A to Z: Strangely Superfluous S

 

    Again, my writing is weirdly low on S-named characters.  It's not that there aren't any, it's just that somehow they fail to be significant.  (This is made all the more frustrating because apparently "Sally" is my go-to random female name the way "Freddy" is for random male names; I found at least four of them just in looking over everything I had written in the last 10-12 years, and I'm quite sure there were more I just didn't stumble across.)

    So, like I did with Q, I thought today I'd just provide some quotes and tidbits about various S-named characters.  For whatever reason, they're all fan fiction characters.  Not sure why my original works don't feature any major characters with an S-name, but...🤷🏻‍♀️

    Anyway, the first S-named character I can talk about is Shannon Hazelbourne from Velvet Goldmine, about whom I ought to have a lot to say, yet somehow I don't really?  (Doesn't help that it's hard to treat her consistently...)  Any discussion of Shannon is going to be rife with spoilers for the movie, so tread carefully beyond the "read more" tag!  (After Shannon, there are MDZS characters (and spoilers) to be found...)

    So, Shannon's hard to deal with partially because of the massive changes she goes through in the course of the film itself, especially since she's rarely presented as an important part of the scene or even the story until she's suddenly the key to the mystery.  Most of the time, I don't think I do her character justice, because I can only present one fraction of her at any given time.  Usually, the fraction of her in the present, in the wake of the end of the film.  (Though whether or not Arthur's somewhat mischievous question to Tommy in the impromptu press gathering after the concert will have any impact whatsoever is of course unclear.)  However, in 2017 I took part in a writing challenge, where the challenge was to take 47 separate prompts and write 47 ficlets to go with them (each exactly 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500 words), releasing one a day over 47 days.  I decided to do that with Velvet Goldmine, at first doing little scenes around scenes from the movie (either immediately preceding or following a specific scene, or just filling in some gap somewhere), and eventually moving past the end of the film into other events, both from the past and the advancing present.  That let me show Shannon at various stages of her evolution from trembling teenager to powerful manager of a major rock star.

    Here's a few of them.  (Though after the first two they're all out of chronological order...)

Chapter 11: You don't want me.

            The room seemed to burst with frenetic activity.  People were shouting, grabbing clothes, calling for bags, discussing America.  In the chaos, no one seemed to notice Shannon was even there.  As usual.
             “Hmm?  Who are you?”  Suddenly, there was a man standing right in front of her, looking at her curiously.  He had a soft, pretty face, and a gentle voice.  Even though Shannon didn’t particularly follow popular music, she still knew the face of Brian Slade, and having him staring right into her eyes made her stomach tie itself in knots.
             The man in the hideous suit leaned over towards Brian and explained that she was the new ‘wardrobe mistress,’ then wandered off again.
             Shannon bit her lip.  This couldn’t go on.  “You don’t want me,” she insisted.  “I don’t know anything about clothes.  I was applying for a completely different job—I only have experience in typing and filing!”  As much as she needed the work, what point was there in taking a job she couldn’t do?
            But Brian smiled at her, and took hold of one of her hands with both of his.  “You’ll do fine,” he assured her.  “We could use your filing experience—there are so many costumes to keep track of that our last wardrobe supervisor threw up his hands in despair and walked out on us!  All you need to do is know where everything is.  I’ll handle the rest.”
            Shannon couldn’t help nodding.  There was something so exhilarating about being trusted like this.  And by someone like him!  She had never even been around someone so magical before…
            Brian wished her luck, and told her to get ready for a tour of America, then went off somewhere.
            Shannon promised herself that she would become the best wardrobe mistress anyone had ever seen.

Chapter 35: Is that my shirt?

            Who would have thought a single question could cause such a mess?  It had taken Shannon almost two hours to ensure that everyone who heard it either dismissed it as crude gossip or misunderstood it utterly.  A few of the more zealous guards had set off to look for the man who had asked it, but Shannon was sure he was long gone.  Still, no harm in letting them have their fun looking for him.
             It was quite late by the time she returned to the hotel suite where they were staying.  The lights were still on in the front room, allowing her to see just how badly it had been treated since she left it this afternoon.  Furniture had been upended, and one of the table lamps had been smashed through a mirror.
            The door to Tommy’s room was shut, so he was probably sleeping it off.  Despite her temptation to the contrary, Shannon decided it was best to let him alone, and headed for her own room instead.
            To her surprise, as she opened the door she was nearly bowled over by the reek of alcohol.  Her clothes were scattered all about the floor, and Tommy stood in the middle of the room, looking at himself in the full length mirror attached to the door into the toilet.  He was still wearing his white trousers, but above them he wore a delicate blouse, pink silk with a bit of lace at the throat.  It was too small for him, clinging tightly to his chest, even though the top three or four buttons were open.
            Tommy didn’t acknowledge her, and for a minute or two Shannon didn’t know how to react.
            “Is that my shirt?” she finally asked.  Not much of a question, but what else could she say?

Chapter 36: I can't trust you.

            Of all the times to take time off to visit her family!  Shannon would never forgive herself for being away from London when the story broke, exposing poor Brian to the cold, cruel world.  Worst of all, the way the article was phrased, it was obvious he’d been betrayed by someone in the know, someone close to him.  Someone who should have known better.
            She was hurrying back to his side when Jerry intercepted her.  “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said, leaning in close.  “Where have you been?  Brian says he hasn’t seen you for days.”
            Shannon’s hands curled up into fists so tight that it was a miracle blood wasn’t oozing out.  “I’ve been with my family,” she told him curtly, trying to step around him as she spoke.
             But Jerry moved in time with her, keeping her path blocked.  “That’s sweet,” he said, with the smile that used to seem almost charming.  “Why don’t we have lunch somewhere?” Jerry suggested.  “You can’t be busy, after all; what need has he of a wardrobe mistress while he’s in hiding?”
            “I have other duties now,” Shannon informed him coldly, trying to keep her calm.  Blowing up at him would only cause her to lose control, and that would give him the control.  “Brian needs me.”
             “What he needs is to get back to work,” Jerry said, with a self-satisfied smirk.  It was him, then?  He was the one who had told the world Brian was still alive?  “Now, let’s go somewhere to be alone,” he added, reaching a hand towards Shannon’s face.
            She slapped his hand away.  “Don’t touch me.”
            “Really, what has come over you?” Jerry asked.  “Nothing’s changed here,” he added, gesturing to himself.
            “You’re right, nothing’s changed.  I can’t trust you, and I never should have!  And neither should Brian!”
             Jerry stared at her, uncomprehending.  “Just what’s so terrible about me?”  Was he denying that he had been the one to expose Brian’s secret?  But accusing him of it would never change that; he’d only deny it the more fervently.
            “You’re not normal,” Shannon pointed out instead.  “A normal person wouldn’t have a gigantic picture of himself on his office wall in the first place, let alone one where he’s dressed like Marilyn Monroe!”
            She pushed around him and hurried on her way before he could recover.
            “Brian’s not normal, either!” Jerry shouted after her.

Notes:

And another chapter that fails. :( I apparently can't write Jerry to save my life. Trying to find a way to tie this into the previous chapter to justify the flashback was also awkward as hell.

Chapter 44: I really need you.

            Shannon hesitated outside the door.  She hadn’t been doing her job right.  That was obvious.  If she had, Brian would never have descended this far.
            Ultimately, it was Jerry’s fault, of course.  If he had only protected Brian—as a manager ought to do!—it would never have come to this.  It had been Jerry’s job to keep Brian from meeting someone who would destroy him as utterly as that awful American had.  Mandy was to blame, too; what sort of wife would so gladly allow her husband to stray into the beds of strange men?
             Shannon had done all she could to protect him since everyone else callously abandoned him, but it was too little, too late.
             Glumly, she knocked, then used her key.  Her breath caught in her throat as she opened the door.  What if today was the day he would overdose?  What if today was the day she’d find him on the floor, unmoving?
            Thankfully, today wasn’t that terrible day.  Brian was sitting on the couch, facing the switched-off television set.  It felt like a cruel joke that the slender, beautiful man she had met six years ago could have changed so much so quickly.  He had put on at least two stone in his lethargic apathy, and the weight had widened his face, robbing him of the ethereal looks that had once captivated the whole world.  Lately, he had fallen into the habit of staring vacantly ahead of him, as he was doing now, giving him the look of a catatonic.
             Shannon tried to smile, and walked up in front of him.  “What do you want to do today?” she asked, shrinking inwardly at the realisation that her job seemed to have changed to nurse.  “It’s been a long time since you wrote any new songs,” she suggested, when Brian didn’t respond.  “Or we could go for a walk…”  Hopelessly, she tried one after another, but none provoked even the slightest reaction.  “All right,” Shannon eventually conceded, “perhaps today isn’t a good day for you.  If you don’t need me, I’ll just go.”  It wasn’t, after all, as if she was still being paid for her time.
            She was almost to the door when she heard his voice.  “Shannon,” Brian said quietly, without emotion.  Shannon stopped, but didn’t turn to look at him.  She couldn’t bear it.  “I need you.”  It was barely more than a whisper.  By the time she turned around, Brian was leaning forward, his face in his hands.  “I really need you.”
            Shannon hurried over to sit beside him, setting a comforting arm around his shoulders.  “Tell me what you need.”
            “I can’t go on like this,” he moaned into his hands.  “I need…I need applause…”
            Uncomfortably, she stroked his back, urging him to let it all out.
            Applause.
             It wasn’t impossible—Brian was a great artist, after all!—but it wouldn’t be easy.  His fans still hadn’t forgiven him.  Maybe they never would.
            He’d have to get new fans…

Chapter 47: You're always number one.

            “This week’s charts are in!”  That mousey girl came running up to Brian, holding a newspaper, her eyes dancing with glee.  She must have been carrying a pretty heavy torch for him to look at him like that.  Pretty pathetic, considering Jerry was always all over her.  Curt felt sorry for her, really:  girls like her spent their whole lives being trampled by the men around them.
            “Ta.”  Brian gave her a glowing smile as he took the paper.
             That poor girl looked like she was going to die of happiness.  Then her smile faded as Brian turned to Curt, and she left the room, biting her lip as if she was fighting tears.

    That last one isn't the whole chapter, just Shannon's appearance in it.  I kind of feel like that's the fic where I do the best job with Shannon.  Given the length of the quote, and the fact that none of the other fics I scanned just now really gave me anything good to say--other than that sometimes I let her get her way and marry him while in others she remains just his manager--I think I'll just leave it there.

    Moving on from Shannon, I have a smattering of S-named characters present in my Mo Dao Zu Shi fanfics.  I would start with Song Lan, only for some reason I don't have much to say about him.  😰  Because he was only present for such a short while in the novel (slightly longer in the drama, but only slightly), it's hard to know how to characterize him, and the only further insight that MXTX has offered about him in public comments is that he's entirely lacking in a sense of humor.  Which helps a little in the characterization sense, but not much.  So although my typical "prevent the tragic deaths" style of AU prevents him from ending up an intelligent fierce corpse bereaved of everyone he ever cared about (particularly his best friend/lover), I just don't have a lot to say about him. 😰

    Next up, I'm sorry to say that Su Minshan has received all too many words in my fanfic.  In large part because I typically write the kind of stories that need villains, and he's so utterly lacking in any redeeming qualities that he's easy to call on for a villainous role, no matter how differently events have gone in the AU.  For some reason I keep killing him off-screen, though.  The heroes never seem to be the ones to get rid of him themselves.  Possibly because he's more the "always the henchman, never the head honcho" kind of guy.  🤣  In fact, in "To Walk This Earth With You Again," he's not only killed off-screen, but also just plain never makes an appearance at all:  his villainous actions are also all off-screen, merely discussed by others!

    In "A Hidden Road," his villainous actions are pretty much all straight out of canon, since its divergence point is late enough that many wheels were already in motion.  Though it was interesting to try presenting the interaction between him and Lan Xichen at this point, when his defection from the Lan Clan is fairly recent.

            An unpleasantly large party of Su cultivators—probably the majority of the sect, in fact—stepped out of the complex as Lan Xichen drew near, with Su Minshan at their head.  “What brings you here, Lan-zongzhu?” Su Minshan demanded, idle threat in his voice.  “The Su Clan is allied to Lanling.”

            “I come on Lanling business actually,” Lan Xichen told him, smiling with a falsity that pained him.  “Jin Guangshan asked me to look into—”  His voice hitched in his throat as he saw the smoke from the talisman wind itself around Su Minshan’s body.

            “What is this foul stuff?” Su Minshan demanded.

            “Su-zongzhu, does the name Jin Zixun mean anything to you?”

            Su Minshan twitched violently.  “Never heard it before,” he claimed.

            “Zongzhu…?” one of his own men said, his voice trembling.

            “Su-zongzhu, if you could indulge me, please open your robes,” Lan Xichen said.  “So that we might ascertain whether the mark of the curse this talisman is tracing is upon you.”

            “Lies!” Su Minshan shouted.  “You come here to my home and accuse me of such terrible things?  Why would I curse that arrogant pup!”

            “Then you do know who he is,” Lan Xichen concluded, smiling more honestly.  “Please open your robe, if you have nothing to hide.”

            Su Minshan protested his innocence loudly, refusing to open his robes, but the smoke would not dissipate, and his own men soon took it upon themselves to pull apart his upper robes, revealing the rebound mark of the Thousand Sores and Hundred Holes curse near his heart.  Several of the Su cultivators apprehended their own leader, and the rest bowed to Lan Xichen, swearing their ignorance of Su Minshan’s vindictive actions.

            The fact that they had turned on him so readily made Lan Xichen’s heart sink in his breast.  What sort of men were these that his former shidi had surrounded himself with?  To turn on their leader so easily…

    Where his material starts getting interesting is in that super-long Jiang Cheng fic.  He actually shows up quite early on, while Jiang Cheng is seeking recruits for the Jiang Clan before his first major battle in the Sunshot Campaign.  Because the fic is using the drama's canon, Su Minshan has already split from the Lan Clan--or rather been kicked out in disgrace--due to the radically different events surrounding the burning of Cloud Recesses in the drama.

            In the square before one of the teahouses, he found a large number of young men dressed in what appeared to be Lan Clan cast-offs.  Despite being dressed like cultivators and carrying swords, they gave the air of being a street gang.  Their leader, who appeared to be about Jiang Cheng’s age, had a slightly familiar face, but it was also such an ordinary face that he couldn’t place it.  Between the sneer on the leader's face and the way the youths seemed more likely to rob passers-by than aid those in distress, Jiang Cheng decided it was best to ignore them.
            However, as he was speaking to three strong-looking wandering cultivators in their thirties nearby, he heard the gang approach him from behind.  “You’re looking for men and you didn’t ask us?” one of them snarled.  “Can’t you see we’re better than those guys—and more of us, too!”
            Begging the pardon of the men he was speaking to, Jiang Cheng turned to look at the street gang.  “I thought you were school boys between lessons,” he said, since most of them were younger than he was.  “If you’re not, then of course we can talk.”
            Several of the boys began jeering at him, but the leader raised a hand to silence them.  “My friends are over-eager to prove themselves,” he said, “because we know how much we’re worth.”  He bowed slightly, not half as much as he should have.  “I am Su Minshan,” he said, “and you’ll find that I’m quite the accomplished cultivator.  And I have a powerful grudge against the Wen Clan.  You won’t be sorry to have me on your side.”
            Jiang Cheng was quite positive that wasn’t true.  “Have we met before?” he asked.  “Your name isn’t familiar, but—”
            “You have,” Wen Qing’s voice suddenly said at his elbow.  “And I don’t think it would be wise to accept his help at all.”
            “Are you going to listen to the word of a Wen?!” Su Minshan demanded furiously.  “Don’t you know what her kind have done?!”
            “Wen Qing is no longer part of the Wen Clan of Qishan,” Jiang Cheng told him coldly.  “I know what she has done for me and my family, and I know what side she is on.”  He glanced at her over his shoulder.  “You know who this man is, Wen-guniang?”
            She nodded.  “Do you recall the battle against the Waterborne Abyss?”
            Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened, and he turned to look at Su Minshan again.  That face…!  “You were the one who…!”  Who nearly got Wei Wuxian killed, and then acted as though he hadn’t done anything wrong!  “Well.  I don’t think we’ll be needing your services, but thanks for the offer.”  He turned back to the men he had originally been talking to, trying to ignore the jeers and taunts from Su Minshan’s gang.  “Sorry about that.  Now, where were we?”
            The men laughed, and they resumed their discussions about whether they would give up their journeys as wandering cultivators to join in the Sunshot Campaign under Jiang Cheng’s banner.  The longer they talked, the louder Su Minshan’s gang became, until some of the Lans came to see what the noise was.
            Surprisingly, their arrival made everything noisier.
            “Su She!”  “Traitor!”  “How dare you show your face so close to Gusu!”
            Jiang Cheng looked at the Lans.  “Traitor?” he repeated.  “What did he do?”
            “When Wen Xu was attacking Cloud Recesses, Su She told him everything about how to get into the sanctuary where the rest of the clan was taking shelter!” one of the Lans said, glaring death at Su Minshan.  “Er-gongzi even surrendered himself to save this worthless villain!  As if he deserved it!  He’s not good enough to be the dirt under er-gongzi’s boots!”
            Su Minshan let out a round of venom aimed at Lan Wangji and his almighty reputation.  It was so unpleasant to listen to that Jiang Cheng suggested that he, Wen Qing and the rogue cultivators should all find someplace a bit quieter to continue their discussion.  And seeing as the Lans were continuing to shout abuse at Su Minshan, the others immediately agreed to his suggestion.
            They hadn’t gone too far before one of the rogue cultivators started laughing.  “Never thought I’d see a Lan losing his temper,” he said.

    (I let that quote go on a little bit longer than it really needed to, just to be able to show Su Minshan's deep grudge against Lan Wangji, which is a major facet of his character.)  After that, he ends up being brought on board anyway by a third party...and fails his way to success, gaining as a wife the heiress to a smashed cultivation sect.  And also gaining recognition from the Jin Clan, mostly because Moling, where he wants to set up his new sect, is nestled neatly between the Lan and Jiang Clans, thus robbing both of them of some territory.  When Jiang Cheng learns (during the Siege Hunt at Mount Baifeng and the banquet immediately following it) that the new sect in Moling is being headed by Su Minshan, he's deeply ticked off for a number of reasons...

            He hadn’t been walking very long before he heard voices from the other side of a bamboo thicket ahead of him.  It didn’t sound like they were his men, so he slowed his pace and did all he could to mask his presence, lest he be mistaken for prey and attacked.

            “Ah, you must be the new Zhao-zongzhu!” a voice called in a friendly manner.  Jiang Cheng found the voice familiar, but couldn’t quite place it.  “I’ve been wanting to meet you!”

            “I am honored that Yao-zongzhu would seek out one such as myself,” another voice replied.  It, too, sounded familiar, but less so.  Whoever he was, Jiang Cheng had probably only met him once or twice.  He would have to ask those of his men who had been with the Zhao Clan just who their former clan leader’s daughter had been engaged to marry.

            “I was just hearing about your exploits before the hunt began,” Yao-zongzhu said, his tone jovial, but with hints of deference underneath.  “Rebuilding your clan from nothing!  Very impressive indeed!”

            Jiang Cheng scowled.  He had rebuilt his clan from nothing, and everyone treated him like an upstart who didn’t belong, even though leading the Jiang Clan had always been his birthright!  And yet this fellow only married into the Zhao Clan, and people were impressed with him for trying to restore the clan?  Despite that this other man, whoever he was, obviously hadn’t taken any major victories in the Sunshot Campaign, unlike Jiang Cheng!  Or maybe he had?  Without knowing who he was, how could Jiang Cheng be sure he hadn’t had all manner of victories?  If he was getting such respect, surely he was an older man, with decades of triumphs behind him.

            “Your words are very kind, Yao-zongzhu.  Though to be honest, since all of my father-in-law’s followers were wickedly stolen away from him, and even the ancestral home in Ezhou lost to us, my wife and I saw little point in continuing to call it the Zhao Clan, and have decided to rebuild the sect in my own name.”

            How was that different from starting an entirely new cultivation sect, then?

            “Yes, yes, that makes sense,” Yao-zongzhu said, his voice still warm and accepting.  “Is your wife here today?  I recall meeting her when she was just a girl; I should like to see her again and offer my condolences on her father’s death.”

            “Alas, no, my wife chose to remain at home in Moling,” the other man replied.  “We knew there would be representatives of the Jiang and Lan Clans here today, after all.”

            What could be wrong about that?!  Jiang Cheng’s fingers clenched tightly around his sword’s hilt, and Zidian sparked on his finger.  Who dared to say it was a bad thing for two of the Four Great Clans to be present?!

            “Of course they would, but why should that bother Zhao-guniang—ah, I mean, Zhao-furen?” Yao-zongzhu asked.

            “As you know, my father-in-law died during the Sunshot Campaign, as a result of the injuries he received in battle during the liberation of Ezhou.  My wife is still mourning him, and to be so near the men responsible for his death…”

            “But wasn’t that the Wen Clan?” Yao-zongzhu asked.

            “That is the official story, yes,” the other man said.  His tone of voice gave Jiang Cheng the image of a man with a supercilious smirk on his face, glad of an audience willing to believe his [expletive].  “However, it is my wife’s belief that the fires that destroyed most of Ezhou and cost my father-in-law his life were not the actions of the Wen Clan, but of the Jiang and Lan Clans.”

            That lying bastard!

            “Ah, is that so?” Yao-zongzhu mused.  “Scandalous!  Though I do recall hearing that they burned Yueyang when they were trying to liberate it.”

            That was the Jin Clan who burned Yueyang! Jiang Cheng’s inner voice screamed, even as Zidian burned against his finger, begging to be unleashed.  How dare you spread such lies about us after Father saved you?! 

 [and then in the next scene]

            Jiang Cheng’s attention was suddenly diverted by one of the voices he had heard in the woods.  The voice of Zhao-zongzhu’s successor, the one who had been so incautiously spreading base lies about what had happened in Ezhou.  Turning to look in his direction, Jiang Cheng’s vision darkened and his fists clenched so tightly that his fingers ached.

            Su Minshan!

            That coward had not only fled the flames in Ezhou, but dared to claim that they had been anyone’s fault but Zhao-zongzhu’s?!  And he had the gall to use a marriage to the heiress of a broken clan as an excuse to form his own sect?

            Did words even exist to describe such a villain?

            Worse still, so many of the lesser clan leaders were gathered around him, treating him with such respect, as if he was worthy of it!  How could they act as though he was a proper clan leader when they still treated Jiang Cheng as a child, despite that he had personally slain Wen Ruohan?

            Just what did Su Minshan have that Jiang Cheng didn’t?

            Jin Guangshan called for attention and began making a boring speech thanking them all for attending both the Siege Hunt and the banquet.  Jiang Cheng couldn’t pay attention to it.  All he could do was glare at Su Minshan and wonder why anyone would take him seriously.  And why they wouldn’t take Jiang Cheng seriously.

            Su Minshan didn’t have Jiang Cheng’s unparalleled military record.  He wasn’t leading one of the Four Great Clans.  He didn’t have a distinguished lineage.  He wasn’t any older than Jiang Cheng.  He had been thrown out of the Lan Clan in disgrace.  About the only thing he had that Jiang Cheng didn’t was a wife.

            Was that really so important?

            Would the other clan leaders finally take Jiang Cheng seriously once he got married…?

    What Jiang Cheng doesn't understand is that what Su Minshan has that he doesn't is the support of Jin Guangshan.  😰

    Beyond that, though....not sure how much there really is to say about Su Minshan.  He's...hmm, you know, I had someone sum him (and his eternal bugbear Jin Zixun) up pretty well at one point.  Lemme just quote that...

            They were quite similar in some ways, proud and short-tempered, and in the unenviable position of being far more skilled than the ordinary man but far less skilled than the exceptional men who surrounded them.

    Irony?  That's Meng Yao's POV.  Yup, in this fic they have nothing to do with each other, and Su Minshan is Jin Guangshan's subordinate (though he's less of a henchperson than just a minor, quasi-independent baddie) instead of Jin Guangyao's!  (In fact, Meng Yao never becomes Jin Guangyao in this fic.)

    Anyway, enough about him.  One last S-character.  Well, trio of characters.  Though they're OCs.  In fact, they're the wandering cultivators Jiang Cheng was trying to recruit in that first Su Minshan quote!  Picking up exactly where the previous quote left off (and repeating the last line of it, in fact) here's the rest of their introduction.

            They hadn’t gone too far before one of the rogue cultivators started laughing.  “Never thought I’d see a Lan losing his temper,” he said.
            “It’s a first for me, too,” Jiang Cheng admitted.  “Despite how hard Wei Wuxian tried to get under Lan Wangji’s skin while we were studying at Cloud Recesses.”  Allegedly he had actually succeeded in getting Lan Wangji to display some temper—after going so far as to sneak pornography into the book Lan Wangji was reading—but Jiang Cheng hadn’t witnessed it personally, and Wei Wuxian had a tendency to embellish his stories, so…
            The three rogue cultivators laughed, but then the eldest of them shook his head.  “It’s clear things are going to get ugly in this area soon, one way or the other.  If we’re not going to take part in this Sunshot Campaign, we’ll have to head north and get well out of Wen Clan territory so we don’t get caught up in it.”  The other two nodded their agreement.  “So the question is, what are your goals here, Jiang-zongzhu?”
            “My goals?  I want to avenge my parents and everyone else from my clan—I want to avenge everyone who was killed at Lotus Pier.”
            “And how will you know when you’ve avenged them?”
            “When the Wen Clan is destroyed and Wen Ruohan’s ashes are scattered to the winds, then I’ll know I’ve avenged them,” Jiang Cheng answered firmly.  If it wasn’t for Wen Qing standing right beside him, he would have said considerably more than that, but…
            “A bit much,” the youngest commented.
            “You’d feel the same if our parents had been murdered like that,” the middle one said.  They were brothers, then?
            “What do you plan to do after that?” the eldest asked.
            “After that…?”  The question took Jiang Cheng by surprise.  “Restore Lotus Pier, restore the Jiang Clan, make sure my sister finds a husband who treats her the way she deserves to be treated…”  He shook his head.  “I don’t quite understand why you’re asking.”
            “A man’s goals tell you a lot about the man’s character,” the eldest rogue cultivator said.  “Your goals tell me you’re not the type to plan very far ahead.”
            Jiang Cheng felt his face grow hot as the other two rogue cultivators laughed.
            “But there’s nothing wrong with that!” the eldest added, laughing himself.  “I was no different when I was your age.  And maybe there’s not much point in having far-reaching plans when you’re about to enter into a war.  What good is it having dreams if you end up dying before having a chance to act on them?”
            “Are we joining up with them or not, da-ge?” the youngest asked.  “‘Cause if we’re not, I want to go get something to eat.”
            The eldest rogue cultivator laughed.  “All right, then, let’s just be blunt, shall we?  What do we get out of risking our lives to help you avenge your Lotus Pier?”
            “Aside from knowing that you’ve helped to stop the tyranny of Wen Ruohan?”  It hadn’t occurred to him that people might need more than that!  “I…”
            “You’re really putting Jiang-zongzhu in a very unpleasant position,” Wen Qing said, stepping up beside him.  “No matter what he says, how can it be anything but wrong?  If he offers you payment, then he appears shallow and frivolous, but if he doesn’t offer payment, he’ll appear selfish and callous.  If you wish to be blunt, you should also be open and admit what you want from him.”
            “Oh, I like her, da-ge,” the middle one said.  “Here, Jiang-zongzhu, I’ll join up if I can have her!”
            “Out of the question!” “I am not a prize!”
            The eldest laughed.  “As if a fine lady like her would ever marry the likes of us!” he said, smacking the middle brother lightly as he spoke.  “You’ll have to forgive my brother, Jiang-zongzhu.  Whenever a thought happens to enter his mind, it leaves again by his mouth straight away.”
            Surprisingly, the man in question laughed and nodded rather than taking offense.
            “If you could please tell me what it is you want from me, then I can tell you whether it’s something I’m willing to grant,” Jiang Cheng said through gritted teeth.  At this point, he wasn’t sure if these men even could be worth the hassle of dealing with them!
            “Yes, yes, of course.  Well…we’d like to be paid, at the very least,” the eldest said.  “We’re not like those Lan Clan folks; when we go to a village in distress to hunt down the yao beasts or fierce corpses or whatever else that’s bothering them, we expect to be paid for our services.  Plain and simple, we are:  we do a job, we want to be compensated.”
            “And just what sort of payment would you expect to join a war of unknown duration?”
            “Now, that’s a good question,” the eldest admitted, rubbing his chin.  “Hard to say.  Here, how about we make a deal.  You’re planning to invade some nearby town that the Wen forces took over, yeah?”
            “It’s not all that nearby, but yes.”
            “So, how ‘bout we join up with you for this one fight.  Things don’t work out, you can give us some of the loot—or just give us some coins if there isn’t any loot—and no one’s the worse for the deal, right?  But if things do work out and we want to stay, then we can come to more detailed arrangements once we know where we all stand.”
            “That seems sensible,” Jiang Cheng agreed.
            “Then we’re in agreement!”  The eldest laughed.  “The name’s Sun Bao, this idiot here is my middle brother Sun Gong, and that little fellow is my youngest brother Sun Pi.”
            Jiang Cheng did his best to keep his face level.  He had heard about three wandering brothers named Sun who had beat out all the competition in a Night Hunt a few years ago.  Was that these three?  If so, they’d be worth a great deal on the battlefield!  “I’m glad to have you on our side, even if it’s only for this one battle.  We’re mustering just outside of town.  We can head straight to our encampment if you’d like.”
            “Is there food there?” Sun Pi asked.  Despite being described as a ‘little fellow’ by his brother, the man was massive:  a head and a half taller than Jiang Cheng, and broad as a horse.
            “There will be at the next meal time, but many of our forces are from the Lan Clan, and they don’t like doing things outside their rigid schedule.”  Which might make things difficult if they even adhered to that in combat!
            “We’ll meet you at the camp later, then, Jiang-zongzhu,” Sun Bao said.  “A-Pi gets testy if he doesn’t eat regular.”
            “Of course.”
            Soon enough, the Sun brothers were walking back towards the teahouse and the still-loud argument between Su Minshan and the Lans, while Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing were walking away from that racket.  “Well, that was something of a coup,” Wen Qing commented.
            “So they are the Sun brothers I’ve heard of?”
            “I’d say so,” she said.  “They match the description on the wanted bulletins.”
            “Wanted bulletins?”
            “They went on Night Hunts in Wen Clan territory once too often, came into conflict with a patrol, and murdered the entire patrol.”  Wen Qing shrugged.  “At least, that’s the story on the wanted poster.  I expect they were put in a kill or be killed position.”
            “How big was the patrol?”  Jiang Cheng had witnessed patrols as small as four men and as large as fifty…
            “The bulletin didn’t say.  But probably at least twenty-five men, given the urgency in the bulletin’s language.”
            “Did you know who they were before they introduced themselves?”
            Wen Qing laughed.  “The description wasn’t that detailed.”

    The Sun brothers were particularly useful to me since I was trying to narrate an entire war that had been skipped over in canon, and following specifically the leader of a clan that had been reduced to three living members, one of whom can't fight and another of whom is removed from all contact for the first three months of the war.  We're told in canon that he started out the war by recruiting as many new followers as he could get, so it's not like it's strange that I added some new characters--since it would be particularly frustrating both to write and read long battle prep sequences where only one person is a named character--and these three are handy because they're older and experienced.

    They quickly separated themselves into roles:  Sun Bao for whenever planning and general running of things is needed, Sun Pi for when someone big and strong is needed, and Sun Gong whenever I wanted to have someone hit on Wen Qing.  😅  (This partially serves as a function to make Jiang Cheng jealous and ensure that he won't get over his crush on her, and partially was supposed to serve to make Jiang Cheng more appealing to her though in the current draft it doesn't really do that because my attempt at a romance there is pitiful and broken, but that's what second drafts are for.)

            She entered the compound and was almost overwhelmed by the stench of blood.  The walls seemed painted in the stuff.  A great many bodies littered the ground, but they were all decidedly dead; it was pointless to check on the condition of a man whose torso had been severed from his body, or whose head had been knocked across the room.
            Only when she reached the courtyard in the center of the compound did Wen Qing find anyone who was still alive.  Several of the Lans and the youngest Sun brother were already moving the corpses of Wen Clan soldiers into one corner while others sat to rest their wounds.  Wen Qing went to the nearest wounded man to check his condition.
            “If all this death is upsetting you, I could hold your hand to keep you safe,” Sun Gong said, approaching her.
            “I’m a doctor,” she told him, keeping her gaze on the Lan Clan cultivator whose pulse she was taking.  “This isn’t my first time attending the wounded in the wake of a battle.”  It was the first time she was expected to treat everyone except the Wen Clan, though…  “You’ll be fine,” she assured the Lan, before beginning to bind his wound.

    Not sure if there's anything more to say about them than that, though.  I had fun with them, but I doubt readers will care about them whenever this massive thing gets edited and posted.  There's nothing particularly deep or compelling about them, but as they're OCs created to fill plot-necessary roles in a work of fan fiction, I don't know that there needs to be anything deep or compelling about them.

    Oh!  Links!  My Velvet Goldmine fics are all posted on AO3, and my Mo Dao Zu Shi fics are also all posted on AO3.