#Anshi's thoughts on tings

[simpingforthisonedeer]

who are your top ten black clover characters and ships? talk about them! -tat!

Tat? I just woke up and I don’t know who you are so please forgive me tat if I already know you but if I actually don’t, then nice to meetcha! Thank you for this interesting ask! I didn’t know people were interested in my thoughts or what I had to say sakjdhksj

I don’t have too many ships because Black Clover is mainly action so it is focused on that. I don’t ship any of the underage characters because they are all children who are busy saving the world and the adult characters such as the Captains(except Yami and Charlotte) and the Wizard King are all too busy with work and saving their kingdom and the world. They have no time for romance as of now. But, BC is going to be as long or even longer than One Piece according to Tabata so there is hope for everyone ;)

I’ve ordered this list from the bottom to the top so I hope you don’t mind 👹

10. William Vangeance

Look, if I was in the BC universe, what he did would be unforgivable to me. Instead of not enabling his most dearest friend to commit genocide, he leaves it up to him and the person he respects the most to fight to the death so he wouldn’t have to decide. Like who in their right minds would stand aside if their closest friend wanted to commit genocide for something that happened 500 years ago?

I was initially really upset with William but after a while, I started liking his character. Usually when people are like “I like this so-and-so character because they are flawed,” I would be like please🙄 but William is the first character I have ever truly liked for being flawed. Like this man loved Patri so much that he was willing to let people die. Not that it’s a good thing but you get what I mean. But at the same time, just as much he loved, he knew it was wrong so it was an impossible choice for him and I absolutely love that about him. But keep in mind, if he was an actual person I knew, my opinion would be waaaaaay different.

9. Zara Ideale

This man is badass as all hell like cmon. First commoner to become a magic knight??? That’s freaking amazing😎😎😎 and the way he kept a smile on his face despite everyone underestimating him and beating him down? Very respectable😎 The way he was an amazing, single father and a role model to Zora? That’s hot 😎 And the way he inspired my man Julius? Freaking iconic😎

8. Mereoleona Vermillion

She is simply a hot woman with a rough side, an OP character and an amazing leader. What more can I say 🙈🙈🙈

7. Finral Roulacase

I love his character because he is trying so hard to get better for Finnese’s sake. I mean he isn’t doing too good of a job but he is first gaining confidence in himself and I could clearly see a realistic difference in him. I personally don’t ship him with Finesse unless I see them bond more tbh but this is going to be a looooong story so there may be space for development there.

6. Grey x Gauche

Look, I don’t like Gauche because of his sister complex. It’s played off as a joke way too many times and I find it icky but the teased ship between him and Grey seems realistic and nice to me. Like he could help Grey build up her confidence and Grey could teach him what it is to love another person. Ships that build each other up make me go uwu asjkdhakjsd

5. Klaus Lunettes

I absolutely adore Klaus because this man is the prime example of hope for the next generation. He is a noble who was initially derisive of Asta and Yuno because they were peasants but now he actually loves and respects them. This is how the next generation should be. Nobles shouldn’t only learn to tolerate commoners and peasants but actually respect and even love them as well.

I especially like for his Klaus’s love and concern for Asta and find it incredibly wholesome and endearing. He is an amazing friend and actually voices his concerns if any of them are about to do something stupid unlike someone askjdaks

4. Charlotte Roselei

Charlotte is a badass woman and with the way she is written, just because she is in love, didn’t mean that she was any less than her position as Magic Knight Captain. What I mean is that she wasn’t reduced to a woman in love with Yami and actually has her moments where she gets to shine and im not going to spoil anything but she’s doing amazing in the manga and I’m cheering for her 😎

3. Fuegoleon Vermillion

Ok, I know I don’t talk about him as much but I really love his character because he inspires other people like Asta and Noelle and is a great magic knight captain. His character and the way he holds himself also reminds me of Erwin from AoT asdhakdkfsjk. Him and his fire magic and salamander are badass as hell and he also makes for an amazing leader. I genuinely like seeing him being all authoritative and it’s a nice contrast from Julius’ passive attitude. If Julius wasn’t Wizard King, it would be him.

2. Yami Sukehiro

Who in their right minds don’t like Yami Sukehiro? Like he is such a freaking dad to the rest of the squad and he has such amazing fight scenes and his spell, “Dimension Slash?” Freaking amazing like when he got trapped in the Dream World, I knew he was going to use that spell and it was so freaking cool. Not only that, he pushes everyone around him to be better and to surpass their limits. I like his constant presence and he makes for some really funny moments with his dry humor XD

1. Julius Novachrono

IM LITERALLY JULIUS NOVACHRONO BRAINROT AHGDKJSHDJKSFJKSH ITS IN MY NAME I SIMP FOR THIS MAN AND THIS MAN ONLY SO FREAKING MUCH AHSKAJSNJKA 

Ok, so besides the fact that this man is HOT AS FUCK He’s also very sweet and when he nerds about magic it’s the most adorable thing in the world. In the beginning, I thought he may be a villain because he was too good to be true. But that was up until when he obliterated the Midnight Sun at their hideout I just went🥵🥵🥵 look I thought he was a passive character BUT GAH DAYUM the way he looked at patri like boi whatchu doin🤨 he was so bored during that fight like LAWD HAVE MERCY

I’m so sorry anon but you should’ve expected this from my hoe ass

I also love OP characters and I also happened to like time a lot. Like I am a massive Doctor Who fan and I’m a whole physics nerd and I’ve always been fascinated by Time, Gravity and Space among other things so of course I love Julius🥰🥰

I like how there are small details for his time spells like the fact that his Chronostasis spell only brings time to a near stop because completely stopping time would stop the movement of particles and instantly freeze and kill the person. AJSDJLKASJD I’ll stop nerding now(never👹)

Oh god, when I get to True Time Magic in my fic😩 light, time and gravity in the backdrop of magic got me shaking

He’s very charming and has good morals which is a big point in his favor but he’s also such a dad?? He takes Yami and William and basically raises them in their crucial years(teenage is pretty crucial right? I think so🤔) I don’t have daddy issues but GAH DAYUM HE FINE

I know he’s a kid and all that now but knowing Tabata, it’s because if he actually died, things would all go to shit real fast and I believe he would age up in some way or maybe actually grow up gradually and not die again(fingers crossed TvT) and actually contribute to the plot more😩 give me the grown up Julius, Tabata 👹👹👹

I mean if Tabata made the right decisions with his story, he would show Julius become less and less of a centrist in the name of character development and let him lose👀👀

[lyranova]

How would your oc react to meeting Aika👉👈

Of course Anshi 🥰! I hope I portrayed Aika well I apologize if I didn’t and I can always edit this or delete it if I need too 🥺! I hope you enjoy it I had a good time writing this as I have with my other OC interactions hehe. So i will say this is kinda personal to me (not in a dark sad way though!) because I’m currently going through what Neva is in this fic except I didn’t encounter poison oak 👀 i dunno whats causing me to itch lol!

Word Count: 1,226

Warnings: None

——————

“ Stop scratching.”

“ I can’t! It’s itching like crazy!”

“ Please stop. You’re only making it worse.” Said an exasperated Yuno. He and Neva were currently on their way to see Owen about Neva’s itching problem. Normally they’d go to see Mimosa to take care of this, but she was currently sick and they didn’t want to bother her. So She and Yuno had decided to go to Owen and see if he could help her stop scratching.

“ I know I am, but it just won’t stop itching!” Neva argued as she continued scratching her arms profusely. Normally she’d be wearing her arm length gloves but all they did was irritate her condition. Yuno sighed and shook his head.

“ You’re unbelievable.” He stated as they continued walking through the halls looking for Owen. Neva sighed suddenly.

“ You didn’t have to come with me y’know.” She muttered sheepishly as she decided to stop scratching for a moment.

“ It's the least I could do,” He told her with a small shrug. “ considering this was partially my fault.” He added motioning to her arms, she shook her head dismissing his blame.

“ It's not your fault, how were you supposed to know the bed of plants we landed in were poison oak?” She told him. The two of them had decided to take a mission together since Mimosa was sick and Klaus had taken it upon himself to take care of her. So they were sent out to take care of a ring of bandits that were hiding in a nearby forest, and once they had reached the hiding spot they hid in a small thing of bushes. Unbeknownst to either of them it was full of poison oak, although Neva couldn’t understand why he didn’t have a reaction but she did.

“ I should’ve checked before I-.” He began but was cut off as a woman with long dark hair approached them, she appeared to be looking for something or maybe someone.

“ Excuse me! Hi, sorry to bother you two but I have a question,” the woman started as she continued to look around. “ Have you seen a little old woman running around? She’s about ye big?” She added as she held her hand out to show them the old woman's height. Both teens shook their heads.

“ No, but we’ll be sure to keep a lookout and let you know.” Neva said before she went right back to scratching, the woman raised an eyebrow at her and cocked her head to the side.

“ Are you ok?” She asked with a hint of concern in her voice, her eyes watching Neva’s hands. Neva looked down and nodded.

“ I’ll be fine. I had a run in with some poison oak and we were just looking for Owen to see if he had something I could put on it.” Neva told the young woman nonchalantly, the woman's eyebrow raised slightly higher.

“ Oh don’t worry I can take care of that. Just follow me.” The woman turned on her heel and began to walk down the hall with Neva and Yuno behind her.

“ I thought you were looking for that old woman?” Neva asked as they rounded the corner and walked into a small room. The woman in front of her shrugged.

“ I’ll find hi-i mean, her later. But right now I just want to help you.” The woman turned to smile at Neva before pointing to the only chair in the room. “ Take a seat. Oh by the way,” she added as Yuno went to follow them inside. “ Boys are not allowed.” She pushed his shoulder a bit before closing the door in his shocked face.

“ Sorry about that, but since this room is so small I figured the three of us would barely be able to fit.” She said with a sheepish laugh. “ I’m Aika by the way.” She added, apparently having realized they hadn’t introduced themselves yet.

“ Oh I’m Neva.” Neva introduced herself with a small nod of her head before adding. “ I’d shake your hand, but I don’t feel like giving you the rash too.” Aika nodded in understanding before crouching down and taking hold of Neva’s arm.

“H-Hey, didn’t you hear what I just-.” Neva started to protest before watching as Aika healed the rash on her arm after only holding it for a few seconds, she then moved onto Neva’s other arm and healed that one as well. She couldn’t hide the amazement on her face as she watched the rash completely disappear. “ That’s one amazing recovery spell.” She added in awe before hearing Aika chuckle as she stood up.

“ Thank you! It was nothing really, I’m surprised you didn’t just ask one of the mages in your squad to take care of it.” Aika stated as she dusted off her dress, Neva shrugged as she pulled her gloves out of her bag and put them back over her arms.

“ Ah, well the best recovery mage we have is currently ill so that wasn’t an option. While the others…” Neva trailed off as she tried to search for the proper words. “ Well, let’s just say we don’t get along.” Aika cocked her head to the side again as she looked at Neva.

“ Why’s that? I apologize for prying.” She said with another sheepish laugh before Neva waved the apology away.

“ We just don’t get along due to personal differences. No big deal.” She stated as she went to stand up and dusted off the back of shorts and dress. “ Thank you for your help, you really saved me.” Aika shrugged.

“ It was my pleasure, at least now your boyfriend can stop looking so concerned.” Aika said with a small giggle causing Neva’s face to turn a small tinge of pink at the misunderstanding. ‘Wait. Did she just say he looked concerned?’ Neva hadn’t noticed it on his face, he looked just like he normally did, maybe Aika was seeing things?

“ Oh no, Yuno’s not my boyfriend! We’re just squad mates, nothing more.” Neva said as she waved her hands slightly in front of her to try and clear up the confusion. Aika suddenly had what appeared to be a teasing yet somewhat mischievous smirk on her face.

“ But you want to be.” She told her with a teasing tone before laughing again at Neva’s steadily growing blush. “ Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.” She added in a hushed whisper and winked before opening the door.

“ Try to stay away from the poison oak ok?” Aika told Neva as they walked out of the room, Neva nodded before turning to look at Yuno who was leaning against the wall opposite of them.

“ Will do. Thanks again for this Aika.” Neva said before she and Yuno began to walk away. “ Oh,” she turned to look at Aika. “ I hope you find that old woman you were looking for.” Aika just laughed.

“ Oh don’t worry I will, I always do!” She told her before turning and walking down the hall. “ I hope to see you again soon Neva! It was nice meeting you!”

“ You as well Ms. Aika, please take care.”

I hope you enjoyed this @simpingforthisonedeer ! If not I can always edit this or delete it if I have too but I hope I portrayed Aika correctly 🥺💕! I also want to make this canon for Neva if that’s ok? If not I understand ☺️! I hope you and everyone reading this has a good day~!

[herenortherenearnorfar]

Final graduation ficlet (which got quite long). A-Qing lives (sort of) and channels ghosts while living out her fashionista dreams. Jiang Cheng is identifiable due to his clothing choices. Light violence and zombies. 

The best thing about living in Koi Tower is the clothing. Silk that runs like water between her hands, brocade heavy with embroidery, jewelry that chimes and sings as she moves. She doesn’t feel heat or cold, can’t sense gentle changes in pressure or even most pain. There’s still enough perception in her fingers to map out the bamboo grove and song birds stitched on her favorite dress and feel the whorls of gold and inset jade on her new bracelet. 

After the first impolite insinuation about their friendship Jin Ling stopped buying her gifts more excessive than those he gave to the rest of his friends. Ouyang Zizhen, who can describe the grandeur of Lanling’s markets so clearly she can see the hawkers and jewel-bright fancies in her mind’s eye, has been thoroughly scolded by his father on her behalf so many times that they’ve regretfully halted their shopping trips. 

Wei Wuxian makes up for it. He doesn’t have money of his own, but his husband is rich and lets him do whatever he wants, and what he wants is to spoil A-Qing whenever he’s in town.

He calls her cousin (biao zhi mei, an affection which makes several martial relationships familial and she thinks retroactively enforces at least two adoptions) and takes her places the boys are too scared to go. Good company though they usually are, they’re rich kids to the core. The streets A-Qing grew up on, back alleys and muddy side streets, are too lowly for little princes. They aren’t like Wei-qianbei, who can banter with street walkers and haggle with counterfeiters. His company is a welcome escape from the pompous brats in Koi Tower. Together with Wen Ning they walk the streets, wearing high collars and low hats for disguise. They sniff about the food vendors until oil and salt fill A-Qing’s throat and coat the remnants of her tongue. Wei Wuxian buys her trinkets, little squares of silk and jangling bracelets of gilt and enamel, louder and more delightful than the demure ostentation of the Jin. When she was young and dreamed of being rich she wanted bracelets up to her elbows, not “restraint” or “taste”.

At the end of every outing Wei Wuxian hands her a little parcel. “From your shushu by the water” he says, as if she has any idea who that is. They’re nice gifts through. Scarves and robes in fine cotton and brocade. There’s stitched florals and ribbons. She makes Jin Ling describe them to her and he reluctantly tells her about violet and turquoise geometric patterns, waxed pale into fabric. There’s one overrobe she especially likes— dark blue, Jin Ling says, with a cracking pattern like mud under the sun, like lightning, like the death lines on her own skin. She can feel the stares on her when she wears it.

The old men certainly stare when she slams open the door and begins tapping her way into the conference room, though she can’t tell whether it’s the crackling midnight robe, the green jade pins in her hair, or the fact that she’s here at all that has them so startled. That’ll teach them to try to distract her with poetry and fancies. As soon as the fine cultivator ladies, who normally scorn Koi Tower’s corpse, swept her away, she knew something was wrong. 

It’s bold of them to try to ambush Jin Ling in his own home. They’re going to regret it. 

“Xiao-guniang,” Jin Ling says, sounding relieved. A servant takes her arm and guides her over to the table, and A-Qing doesn’t snap at them. She’s learned to pick her battles. “I was just about to send for you. These kind elders have quite the suggestion for me and I wanted your input on it.”

“Is this really the place for a young... lady?” come the protestation. 

“My shibo thinks highly of her judgement.” Jin Ling says, leaving everyone to put together in their own heads who his shibo is.

That stirs up whispers. It always does. A Sect Leader, almost grown, consulting her? A corpse under the Yiling Patriarch’s protection, a barely civilized street rat. They might have given her Xiao Xingchen’s name (it still hurts to hear it spoken, still scrapes every time someone calls her Xiao Qing, though even Song-daozhang insists he would have wanted her to have it) and a backstory worthy of tears (’she survived Xue Yang!’ Ouyang Zizhen would cry, passionate and sweet, and Jingyi would add a story of her bravery so embroidered it was unrecognizable) but she’s still a parentless urchin. A girl. A dead thing. There are a dozen reasons she shouldn’t be here. 

Jin Ling has the full support of the Jiang and the Lan behind him though, and Nie-zongzhu always compliments her accessories. None of the other, weaker sects can do a thing about it. Politics is a lot like living on the street; the big people make the rules and everyone else puts up with it. The old coots make some noises about propriety, forcing chaperones and moderating the affection A-Qing and her friends can show each other in public, but they can’t get rid of her or mitigate her influence on their young ruler.

At best they can insinuate, and since Jin Ling started making eyes at the visiting cultivator from Dali those insinuations have had increasingly little weight.

What are their words? A-Qing signs, even though she knows perfectly well why they’re ganging up on Jin Ling in a side room. She won it out of Duanmu-zongzhu’s wife, who was sent to distract her. It’s amazing what people will say in the presence of a mute girl-- they think she’s deaf too and talk quite freely. You would think they’d be more careful, since she is, by their own accusation, a conniving abomination, but for all their fear they never quite take her seriously. 

“They had some suggestions about the salt trade.” Jin Ling is doing an admirable job of playing the mature diplomat. “Surely they can explain it better themselves.”

“We merely wished--” one of them starts stammering, and another one takes over. “We thought to inform Jin-zongzhu of the opportunity to centralize control of the salt market. The Jin, Qin, and Lan together hold most of the salt marshes, and Jin-zongzhu’s great-aunt ruling in Meishan mean he would be able to get the western brine wells to cooperate with a taxation pact. It would be very beneficial to both the sects and the merchants!”

“They want to put limits on who can buy and sell salt, and they’re willing to levy a tax to make it worth our while.” She can practically hear Jin Ling’s posture, arms crossed, defensive. “Xiao-guniang, I don’t suppose you have any thoughts on that?”

I’ve walked in salt villages, A-Qing replied, leaning her cane against the table so her hands can move furiously fast. It’s not a good life. Brine and heat. If they could only sell to a few merchants they would be underpaid. No choices.

(A maid helpfully murmurs a translation of her words to the rest of the room. Few people have bothered to learn the language she now uses, the one she pieced together with the help of her friends.)

Jin Ling hums. “That makes sense.”

“There’s no reason to hesitate on the behalf of some peasants,” a very bold voice complains. “Their state won’t be improved by empty sympathy.”

“They’re just boilers, of no concern to you Jin-zongzhu. We treat them well.”

Oh. Oh. 

She was going to hold back, for Jin Ling’s sake, but now she’s angry. Who of you is Hu Anshi? she demands, mouthing out the sounds of the name and punctuating it with the bracketed meaning (beard, safe, stone) over and over until it’s duly translated. 

Reluctantly, one of the many voices in front of her says, “I am, xiaojie.”

Even with her ever sharpening sense (honed by cultivation that she came into late and kicking) it’s hard to differentiate him from the rest of the horde of weakly pulsing qi before her. They all have ghosts attached to them, hovering resentment like a cloud about their heads. Rich men attract desperate hatred better than anyone else. But she thinks she can single out one fuzzy figure with a particularly heavy load of sins and a familiar tinged energy over his shoulder,

A-Qing takes up her bamboo cane and strikes it once on the ground. I talked to your ghosts, she signs with her free hand. They had a lot to say. 

That silences them. 

Jin Ling inhales sharply and moves closer to her side, hand grazing her sleeve in support. When she shakes her head he withdraws, leaving her alone on in the cool air of the Koi Tower, shivering in her fine cotton and silk. Shivering because she’s letting the change come over her, letting the whispering, angry ghosts attached to Hu Anshi’s back have their say. 

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when she took up this route of cultivation. Mediumship is... frowned upon by the sort of people who bear swords and seek immortality. The common people like it though and before she knew Xiao Xingchen, A-Qing made the acquaintance of a number of temple diviners and spirit writers. Some of them even offered her apprenticeships-- blind girls made for good optics. Spirit specialists willing to take on a pickpocket without the slightest inclination towards ghosts were unfortunately untrustworthy by definition. She never took them up on the offers. 

Then she died and, like many of the restless dead, needed a way to communicate. Lan Sizhui played her Inquiry a thousand times in those first weeks, to ask her if she was comfortable, to field questions from the other giggling Lans. Eventually A-Qing memorized the song and began to play it on her own, tapping it out with bamboo against earth and fingers against wood. The spirit language, limited in form and structure, was easy to pick up and didn’t need a tongue or eyes. 

When you played Inquiry, ghosts answered. A-Qing didn’t mention the questions at first, just did her clumsy best to give offerings to those whose names she learned, to give justice to those small inequalities her late night listening uncovered. 

Wei-qianbei, who had what he called a “vested interest” in her wellbeing, learned about it eventually. He was the one who found her in Caiyi town (hidden from Lan and Jin elders alike while some ridiculous politics happened) fighting off possession by the little girl who’d been murdered two doors down a year ago. He was the one who helped her curse the wrongdoer, soothe the restless soul, and settle back into her own cold skin. After that he taught her Inquiry, and how to use the meditations Xiao Xingchen had happily guided her through to solidify her presence and strengthen her energy output. If she was going to get possessed, he suggested, she should be purposeful about it.

He didn’t teach her how to use her corpse strength to drag evildoers into the light. It came naturally enough and only needed a few suggestions from Wen-qianbei and Song-daozhang. 

After that things had sort of... spiralled. By the time she went to join Jin Ling, then Jin-zongzhu, in Lanling a few months later, A-Qing had found herself an avatar of vengeance for any number of unquiet spirits. The living consulted her too, when there was bad luck or poltergeists, hauntings or incomplete burials. 

As it happened, the highest halls of cultivation have hungry ghosts in need of justice too. 

She lived in the north, in a village with no name. A-Qing says as icy incorporeal fingers close around her neck. They were poor and made money by selling salt, because one woman could bring up enough brine in a day to provide a whole family with salt for a year. And it paid. Until one day the merchants came to town with you at their head. 

You have to give Zu’er, the maid who’s translating, credit. Even though the hand language drops lots of in-between words by necessity and requires creative substitutions-- earth for salt, sky for day-- she always picks up on A-Qing’s meaning. And she doesn’t flinch as smoke, hot and roiling, begins to peel off A-Qing, which speaks to her nerve if nothing else.

A-Qing taps her staff again and begins drumming out the song of opening, of offering. 

Under your guidance they wouldn’t pay them enough to buy firewood from the inland where trees grew, or rice from the flood plains that weren’t salted beyond survival. Salt worth a fortune sold for scraps.

So they starved. Working, salt crusted, they hungered and hated you.

Footsteps echo on the cold marble floor.

“Bar the door,” Jin Ling says next to her, mild and spiteful. Whatever spirit he channels in clan politics, it’s a vicious one. “I think everyone should hear this.”

So a woman took salt on her back and went to sell it someplace else. And who did she meet on the road but the merchants? Do you remember what you did?

“She’s a witch and a liar,” someone, maybe even Hu Anshi claims. A-Qing is too deep in to care. The ghost, who came to her instantly when she played Inquiry this afternoon, looking for answers about this purported plot to head a monopoly, is particularly insistent and clever. She’s been following Hu Anshi for a long time, too weak to strike, too smart to get caught by protective charms and spirit dispelling talismans. 

Now she finally has a chance to speak, in a sense of the word.

There is a complication to channeling without a tongue or eyes. She can get around just fine in this body of hers but spirits are rather less experienced. Without Sizhui or another Lan expert most can’t make their wishes known. So A-Qing has to get creative. 

As much as she hates to admit it, she knows who she learned this mean showsmanship from. Three years with Xue Yang teaches you a lot about drama. 

Cane held out like a divining sword, she advances, letting the spirit half sunk in her flesh and a faint memory of the room’s layout guide her around the table towards the bundle of quaking men. Like cowards, they scatter before her, not even trying to fight back (just as well; she can’t be killed but a sword in the stomach doesn’t make anyone happy). The ghost over her shoulder knows which target she wants to pick and swings about as frightened bodies swirl around her. Hu Anshi might be able to dodge but he can’t hide, soon she has him cornered. 

His friends abandon him quickly, fleeing to the edges of the room as she advances. When her bamboo strikes his shaking legs, she gives in and lets the ghost have its way. 

The problem with possession is that you have very little control. Locked away in the cool dark of her own flesh, A-Qing can’t even see what’s happening. Jin Ling is there, though, with his Clarity Bell, so she’s comfortable sitting back. 

She gave the ghost pretty clear directions; no permanent damage, show how you died. At worst she’ll choke him for a bit before Jin Ling snaps her out of it. 

For the sake of her friend, A-Qing tries to be subtle about her skills. Jin Ling helped her form her sign language, stuck with her even in the earliest days when the other frightened juniors were suggesting they report her to the Chief Cultivator, sent her long letters that Lan Jingyi would sprint down from Gusu to read out loud to her. He brought her here, gave her pretty dresses, listened when she talked about hungry children and towns that cultivators never visit. Listened when she talked about frightened female ghosts, begging for their lives, and murdered servants who have never gotten justice. Even his dog has been kind to her, has guided her through gardens and chased away bullies while Jin Ling sat in stuffy rooms doing grownup work. In deference to his family and responsibilities she doesn’t swear even when people act like bastards, she doesn’t run, she doesn’t summon evil spirits indoors without cause. 

Sometimes she wonders how long their friendship (bound by oaths though it is) will last. In the three years they’ve known each other he’s gotten tall and deep-voiced, while she’s stayed the same. By the calendar she’s a decade older than him but she’ll never be fully grown. A-Qing is a creature of boundaries, not a girl and not a woman, not living and not dead. Not a destitute orphan anymore but not made for places like this. 

More accurately, places like this aren’t made for her. It’s a shame because they clearly need her badly. Who else will give the ghosts and forgotten people a voice? 

When the Clarity Bell finally shakes the ghost out of her body, she’s throttling a man with exquisite delicacy, holding his warm and moving throat like it’s the finest china ware. This is how she died, A-Qing thinks. You strangled her and left her body by the roadside. You took her salt and sold it and her family starved. 

There’s a heavy hand on her shoulder. “That’s quite enough, I think.” says Jiang-zongzhu, whose voice she bothers to remember.

A-Qing lets the man fall to the floor, gasping even though she barely choked him. 

“I told you all to stop talking about your salt plot,” Jiang-zongzhu is shouting above her. “Now you’ve tried to convince Jin-zongzhu alone to go along with your little price fixing scheme? Pathetic. I’ve heard enough of it. Get out. Don’t ever bring it up again.”

There’s a desperate skittering that A-Qing barely notices in the post-possession fog. She assumes the room clears. 

“We’ll send the accusations of foul play to the local authorities?” When faced with his uncle Jin Ling always phrases orders as questions. 

“A good idea,” Jiang-zongzhu agrees. “Send some cultivators too-- it’s outside of our wheelhouse but there’s bound to be some resentment built up if a merchant syndicate has been running wild through the marshes. Where did you say they were active, Xiao-guniang?”

He’s always polite to her. At first it was a disgusted sort of politeness, a politeness that suggested that she didn’t belong anywhere near his precious nephew. Over time it’s mellowed into frosty gentility and the occasional hand on her arm when she’s lost. 

Qing province? she shrugs. South Bo Sea coast.

Signing proper nouns is like playing charades. For qing she points to herself (the words are close enough in pronounciation) for bo she taps her staff. It must make sense though because Jiang-zongzhu doesn’t even wait for Jin Ling’s swift interpretation. “That’s closest to Laoling. Qin Cangye has had a lot on his plate lately. Best to send a letter and some of your men.”

“I guess I should go do that. And I have to reassure the sect leaders I’m not doing demonic cultivation again.” A-Qing frowns and Jin Ling hastily amends, “You did great though.”

“Great is pushing it,” Jiang-zongzhu snaps. “You’re getting a reputation.” 

Jin Ling, whose voice is already by the door, isn’t impressed. “They can get over themselves.”

Then it’s just her and Jiang-zongzhu in the room. One heartbeat, one steady warm core. A-Qing turns to go, only to be caught by the arm. 

“Thank you.” Jiang-zongzhu says slowly. “You’ve been a good friend to him.”

A-Qing remembers the courtyard with the lotus pond, where she and Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi swore to be siblings in the eyes of the gods. (Though they love their other friends, they were excluded for practical reasons. Sizhui is already related to all of them and needed no further binding. Zizhen is a little in love with everyone and Jin Ling claims it’s bad form to sleep with sworn siblings, so for them to keep their options open he had to be excepted.) It’s a secret oath; Jin Ling doesn’t need the political complication of open sworn brotherhood. It’s still binding. 

I try.

Jiang-zongzhu always smells like thunderstorms when he’s stressed. Right now all she can smell is the cloying Jin incense and a sweetness of lotuses. “Keep trying. And don’t be afraid to send for me again if you hear they’re ganging up on him.”

As he lets go of her her hand brushes his trailing sleeve. In an instant her fingers graze over silk brocade and fine patterned cotton. The texture is familiar and she instinctively grabs the fabric to feel the delicate embroidery and the stiff, thick woven cotton that still smells ever so slightly of wax. She can imagine the patterns inked on, maybe lotuses? Greenery? The colors are definitely shades of purple, blue and green. 

A-Qing smiles as Jiang-zongzhu pulls away and stalks out. 

The best thing about Koi Tower is the clothing, which sits against her skin and reminds her of the people who have taken her in. 

The second best thing is getting to terrorize entitled rich people.