thing to even bring up again, except they both kind of wish they could hold to it...

Another idea for this could be that they were actually officially promised to each other since they were children. How did this influence their relationship? Did they meet more often before the summer camp or do they only really spend time together once the war starts? Maybe now that both their parents are dead and they’re both sect leaders who can decide for themselves, nothing is really holding them to the promise anymore, but they realise they would actually like to go through with it still.

If Jiang Cheng is at least eighteen during the Lan summer camp, this would also be a great set-up for Jiang Cheng having his own summer romance with Lan Xichen.

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Lan Xichen’s family was difficult to say the least. His parents are... an entire matter unto their own, and his uncle tried his best, but was obviously very strict, leaving Lan Xichen to perhaps feel in many way responsible for Lan Wangji when he wasn’t old enough to be so, and wondering now if he’ll be a good husband and/or father. Jiang Cheng reassuring him that things will be different with the family they will build would be great.
Jiang Cheng obviously grew up with a massive inferiority complex due to the amazing parenting he was subjected to, so maybe he worries about not being good enough in his new role as husband and potentially eventual father, either? Or he is afraid that due to his personality, he’s going to replicate what happened in his mother’s marriage? Lan Xichen helping him through that would be great.

Ritual Bride Stealing

This could be fun! Maybe it’s a Jiang tradition and Jiang Cheng ends up sneaking into the Cloud Recesses to pluck Lan Xichen directly from the hanshi, or otherwise ends up capturing him? Or he thinks Lan Xichen will be a bit too prim for that sort of thing, but then Lan Xichen is actually the one who ends up stealing Jiang Cheng because he has gathered that Jiang Cheng thinks this ritual is fun.

Or perhaps it’s a tradition of the Lan/Gusu region and Lan Xichen should do it when he wants to marry, but he has always felt a bit conflicted about stealing someone because of the, er, unfortunate history of his parents, where it’s not fully clear to him what happened with his mother and how willingly she was in the Cloud Recesses. Jiang Cheng suggests he can be the one to do the stealing instead if the tradition is supposed to be fulfilled and they actually have fun with it.

Arranged Marriage - Married as Children

Like betrothed as children, but a bit more binding (though as for the consummation, I would like for that not to be a thing until they’re adults)! Did Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen distantly like each other and figured that was pretty good for an arranged marriage, but then as they grow older they actually shift from friendly acquaintance to romantic love, especially as they go through the war together? How do they manage to communicate to the other that they want to be be actual lovers in that case?

Or maybe their dynamic was actually a bit more fraught due to the marriage, but when the war starts and the Jiang sect falls, Lan Xichen is there for his husband and they start to fall for each other.

If Jiang Cheng is at least eighteen during the Lan summer camp, this would also make the Lan summer camp a very interesting setting. Now Jiang Cheng is visiting his husband... how does that go? Does Wei Wuxian meddle? Does Jiang Cheng get to have his summer romance?

Marriage of Convenience - Marrying Pregnant Person So Child (Not Theirs) Will Be Born In Wedlock

Mpregnable Lan Xichen is raped, perhaps by Wen soldiers during the war, or he had an affair with someone he figured he would marry who then left him hanging. Now he’s pregnant and has no idea what to do. He ends up telling Jiang Cheng (maybe he helped him if it was an assault, or overheard something of Lan Xichen’s ill-advised affair), and Jiang Cheng offers to marry him to save his honour. Whether he’s already pining for Lan Xichen or feelings develop between them afterwards, both would be great.

Maybe Lan Xichen rejects the proposal because he wants Jiang Cheng to marry someone he loves (after all, he wants that for Jiang Cheng, since he also loves him), which prompts Jiang Cheng to confess his love.

Arranged Marriage - Slowly Falling in Love with Spouse

Perhaps they started out as genuinely just friendly, but as they get to know each other as spouses, it becomes clear eventually that they are also romantically interested in each other. I would love to see this development, or a key moment that leads both of them to realise they are falling for each other.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Always one of my favourite tropes. They’re on friendly terms and really, a lot of people don’t even get that in an arranged marriage, but oh no, they both want more! However, they also both don’t want to jeopardise what they have. How do they eventually figure out the other feels the same way?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

This seems more like a Modern AU thing to me, since ‘dating’ is more of a modern concept (especially if you have a very valuable hand in marriage to give away), but if you can make it fit with the canon timeline, I’d also be very interested in it! Perhaps Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen, as very eligible bachelors, are both a bit tired of peopletrying to set them up on dates, and since neither is super interested in dating right now, they decide they’ll just pretend to be a couple. However, it turns out they make a really, really good couple...

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

This falls vaguely under the idea of night hunting, I think, since the land isn’t just ‘regularly’ ruined and needs magic to fix it, so the cultivation sects might feel responsible for it. Has this part of the land been ruined for a long time or is it because of the war with the Wen? Whatever it is, Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen will be responsible sect leaders and fix it by getting married. Is a magic wedding night required, too? Are they already pining or does that start after the wedding?

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

I love shifter AUs! Are both of them shifters or just one of them? Is it known (maybe they even have ears and a tail when they are humans) or is it a secret?

Wedding Night

I do love wedding night smut! Whether they’ve slept together many times before or this is their first time, I would love to see what they get up to. If they’ve slept together before, maybe they’re both surprised how special sleeping together on their wedding night still feels (or maybe they fully expected it and enjoy it)?

Wedding Night - First Time

Is it both their first time or just one of them? Is it awkward at first? Maybe surprisingly good despite of that? If round one doesn’t work out quite as expected, maybe they just immediately move on to round two and three?

If Lan Xichen is a virgin, does he have any hang-ups about sex because he was raised in a very strict environment, or does he perhaps know very little about it? Does Jiang Cheng have more experience and blows his mind? Or does he also know nothing more than whatever the smutty books he may have ended up leafing through in his teens contained? I guess they’ll have to figure it out together...

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

On the other hand, I bet big gentry weddings between important families can be really tiresome affairs. One or both of them end up half-asleep as soon as they are in bed and they decide that post-poning the wedding night is not a problem if they still get to cuddle.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This would be great! As sect leaders, they kind of have to raise heirs, anyway, of course. Whether Lan Xichen can get mpregnant or they adopt a child (especially after the war, I assume there are a lot of orphans in both their sects and also in general, but I’m also happy for this happening in a different moment in time), I would love to read about it.

If Jiang Cheng co-parents Jin Ling in this version, how do they prepare him for becoming a big brother?

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

If Lan Xichen can get mpregnant, I’d also be interested in a story of them attempting that. Whether it’s more fluffy, with the two of them having pillow talk about their potential baby and wondering how parenting will go, or whether this goes in the smutty direction of breeding kink, both would be great.

A/B/O - Alpha Marries Omega

I do love A/B/O, so Alpha Jiang Cheng and Omega Lan Xichen getting together would be great. How do their natures influence their relationship? Did Jiang Cheng also feel in Wei Wuxian’s shadow as an alpha, maybe because Wei Wuxian is considered the stronger alpha (or still considered stronger even though he’s a beta or omega)? Is Lan Xichen considered an unusual omega because he’s strong and powerful, and what does Jiang Cheng think about that? Does Lan Xichen worry that as an omega, he’s not to Jiang Cheng’s liking while Jiang Cheng is worried he can’t impress?

If you want to go into a smutty direction, the two of them handling an unexpected heat or rut would be fun, too.

A/B/O - Beta Marries Omega

Beta Jiang Cheng is worried that due to his nature, being in love with Omega Lan Xichen will never amount to anything, especially since he likely has many offers from alphas due to his status. However, Lan Xichen fully doesn’t care that Jiang Cheng isn’t an alpha and thinks he would be the best possible mate for him.

Beta Jiang Cheng figuring out ways to help Lan Xichen during the heat (which Lan Xichen thinks are just as good as what any alpha could possibly do) and them having fun with that would also be great.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If mating runs are a tradition, Lan Xichen is going to participate – the Lan sect follows the rules, after all. So far, he has managed to slip away from all pursuers or fight them off. This time, however, Jiang Cheng takes part. Is Lan Xichen surprised to see him (though still happily so)? Or did he know he was participating and was he secretly hoping that Jiang Cheng might catch up?

Maybe mating runs are a Jiang/Yungmeng area tradition, but technically everybody can participate. To Jiang Cheng’s great surprise, Lan Xichen is among the omegas that are going to run. Of course, Lan Xichen has a specific predator in mind, which perhaps he manages to communicate to Jiang Cheng...

Nie Huaisang/Lan Xichen
This is such an interesting pairing because depending on the point in the timeline, it could be a cute story about Nie Huaisang’s crush on his older brother’s best friend, or an extremely fraught tale about two men who just came out of a very complicated situation that will leave them unsure about how the other feels about them, or maybe even how they feel about the other. Inbetween are potential AUs where they get in a relationship in the sixteen years between Nie Mingjue’s death and canon and Nie Huaisang tips Lan Xichen off much earlier (we do know from canon Lan Xichen does act against Jin Guangyao when presented with evidence he can’t refute), or where perhaps he doesn’t and leaves his lover Lan Xichen in the dark (maybe because he thinks Lan Xichen is just not a good enough liar to help with his plan, or wouldn’t want to believe him, or would do unwise things like confront Jin Guangyao directly) and they have to mend their broken trust later. All options sound great to me, so have at it! For smut, I prefer bottom and sub Lan Xichen. If you include mpreg, I prefer pregnant Lan Xichen. For A/B/O, I prefer omega Lan Xichen and alpha or beta Nie Huaisang.

Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned

Nie Huaisang is a lot more clever than he lets on, so what could drive him to just blurting out a proposal? Maybe he actually is somewhat younger, like during the war, and it’s the kind of slip-up that just happens to him sometimes. However, maybe he’s also eight years deep into his revenge plan at this point and this was decidedly not a part of it. How did it happen?

On the other hand, we know that Lan Xichen can have his rare moments where he loses control, too. What are the circumstances in which he accidentally proposes?

Marriage Contest - Must Win in Ritual Combat Against Potential Spouse

Perhaps this is a general tradition the Lan have (special cases like Lan Xichen’s parents nonwithstanding). So far, Lan Xichen has beaten every suitor, but then Nie Huaisang comes along. People are somewhat amused – what is Nie Huaisang going to do, considering he’s not exactly known for his fighting prowess? But maybe Nie Huaisang has a plan.

Similarly, maybe this is a Nie tradition. In that case, does Nie Huaisang even have many suitors? His reputation is rather bad, and I’m sure Nie Mingjue would chase off anyone who only has ulterior motives of using Nie Huaisang to get into the Nie sect. However, there’s no reason to send Lan Xichen away...

I love the trope of the characters agreeing to honourable combat and doing it seriously, as much as one character ‘accidentally’ stumbling or something to get their preferred suitor to win (hey, Lan Xichen knows Nie Huaisang has other qualities, he doesn’t need him to be the best fighter), or even the character who is supposed to fight laying down their weapons and admitting defeat immediately because they want to marry the suitor.

Engagement - Childhood Marriage Promise

I thought this would be a cute idea for them. Lan Xichen was probably at the Unclean Realm quite a bit when he was younger to visit Nie Mingjue. In that time, little Nie Huaisang developed a puppy crush on his older brother’s kind friend (who is so great at music and drawing, wow, how could he not love him). He makes Lan Xichen promise to marry him when they’re older, which Lan Xichen jokingly agrees to. However, at some point, they are actually older, adults even, and that promise honestly doesn’t sound so bad, even if they both know it was just children’s talk.

Another idea for this could be that they were actually officially promised to each other since they were children. How did this influence their relationship? They still probably were around each other quite a bit. When does the shift happen when Lan Xichen realises Nie Huaisang is not just his best friend’s little brother anymore, but a man he could imagine marrying? When does Nie Huaisang fall for him?

Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)

Lan Xichen’s family was difficult to say the least. His parents are... an entire matter unto their own, and his uncle tried his best, but was obviously very strict, leaving Lan Xichen to perhaps feel in many way responsible for Lan Wangji when he wasn’t old enough to be so, and wondering now if he’ll be a good husband and/or father. Nie Huaisang reassuring him that things will be different with the family they plan to build would be great.
Were the Nie a functional family? It’s definitely possible the old Sect Leader Nie’s wife and concubine lived together harmoniously, but it’s also not the only option. Either way, Nie Huaisang lost both of his parents and Nie Mingjue’s mother quite early and he never fit in well with the martial Nie, so he might still have worries concerning that. Lan Xichen helping him here would be great.

Ritual Bride Stealing

This could be fun! Maybe it’s a Nie tradition and Nie Huaisang ends up sneaking into the Cloud Recesses to pluck Lan Xichen directly from the hanshi with a trick, or otherwise ends up capturing him? Or he thinks Lan Xichen will be a bit too prim for that sort of thing, but then Lan Xichen is actually the one who ends up stealing Nie Huaisang because he has gathered that Nie Huaisang thinks this ritual is fun.

Or perhaps it’s a tradition of the Lan/Gusu region and Lan Xichen should do it when he wants to marry, but he has always felt a bit conflicted about stealing someone because of the, er, unfortunate history of his parents, where it’s not fully clear to him what happened with his mother and how willingly she was in the Cloud Recesses. Nie Huaisang suggests he can be the one to do the stealing instead if the tradition is supposed to be fulfilled and they actually have fun with it.

Arranged Marriage - Married as Children

Like betrothed as children, but a bit more binding (though as for the consummation, I would like for that not to be a thing until they’re adults)! Did Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen like each other and figured that was pretty good for an arranged marriage, but then as they grow older they actually shift from friendship to romantic love? How do they manage to communicate to the other that they want to be be actual lovers in that case?

Or maybe their dynamic was actually a bit more complicated due to the marriage (maybe Nie Huaisang was worried he wasn’t living up to Lan Xichen’s expectations, and Lan Xichen thinks he might be a bit boring for Nie Huaisang), but when the war starts and Lan Xichen is so firmly on his brother’s side, Nie Huaisang appreciates that a lot and it opens a way for them to start communicating anew.

Marriage of Convenience - Marrying Pregnant Person So Child (Not Theirs) Will Be Born In Wedlock

Mpregnable Lan Xichen is raped, perhaps by Wen soldiers during the war, or he had an affair with someone he figured he would marry who then left him hanging. Now he’s pregnant and has no idea what to do. He tells Nie Huaisang the whole story, since they are friendly (and Nie Huaisang’s reaction might be less explosive than that of his brother), and Nie Huaisang offers to marry him to save his honour. Whether he’s already pining for Lan Xichen or feelings develop between them afterwards, both would be great.

Maybe Lan Xichen rejects the proposal because he wants Nie Huaisang to marry someone he loves (after all, he wants that for Nie Huaisang, since he also loves him), which prompts Nie Huaisang to confess his love.

Arranged Marriage - Slowly Falling in Love with Spouse

Perhaps they started out as genuinely just friendly, but as they get to know each other as spouses, it becomes clear eventually that they are also romantically interested in each other. I would love to see this development, or a key moment that leads both of them to realise they are falling for each other.

Arranged Marriage - Mutual Pining

Always one of my favourite tropes. They’re friends and really, a lot of people don’t even get that in an arranged marriage, but oh no, they both want more! However, they also both don’t want to jeopardise what they have. How do they eventually figure out the other feels the same way?

Does Nie Huaisang engineer a giant plot to seduce Lan Xichen to realise halfway that it’s totally unnecessary?

Fake Marriage - Fake Dating Leads To Real Wedding

This seems more like a Modern AU thing to me, since ‘dating’ is more of a modern concept (especially if you have a very valuable hand in marriage to give away), but if you can make it fit with the canon timeline, I’d also be very interested in it! Perhaps Lan Xichen, as a very eligible bachelor, is a bit tired of people trying to set him up on dates, and Nie Huaisang just wants to have fun and not argue with his family about finally getting a steady, responsible boyfriend. Since it solves both their problems, they decide they’ll just pretend to be a couple. However, it turns out they make a really, really good couple...

Magic - Magical Marriage Required To Bring Prosperity And Growth To Ruined Land

This falls vaguely under the idea of night hunting, I think, since the land isn’t just ‘regularly’ ruined and needs magic to fix it, so the cultivation sects might feel responsible for it. Has this part of the land been ruined for a long time or is it because of the war with the Wen? Whatever it is, Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen will be responsible and fix it by getting married. Is a magic wedding night required, too? Are they already pining or does that start after the wedding?

Supernatural - Married to a Shifter

I love shifter AUs! Are both of them shifters or just one of them? Is it known (maybe they even have ears and a tail when they are humans) or is it a secret? (Maybe an additional thing no one knows about the Nie is that the monster that is their emblem is actually the type of monster they shift into?)

Wedding Night

I do love wedding night smut! Whether they’ve slept together many times before or this is their first time, I would love to see what they get up to. If they’ve slept together before, maybe they’re both surprised how special sleeping together on their wedding night still feels (or maybe they fully expected it and enjoy it)?

Wedding Night - First Time

Is it both their first time or just one of them? Is it awkward at first? Maybe surprisingly good despite of that? If round one doesn’t work out quite as expected, maybe they just immediately move on to round two and three?

If Lan Xichen is a virgin, does he have any hang-ups about sex because he was raised in a very strict environment, or does he perhaps know very little about it? Does Nie Huaisang have more experience and blows his mind? Or is all he knows just from his smutty books? I guess they’ll have to figure it out together...

Wedding Night - No Sex Just Tired Snuggles

On the other hand, I bet big gentry weddings between important families can be really tiresome affairs. One or both of them end up half-asleep as soon as they are in bed and they decide that post-poning the wedding night is not a problem if they still get to cuddle.

If you do want to add smut, cuddly sex in the morning after the wedding night is always appreciated.

Established Marriage - Decide to Have a Baby Together

This would be great! As sect leaders (or at least with Lan Xichen being one), they kind of have to raise heirs, anyway, of course. Whether Lan Xichen can get mpregnant or they adopt a child (especially after the war, I assume there are a lot of orphans in both their sects and also in general, but I’m also happy for this happening in a different moment in time), I would love to read about it.

Marital Sex - Sex with the Goal of Conceiving a Baby

If Lan Xichen can get mpregnant, I’d also be interested in a story of them attempting that. Whether it’s more fluffy, with the two of them having pillow talk about their potential baby and wondering how parenting will go, or whether this goes in the smutty direction of breeding kink, both would be great.

A/B/O - Alpha Marries Omega

I do love A/B/O, so Alpha Nie Huaisang and Omega Lan Xichen getting together would be great. How do their natures influence their relationship? Is Nie Huaisang considered an bad alpha because he doesn’t have a lot of raw strength, and does he worry about that when it comes to finding a mate? Is Lan Xichen thought to be an unusual omega because he does have so much power and strength, and what does Nie Huaisang think about that (and does Lan Xichen worry Nie Huaisang might not want to be with someone stronger than him)? Perhaps an unconvential alpha/omega pair just matches that much better, even if both think the other might not be into them. How do they find out they are wrong?

If you want to go into a smutty direction, the two of them handling an unexpected heat or rut would be fun, too.

A/B/O - Beta Marries Omega

Beta Nie Huaisang is worried that due to his nature, being in love with Omega Lan Xichen will never amount to anything, especially since he likely has many offers from alphas due to his status. However, Lan Xichen fully doesn’t care that Nie Huaisang isn’t an alpha and thinks he would be the best possible mate for him.

Beta Nie Huasang figuring out ways to help Lan Xichen during the heat (which Lan Xichen thinks are just as good as what any alpha could possibly do) and them having fun with that would also be great.

A/B/O - Mating Run Ends in Marriage

If mating runs are a tradition, Lan Xichen is going to participate – the Lan sect follows the rules, after all. So far, he has managed to slip away from all pursuers or fight them off. This time, however, Nie Huaisang takes part. Is Lan Xichen surprised to see him (though still happily so)? Or did he know he was participating and is he secretly hoping that Nie Huaisang might catch up? Meanwhile, Nie Huaisang might worry that he won’t be able to do that, but perhaps Lan Xichen can ‘accidentally’ stumble over a root, or Nie Huaisang thinks of a strategy to capture him.

Maybe mating runs are a Nie/Qinghe area tradition, but technically everybody can participate. To Nie Huaisang’s great surprise, Lan Xichen is among the omegas that are going to run. Lan Xichen has a specific predator in mind, which maybe he manages to communicate to Nie Huaisang...

Just Married 2022

Table of Contents

DNWs and Likes

Art Likes

Mass Effect Trilogy: Male Shepard/Javik

Mass Effect Trilogy: Male Shepard/Legion

Mass Effect: Andromeda: Jaal Ama Darav/Evfra de Tershaav

Original Work: New Omega King/His Male Alpha Husbands

魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Nie Mingjue/Lan Xichen

魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Jin Guangyao/Lan Xichen

魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī: Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen & Nie Huaisang/Lan Xichen

陈情令 | The Untamed: Nie Mingjue/Lan Xichen

陈情令 | The Untamed: Jin Guangyao/Lan Xichen

陈情令 | The Untamed: Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen & Nie Huaisang/Lan Xichen