geropuna

[sprintingficcommentator]

The last sentence brings me so much vindictive joy, FINALLY SOMEONE ADRESSES THAT PARTICULAR ISSUE IN THE STORY AT LONG LAST

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

Merlin

The Walls of Camelot by spqr

"Camelot will fall tomorrow,” Arthur says, on the first day of the eighth month of the siege.

DC

IRIS Log #1548 by deadchannelradio

Disclaimer From Your Friendly Neighborhood Oracle:

The following is a transcript of Patrol Communications Audio written by state of the art transcription technology, IRIS (Interpretation of Recorded Intelligence Software). IRIS was created to provide easily searchable records, automatically, and eliminate the need to transcribe each patrol audio log manually. That being said, IRIS is still experimental, and may not always be entirely accurate. - (01:25) Red Hood: (Mild static) (Out of breath, slurred) You motherfuckers. Put some fuckin-

(01:25) Batman: (Shaking) Red Hood-

(01:25) Red Hood: Shut up. Put some fucking respect. On my name. Start fucking copying me. I just got thrown fucking. Um. 40 feet. Into a fucking uh. What's it. Ditch. I'm still fucking conscious.

(01:25) Batman: Red Hood, do not move, we're en route-

(01:25) Red Hood: What'll I win if I stand up.

(01:25) Batman: (Loud) Do not stand up.

we shall be free; we shall find peace by mediant

Clark has accepted what it means to be Lex's prisoner - the pain of the Green, the experiments, the hands on it. The long years buried in its containment cell, let out only to act as Lex's weapon, as Lex's tool. It had fought back at first, but years have ground it down and away to almost nothing.

Then Lex hands it a baby. And Clark realizes that while it may have hurt humans, and lied about what it is, and it may deserve to be locked away - Kon deserves to be free.

Untamed

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (+ podfic)

Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”

“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”

“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.

-- In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's... surprisingly effective.

Clone Wars

patron saint by spqr (+ podfic)

Funerary practices? Master Ti writes back. I’m not sure what you mean, Master Kenobi. Used biomass is the property of Kamino and thus is recycled into the cloning process.

So that’s how the revolution begins—with dead brothers, but not the way you might expect.

Miraculous Ladybug

drowning (in plain sight) by buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

[mdzs-fics]

ridiculous future bullshit by sami

Future Fic 19 works 61K words

While rereading through works related to Author sami's And Time Is But A Paper Moon, reviewed here and here and here, I remembered reading the ridiculous future bullshit series. Through 19 short works of fiction, Author sami creates a reasonable facsimile of what the future looks like if six Immortals survive into the 21st century, forming the Five Nations.

Note: Author sami tells us "So this is the actual first-ish entry in the ridiculous future bullshit series, which of course means it is still the purest trash, it's bullshit and any complaints will still be met with you were warned."

Let's take a quick look at a few of the tales.

Now Showing: Hanguang-Jun And The Yiling Patriarch

Wei Wuxian rubs his nose. "Look, I'm guessing you're okay with your movie being, like… complete bullshit, right?"

"They are okay with that. They are so very fucking okay with that," Steve snaps.

"Okay." Wei Wuxian grins, and Dennis suddenly absolutely believes that he is talking to a trickster god. "You don't want to put Sandu Shengshou in this movie, trust me. And if you make this about sh- Jiang Yanli's actual marriage, then she might cry, and then Sandu Shengshou and I will have to raze this place to the fucking ground and salt the earth on which it stood, nobody wants that kind of hassle. But you can have a poor girl named Mo Fan - she has a terrible family, make it a bit like Cinderella, that was an okay movie."

Wei Wuxian has seen Cinderella.

Dennis notices that a sparkly princess crown has fallen out of Wei Wuxian's shopping bags.

"Mo Fan," he croaks. "Got it. Cinderella."

Wei Wuxian nods earnestly. "And a handsome prince named Jin Guangyao meets her and falls in love with her. He's in town to… try and help the villagers rebuild after the famine that drew the monsters there," he says. "Because he's just a really good guy. You can say it sends messages about how not all heroes are stabby fighters."

In which an animated movie Hanguang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch is discussed with its Producer while the poor, ignored Five Nations consultant recognizes the two Immortals in the Producer's office.

Let's just say the original premise featuring "the story of Hanguang-Jun, a noble prince, who defeats the monsters terrorising the city of Yiling with the help of the grizzled old Yiling Patriarch, and in the process falls in love with a local maiden, Princess Lotus Blossom." is not appreciated.

Flick of the Wrist

Dernier is famous. He's been on television in sixteen countries. She's bound to be impressed.

He skips actually attending the afternoon session in favour of writing and then recording a long YouTube video about the Symposium. He titles it Inside the Top Secret Medical Conference You've Never Heard Of, and uploads it with a smirk. That'll show them for not actually inviting him.

In which a Famous Medical Researcher attends a Symposium held by Wen Qing. Once.

Lan Zhan's University Days (JAFFY)

Ziyuan gives him a look. "Last I checked, you weren't in charge of the computer science department, shushu, and this is what I have to do if I want to pass."

Jiang Ying scowls. "We'll see about that," he says darkly. He leaves the room briefly and comes back with a laptop of his own. It looks like it was probably sleek and expensive once, but now it's covered with glitter stickers. He sets it on the table and turns it on; when he clears away the windows he did have up, Jordan thinks she sees a browser tab open to YouTube frozen on a still frame of a Hanguang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch fanvid.

Jiang Ying really seems to like that movie. He wears Hanguang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch t-shirts at least once a week.

"You run Suibian?" Peter, one of the other students, sounds impressed. Jordan has heard of it - it's an open-source operating system, which is apparently important. Her sister is Very Into Computers, and talks about it a lot, apparently it's way better than other operating systems. Ava keeps trying to get Jordan to let her install it on her computer.

"I wrote Suibian," Jiang Ying says absently, typing rapidly.

"Holy shit," Peter breathes. "You're Axian?" He pronounces it Axe-ian.

"A-Xian," Jiang Ying corrects, still typing. "But you can't call me that, stick to Jiang Ying. I wrote it for my brother and sister, they needed something with actual security for their… work."

"Why does the source code say my sword is always at your service?" Peter asks eagerly. "Everyone has so many theories about that. Do you play D&D?"

"I don't. It says that because for them, it is. Hush now, do your work, I'm busy," Jiang Ying says, tossing a smile over his shoulder. Text is scrolling rapidly through several terminal windows.

In which Lan Zhan goes to veterinary school and the entire class is adopted for the semester after failing their first exam because Students Were Distracted.

Characters encountered here are met again and again in other tales. Some characters become more important than others.

And there are kittens.

The stories are not canon and are definitely not to be taken too seriously. Still … they are an exceptionally enjoyable read.

And yes, I enjoy YouTube "The Untamed" themed crack videos as well.

[loosingmoreletters]

would you happen to have any recs for gender fuckery fic featuring lwj rather than wwx?

Not as much because I tend to prefer to toss the genderqueer experience at WWX, but I do have some lovely queer LWJ fic recs, be that as a trans, gender swap or just something undefinable.

you can always find me here by ScarlettStorm

Wei Wuxian doesn’t know how they got here sometimes.

Okay, like, yes, she knows how they got here (this village, this town, this forest, this city), and she knows how they got here (riding on a horrible donkey she’s decided she can’t bear to part with, Lan Zhan walking beside her leading said donkey by the reins, because of course Wei Wuxian’s donkey likes Lan Zhan more than her. She can’t blame Lil’ Apple! She also likes Lan Zhan more than she likes herself!), but it’s how she got here in the larger metaphysical sense that she doesn’t understand. There were thirteen years where she wasn’t here, after all, and very many places in the past year where she could have ended up not here again, but somehow she’s here, and—miracle of miracles—so is Lan Zhan.

Really, it’s the Lan Zhan part that she still struggles to understand.

Or: The inevitable post-canon get together... But make it extra queer lesbians.

brittle bones by lithali

Wei Wuxian dies in Xuanwu's Cave.

That changes things.

mirror, mirror by hauntedotamatone

Some people take him at his word, believing that they must have heard wrong about the child Jiang Fengmian had taken in all those years ago. They haven’t exactly heard wrong, but he isn’t lying either.

The first time Jiang-shushu had introduced him as the son of Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren, he had thought his face would split from the force of his smile. No one had argued with the sect leader, but Wei Wuxian is not a sect leader, and those of Gusu Lan do not seem to take kindly to any sort of correction. At least, if their esteemed teacher and acting sect leader is anything to go by.

or; Wei Wuxian attempts to sneak into the Cloud Recesses for a very different reason.

The Naming of Small Things by BromeliadDreams

Lan Wangji has known all his life that he is destined for some book-lined office, for publication credits and funding awards, the grown-up versions of school prizes for academic achievement. The prospect has, for the most part, been comforting. But as the academic year wears on, he finds his work increasingly taking a backseat to Wen Qing's plans to unseat, or at least unsettle, their Head of Faculty, and Lan Wangji begins to look beyond the library walls. (Any influence from local chaos gremlin Wei Wuxian will not be acknowledged at this time, thank you very much.)

Or: maybe the real academic networking was all the groupchats we were added to along the way.

A Promise Lives Within You Now by ElvenQueens

When Lan Wangji left the cave of the Xuanwu of slaughter and returned to her sect, she knew that the world as she knew it had come to a breaking point, she just didn't know the changes it would entail. When she left the Xuanwu cave, she and Wei Ying were still girls, but in the face of war and the devastation and destruction it wrought, they had been forced to grow up faster than they should and take on roles earlier than they had planned. If there is one thing these lessons have taught her, it is that sometimes one needs to stop and offer a helping hand.

conspecific sisters we by wildwestwind

Lan Wangji grows up trans in a society which has no words for her experiences.

a heroine that is called devil by SpeedingCheetah

The Yiling Patriarch was a woman, and she bared her teeth to every man to come and beg for her help in the midst of a campaign deigned to fail. Coming to the war with skin exposed and her neck open for any blade to cut, the matriarch asked for one thing for her payment of the war: the blood of an heir written across her chest as a promise.

(or: two cultivators come to face one another under a blood red moon, in the middle of the war of their lifetimes.)

The Amber Hairpin by may10baby

Lan Zhan took a moment to unwrap the delicate paper patterned with clouds. Inside was a silver hairpin, an amber stone nestled in the end, limbs of silver delicately wrapped around it, etched in a floral design. It was beautiful and very expensive for a servant’s son. She looked up at Wei Ying in question, who blushed.

“When I wrote to my parents about jiejie, I mentioned how pretty jiejie’s eyes were, so my parents sent back the amber? Apparently, they were offered it as a gift for helping with a night hunt years ago and the uncle and auntie in the night market offered to make it into a hairpin if I spent the past few weeks helping out at the store and-”

Lan Zhan calmly slipped the hairpin into her hair, before grabbing Wei Ying by the arm and yanking him inside the Jingshi.

fateful shipwreck, suspended time by dottie_dramas (dottie_wan_kenobi)

Once, when Lan Wangji is thirteen years old, he finds himself in his brother’s office.

It’s not a particularly comfortable place for Lan Wangji, but it’s better than most. On this day, it provides what Lan Wangji needs—privacy. Structure. And most importantly, his brother.

“Wangji, you don’t have to ask for a formal meeting just to see me,” Xiongzhang says, both amused and curious as Lan Wangji kneels down in front of him. Holding his brush steady, Lan Xichen smiles kindly. “I am at my didi’s disposal whenever he should have need of me.”

---

3 moments in Lan Wangji's queer journey; coming out, falling in love, and accepting a part of himself

This is for my mother, and this is for me by LuxRoyalty (luxroyalty)

Rules are important, and you should listen to them, but somethings are more important still,” Madam Lan easily said, like it wasn’t blasphemy against the Wall of Discipline that her uncle had been careful to teach her. “I want you to be safe, A-Zhan, above everything else. Do you understand?”

She thought about it, forehead creasing, and eventually shook her head. “No.” she told her, and her mother didn’t scold her like some of her teachers did.

“That’s alright,” her mother softly said, “you can learn. Just you, A-Huan won’t need to understand this, and you can’t tell him, or anyone else.”

“Or I won’t be safe?” she asked, trying to figure out the path of logic.

Madam Lan smiled gently, “close. Sometimes, last measures need to be secret to work the best.”

Lan Zhan is born female. This changes things, but more things stay the same.

flowers from ash by hauntedotamatone

There is the matter of a certain individual.” “That Wei Ying from YunmengJiang.”

A protracted Sunshot campaign spanning six years ends in a victory hardly worth the cost. With the former Five Great Sects whittled down to three, two of which have been devastated, the Jin Sect seeks to hang itself up in the place of the sun.

The first step in their climb to power is to get the woman who killed Wen Ruohan from within his own palace well out of the way. Lan Zhan is not someone who schemes, but she cannot allow Wei Ying to meet such a fate.

That she has loved her since they were fifteen is secondary.

[keriarentikai]

Don’t Let Children Name Dogs

I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help it.

Here is what a (non-runt, healthy and well taken care of) Maltese puppy looks like (not my picture, found it on Pinterest):

 and PLEASE go watch this video of Maltese puppies I’m dying they’re so cute

MDZS mini fic, rated G, 1.1k words

It started with a noise.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji heard a soft sob coming from an alleyway as they walked through a poorer neighbourhood of Caiyi. Wei Wuxian’s eyes turned immediately towards it, and Lan Wangji’s turned immediately towards Wei Wuxian. He could never pass a street child without talking to them, and Lan Wangji had grown accustomed to being side-tracked from night hunts to help whatever child Wei Wuxian noticed.

When they turned into the alley, sure enough, they saw a small boy kneeling on the ground. He looked not more than six or seven years old, they knew but malnutrition and hard years could make children look older or younger than they really were. He didn’t look severely malnourished – just dirty and very, very sad. He was clutching something in his hands.

“Are you okay?” Wei Wuxian asked, kneeling down beside him.

“Father says I can’t keep him, that he’s going to die,” the boy sobbed. Wei Wuxian was very happy to know that the boy did indeed have a father.

“Does your father know where you are?” Wei Wuxian asked him.

“No, I ran away. He was going to take Snowy away,” the boy answered, bringing his hands closer to his chest.

“Snowy?”

“That’s his nickname,” the boy told Wei Wuxian seriously. “His real name is Snowball.”

“What’s your name?”

“A Chen,”

“Let’s get you home, A Chen,” Wei Wuxian said. “I’m sure your father is very worried about you.”

“No! I’m not going back! I don’t want Snowy to die!”

Wei Wuxian sighed. This was a much better situation than he had been expecting, but was still not going to be easy to deal with, it seemed. He looked at the boy’s hands and could see some flashes of white against his chest.

“Let’s see how Snowy’s doing, then.” Wei Wuxian gestured for A Chen to let him see what was in his hands.

Cautiously, the boy lowered his hands from where they were cupping Snowy against his chest. Wei Wuxian continued to see white but couldn’t quite make out much else. Fur, certainly. Very slight rhythmic movements that indicated breathing. It fit fairly neatly into his hands.

“What... what is it?” Wei Wuxian asked A Chen. His first guess was maybe a mouse. Some kind of mole? Quite likely in the rodent family, at least.

“He’s a puppy,” A Chen said.

“A puppy?” Wei Wuxian looked at it again. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” A Chen replied, stung. “Don’t you know what dogs look like?”

Wei Wuxian did know what dogs looked like. He had been bitten by a few and run away from many more.

This... did not seem to be the same thing. Now that he was looking, he could see a few limbs folded into the curved body, and he could see a little black nose on what barely counted as a snout. Its eyes were closed and it didn’t seem to be aware of the voices above it.

A Chen had used the time Wei Wuxian was staring at Snowy to take a better look at him and Lan Wangji, who was standing patiently a few steps away. He had tensed when the boy revealed it was a dog, but Wei Wuxian’s lack of reaction had kept him still.

“Are you cultivators?” A Chen asked. “You are, aren’t you? Oh, please, I know you can save Snowy!”

“I...” Wei Wuxian stammered out.

“Please,” A Chen looked into Wei Wuxian’s eyes, his tears flowing freely. “I’ll be so good. I promise I’ll listen to everything mother and father say. Please save him.”

Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch, was a strong and fierce man, but not strong enough to resist that.

“I don’t know if I can. But I’ll look,” he sighed.

A Chen held his handful out. Wei Wuxian expected to be frightened to reach his hand out to the small curl of fur, but the thing still looked so unlike a dog to him that he found himself petting it softly. The softness of the fur and the warmth radiating from the skin reminded him of a bunny.

“He was the smallest in the litter?” Wei Wuxian asked, after briefly getting a sense of the spirit of the... thing. The boy nodded. “He’s very little, and not very strong. He still needs his mother to take care of him.”

“She’s gone,” A Chen said. Wei Wuxian didn’t know if he meant that she had died, or if she had been sold or given away. It didn’t really matter.

“He needs someone to take very, very good care of him. Even then, I don’t know if...” Wei Wuxian trailed off.

“Please?” A Chen asked.

“Please what?” Wei Wuxian was puzzled. He had already told the boy what he could.

“Please take very, very good care of him,” A Chen said, and extended his hands towards Wei Wuxian. “Father won’t let me, and I know you can make him better. I love him so much. Promise me you’ll take care of him,” the boy sobbed.

Mechanically, as if some external force had taken control of his body, Wei Wuxian cupped his hands in front of him and let A Chen transfer Snowy from his own. The puppy didn’t wake.

A Chen stood and ran away, his loud weeping audible well into the distance.

“I’ll make sure he gets to his father,” Lan Wangji told Wei Wuxian before looking at him with eyes full of pity and something else too, before following swiftly after A Chen.

Wei Wuxian didn’t need both hands to hold Snowy. He fit in just one, and his weight was almost negligible. His little, warm body breathed rapidly and trembled against Wei Wuxian’s skin, still deeply unconscious. Asleep? Could puppies sleep that hard? How in the world was Wei Wuxian supposed to know?

Snowy. What a dumb name. He definitely couldn’t keep calling him Snowy. Well, maybe just long enough for him to find someone else to deal with this... thing. Was it really a dog? It was so small. So small and utterly, utterly helpless.

Suddenly, it moved. The tiniest movement, just a twitch. A twitch and a little noise. Without opening its eyes, it wriggled just a little bit, settling itself more comfortably in Wei Wuxian’s palm.

Wei Wuxian also made a little noise, and Lan Wangji returned a little while later, A Chen safely back home, to find Wei Wuxian still kneeling in the alleyway, running one finger along Snowy’s back as he slept peacefully.

Lan Wangji sighed. Wei Wuxian would be breaking yet another rule.

[wangxianficrecs]

Fic Finder

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1.  Hi, I'm looking for an Untamed fic, maybe you'll be able to help. It's a canon divergence AU in which WWX doesn't lose his core, Jiang Fengmian lives and it's implied that his core was transferred to JC (heavily implied; JFM retires as the Sect Leader after that). This is absolutely not the most important part of this fic but it's a paragraph that I've got stuck in my head and now I'm searching for the rest @_@ Thanks in advance! ~ @otemporaetmores

FOUND! by @notsobabblespace, who was reminded of  I’m aching and I know you are too by edenwolfie (part 3 in series, M, 23k, wangxian)

FOUND!  by @jim-is-spocks-thyla, who suggests ❤️ to arrive late is better than not to arrive at all by Moominmammashandbag (M, 35k, wangxian) [ETA:  Oops, not this one.  JFM has no core, but he didn’t give it to JC]

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2.  Hi Mojo! I’m in need of you/your followers help in finding a fic that I read a little while ago. It was a fic where Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi lived together in Cloud Recesses and their children were Sizhui and an OOC that was younger than him. I remember SiZhui faced a lot of criticism for not being the chief cultivator’s real child? And they were happy he had a younger sibling that would be sect leader in the future because he was blood. Come to think of it, this is probably an ABO fic too. Thanks for your time 💜

FOUND! @andidontmeanto believes this is Blue Blood by PotterheadAvengerDemigod (T, 91k, wangxian, my post)

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3.  Aksks it's like 3 am but I just remembered a fic and I can't find it?? I'd really, really appreciate your help. It was a wangxian fic, maybe a oneshot idk, and lwj was kind of a nerd and wwx a badboy? So basically lwj has a massive crush on him and dresses up like wwx etc. (i think he even got an undercut) and after a party they sleep with each other at lwj's place?

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4.  i’m looking for a fic set in the where lwj’s mother killed his father? i don’t think that was a main plot point but it did show up in his backstory - any idea what this might be? ~ @thehype

FOUND!  @rentslirott thinks this could be ❤️the best of you by sysrae (E, 42k, wangxian, my post)

FOUND!  @castaways-logbook offers  The Right to Care by travelingneuritis (E, 39k, wangxian, WIP)

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5.  ... same as #6 ...

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6.  Hello friend, sorry for the inconvenience but I wanted to see if you could please find me a fic that I lost but I only remember more or less the final part, it goes more or less like this, lan zhan and wei ying are kidnapped by jin guangyao and lock them up if not I'm wrong in some cells next to lan xichen after the fights jin guangyao dies but lan xichen did know how bad jin guangyao had done and he didn't care and then to get revenge he wants to kill wei ying but lan zhan kills him and sizhui gets scared It was more or less like that, please help me ~ @isa0123lol

FOUND!  by @wangxiansfics who says that tragically it’s no longer available, but @dulachodladh found it on WaybackMachine here: Thread and Needle by haysel (M, 86k, wangxian)

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7.  Hi, Mojo! I'm glad that you're back but I hope you enjoyed your time off tumblr! Can you and/or your followers help me find a fic? I think the summary was talking about wwx and somehow they were asking mingjue for help since he's the only one who can help. The summary was in italics and it's a dialogue from some guy? And a shorter summary below. Sadly this is the only thing I can remember but I hope you can still help me

FOUND!  @alwayswenning suggests love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, wangxian, has it’s own fanfic here, I just finished this last night!, my bookmark)

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8.  Sorry to bombard you as soon as you're back, but this one's driving me crazy--a modern AU where they met online. WWX thinks LWJ is an old man from how he talks. I don't remember much except the excerpt made it seem like he still was amused by/enjoyed talking to him, and Wen Qing was telling him it was a bad idea and to stop. It's not How to Fall In Love With a Catfish, tho that one is brilliant! (Also any top notch identity porn would be great) Hope your break was restful, you deserve it! Thanks

Here’s my #identity porn tag, but I’m not sure about this exact story.

I'm the anon for #8 on the fic finder. Though I'm excited to read it, the suggested fic isn't the one I was looking for. I swear I thought I saw it on here around a month ago or slightly more, but searches have failed me.

FOUND!  Rating: General Audiences by Mishaa (T, 18k, wangxian WIP) -  mysterious author LWJ (speculated to be an old man because of his formality) and infamous artist WWX paired up for an Untamed Big Bang (in an AU where JGY was the series’ antiheroic protagonist; this fic was written before the release of CQL.)

FOUND?  could you be looking for  Something Real by Latios (G, 5k, wangxian, my post) - wwx thinks lwj is an old man, but there’s no WQ.  There are many pictures of bunnies.

SIMILAR! @emilysidhe thought of ID Bro Saga by Bowandtie (T, 39k, wangxian)

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9.  Hey, how are you? Could you help me please? I've read 3 fanfics once, but I can't find them anymore. 1 - Nanny Problem, Wei is going to be the babysitter of A-Yuan, he is an omega and Lan is an alpha. 2 - Doctor Perfect, Yibo is an omega nurse and Xiao is an alpha doctor. 3 - The Baby of my Omega, Yibo is omega and Xiao is alpha, both of them are bodyguards, but Yibo has to protect Xiao in the beginning. I think they were at ao3, but I really can't find them. Can you help me please? Thank you!! ~ @weallmad

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10.  Hi! Im happy you’re back. I hope you had a good break. I missed your recommendations, but at the same time i got a break from fics and actually studied to my tests haha.  [Ah!  I’m glad to hear your time was spent productively!]  I’m looking for a fic like Linger in the Sun by etymologyplayground. In the fic im looking for wangxian slowly lose their senses instead of all of them at once. Like they lose their hearing, then touch, sight etc, They can’t see each other or hear each other. I’m sorry i can’t explain very well.

FOUND?  Could you be thinking of  ❤️shadows in the sun rise by Yuu_chi (E, 25k, wangxian)?  Only lwj losese his senses one by one in this one, though.

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11.  heyyy im trying to find this fic where wwx died the first time he was thrown in to the burial mounds then 10 years later he gets resurrected or something. I can't find it on AO3 and it's been bugging me for days. Thank you!

FOUND!  Well, @moku-youbi offers both of these as possibilities:

Did I Not Explain Why the Sunset Turns Red? by 3988Akasha (E, 100k, wangxian)

we're starting at the end by Miss_Enthusiasimal (M, 95k, wangxian)

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12.  Hi I am looking for a fic where wwx is a witch (/mage?) in a world where magic is being persecuted (especially in Gusu) except for Yunmeng/Lanling I think but they're still frowned upon nonetheless. Then after accidentally hurting Shijie, wwx runs away, and ends up hiding in Gusu pretending to be a servant to lwj (lwj is a prince, lxc is the emperor) but lwj actually knows of his identity and tries not-so-discreetly to protect him from being caught. Thanks!

FOUND! by @bibliobasilisk who gives us Witchfinder by misbehavingvigilante (E, 86k, wangxian)

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13.  Hi! Firstly, I'm glad to see you're back, and I hope your break was a good one! I'm trying to find a LWJ/WWX story that I had planned to read and ending up losing before I could. It was set in the immediate aftermath of the 33 lashes, LWJ is in the Jingshi recovering when a healer(?) discovers he's pregnant (by WWX). It may have been a/b/o verse, but I'm not 100% on that. Part of the story was a flashback to when WWX was still alive. Thank you!

FOUND!  by nonny themself.  It’s Unexpected Surprise by Glucose_Gremlin (E, 4k, wangxian)

SIMILAR! @mondelgel suggests my heart is kept as pure as ice in a jade vase/一片冰心在玉壶 by Daledesu (M, 21k, wangxian, WIP)

SIMILAR! from @impending-cuttlefish:  something new, something white, something blue by ariskamalt (E, 140k, wangxian, WIP)

~*~

14.  I'm trying to find this one fic where Jin Ling finds this diary that Wei Ying wrote as the Yiling Patriarch that basically reveals everything, including the golden core reveal and it even has training tips that helps Jon Ling improve. When Wei Ying comes back, he tries everything to keep him there because he is THE best uncle now. I need to find it because it is a N E E D.

FOUND? by @theladypeartree who says, “The Truth (Untold) is jl reading jyl's journals, not wwx's though. And mordant is jl returning wwx's journals that he found, not grew up with. Neither fit #14 properly, but I seriously could not find anything closer after two solid days of searching. Good luck!“

The Truth (Untold) by anxiouswreck0_0 (g, 3k, wangxian, jin ling & wei wuxian)

or this one on ffn:

mordant by tennisnotensai (M, 18k, wangxian, here’s the link for mobile)

~*~

15.  I have heard tell of a Sizhui/Jingyi fic where the boys end up going to Wangxian for advice about how to be intimate. Can you help me find it?

FOUND!  @manaika-chan says this one is On Advisement by LaMachina17 (M, 19k, wangxian, zhuiling, chengyi)

~*~

16.  nm

~*~

17.  Hi! Sorry, do you happen to know that nsfw fic where wwx is still studying in the cloud recesses and he’s reading a novel (im not sure if it was from nhs) that features a cultivator couple and there’s a scene in the book where the woman was pegging her husband? Basically wwx got curious about this and tried fingering himself. I remember he was hiding in the back mountains and then lwj eventually caught him

FOUND?  Could you be thinking of  Deep in the Woods by malkinmalkout (E, 5k, wangxian, my post)?

~*~

18.  Ahhh I'm going crazy trying to think of a fic that I've read where Lan Zhan killed Wen Chao in a locker room and nie huaisang stood guard outside the door! Then lan zhan went to lan huan and said I killed someone and he said did they deserve it? Then it's fine. And I can't remember the name of the fic! Have you heard of it? ~ @uchihaautumn

FOUND! @artemisisdiana offers So Full Of Love (Wouldn't Know Where to Start) by witchupbitch (M, 54k, wangxian, WIP)

~*~

19.  Hi, I was wondering if you could help me find a fic. I read it a while ago and I don't really remember all the details but it was a modern au where Lan Wangji was a police officer in this small town and Wei Wuxian comes back after years, having left the town due to some stuff. Thank you in advance.

Btw love your blog. I live for your fic recs.  [Thank you!]

FOUND?  Could you be looking for medium blues by dark_and_terrible (E,193k,  wangxian)?  It appears to be taken down atm, but it might come back (it’s done it before).

FOUND! by @grannyweatherwaxshat who offers When a Bird Flies, It Leaves Feathers by Bem_Kofi (not rated, 75k, wangxian)

~*~

20.  Hi mojo!! First of all I luv your blog Thank you so much for all those ficrecs.  [You’re welcome!]  Actually I’m looking for a fic I read months ago. I probably found the fic from your blog. But I can’t seem to find it now 😢 it was a modern au wangxian fic (inspired by call me by ur name?) wwx was like 5 years older than lwj. (And lwj was like 16?) Wwx lives in another city but he spent around a year in cloud recesses with lwj in the past. And wwx yanli and jc visits cloud recesses again and wangxian gets 2gether

~*~

[My ko-fi.]

[ibijau]

Here's a prompt: Lan Xichen somehow dies while in seclusion—or at least that's what the rumors say—and Nie Huaisang deals with the consequences. And heartbreak. As the saying goes, you don't realize how much you love someone until they're gone.

Okay, if that sort of plot interests you, do yourself a favour and check Between the Shadow and the Soul which is exactly that. It's an amazing xisang fic, I cannot recommend it warmly enough!

And now:

Warning in this fic for a lot of references to suicide and depression

It struck Nie Huaisang as interesting that he felt so little about the whole thing. His reaction upon learning the news had been first to dismiss it as a joke in poor taste. Once it had been confirmed, and his presence had been required, he'd been too busy planning his trip to give it much thought. Then he'd arrived in the Cloud Recesses, just in time for the funeral, and gone through the motions of what was expected of him. At most he'd felt mildly when asked to keep vigil, as if there was still any connection between them. He'd only agreed for the sake of appearances, refused to look at the body, and gave his seat to the next mourner as soon as was polite.

The ceremony itself was conducted to perfection, as could be expected of the Lans. Every word was said the right way, every gesture graceful. It was almost a beautiful thing to behold, Nie Huaisang distantly thought. Lan Qiren's monotone voice was better suited for such events than for teaching, certainly. And Lan Wangji had always looked his best when in the throes of loss and despair. Sadness just became those Lans a little too well, as if they'd been born for tragedy.

Perhaps they were.

Nie Huaisang did not dwell on the subject, and allowed time to pass him by until at last the ceremony was entirely over. He would have gone home right then if he could have, his duty accomplished, but it would have been noticed and discussed. Nie Huaisang did not want to get mixed up in the gossip that was sure to spread around after this.

“Did they tell anyone what he died of?” Sect Leader Yao asked in a too loud whisper while waiting for the refreshment promised to the guests.

“I've only heard that because of his seclusion, it took them several days to even notice he had passed,” Sect Leader Ouyang replied. Then, noticing Nie Huaisang standing alone nearby, he gestured at him to join them. Nie Huaisang tried to pretend he hadn't seen them, but it was in vain as Sect Leader Ouyang called him by name until he couldn't be ignored anymore. “Join us please! You were his friend, weren't you? Surely you must know more than us.”

It was a sign of the hollowness that had seized Nie Huaisang since learning of the news that he did not laugh. What friends they had been indeed. Once, perhaps... but no, the word would never have been right to describe them. They were acquaintances at best, brought together out of love for Mingjue, torn apart after his death even if Lan Xichen hadn't known it then.

He'd learned it, in time.

Two years earlier, when Nie Huaisang had finally given a proper funeral to his brother, Lan Xichen had tried to talk to him about everything that had happened. Lan Xichen had wanted the truth, and he'd certainly gotten it. Nie Huaisang, bitter and angry and broken after going through the pain of burying his brother again, had not spared the other man a single detail of everything he'd done, everything he'd learned, everything he'd felt.

Two weeks after that, Lan Xichen had entered seclusion and they'd never met again, unless one counted what little time Nie Huaisang had spent with the other man's coffin.

Nie Huaisang did not think it counted.

“I have not been told anything more than anyone else,” Nie Huaisang said, more careful than the other two to keep his voice down.

“It is just too odd,” Sect Leader Yao said. “A man his age doesn't die without reason, and his cultivation was far too great to allow for sickness!”

“Surely I don't know what Yao-zongzhu might be suggesting.”

“I am just saying it is very odd,” Sect Leader Yao insisted, glancing toward Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji with what he had to consider a knowing expression.

“Ah,” Nie Huaisang said.

They were thinking Lan Xichen had been murdered, then.

It was amazing, he thought, that anyone could misunderstand Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji this much. Perhaps the second's reputation was no longer as pristine as it had once been, due to his open association with the Yiling Patriarch, but he could hardly have been accused of killing his brother when he profited so little from his death. It was to Lan Qiren that the title of Sect Leader went, something which had been decided long ago, and which Lan Wangji would have known. Not that Lan Wangji would ever have wanted such a title. And as to accusing Lan Qiren of murdering his nephew, it was ridiculous. There were few men in the world whose honour Nie Huaisang believed in, but Lan Qiren was definitely of the number.

If it was not an ordinary sickness that had killed Lan Xichen, and it was not another person either, then it left only one option.

The Lans tended to easily fall prey to melancholy, Lan Xichen had once told Nie Huaisang, during one of those rare true and sincere conversations between them, when they had both bared more of their soul to the other than they'd intended. And that melancholy was a powerful sort, Lan Xichen had explained, more dangerous than any disease, any war, any demon. The way he had spoken of it had made it clear that Lan Xichen himself particularly struggled with it ever since becoming Sect Leader during the war, a struggle he hid under a mask no less carefully crafted than Nie Huaisang’s. Lan Xichen had told him he thought that melancholy would overcome him someday as it had done others in his family, an affliction no less powerful than that the Nie suffered.

So it was clear to Nie Huaisang that the manner of Lan Xichen's death was...

His whole body shook as he hurriedly fought to contain a sob.

“Nie-zongzhu?” Sect Leader Ouyang said with concern. “Are you unwell?”

Nie Huaisang shook his head. He was fine. He was unaffected. They'd never even been close.

Another sob had to be contained.

Nie Huaisang took a deep breath, and smiled weakly.

“Nothing dramatic,” he said with a voice he scarcely recognised as his own. “A moment of... I have known him for so long.”

“Of course. This must be hard on you. He must have been like a brother to you.”

Nie Huaisang made a noise. A sob, or a laugh, he could not have said, but it was too loud and attracted more attention than he cared to deal with. Having spent the last couple of years carefully working to undo the damage he had done to his own reputation, Nie Huaisang could not have born to be seen crying in public, something he now felt the danger of. He muttered some vague apology to the two men standing near him, and excused himself from the assembly. He managed to keep himself in check until he had left everyone behind, and only broke into tears when he was sure to be alone.

Gone was the numbness that had so puzzled him since hearing that Lan Xichen had been found dead, because the full horror of that loss finally hit him.

Lan Xichen was gone.

Lan Xichen was dead.

He would never again come by the Unclean Realm in answer to a desperate plea for help that never really needed his input. There would be no more praises of Nie Huaisang's birds, his fans, his paintings. No more gentle comforting and undeserved patience.

Lan Xichen was dead.

And if Nie Huaisang had acted with less cruelty, Lan Xichen might not have killed himself.

-

Nie Huaisang, a month after returning home, wondered whether melancholy was a contagious ailment, and whether one might catch it from sitting near the corpse of a man who had died from it.

He made the mistake of asking Nie Liyan, his favourite cousin and heir, expecting her to laugh or tease him. Instead she gave him a most pitiful look, and told him that melancholy was most often caught in such a manner, especially if the corpse was that of a person held dear.

It had never occurred to Nie Huaisang to think that Lan Xichen might be dear to him. The man was merely there, full of good intentions and blind to the nature of those around him. They had shared pleasant moments together perhaps, but no more than Nie Huaisang had done with others. In fact, Nie Huaisang was quite sure he had laughed more with Jin Guangyao than with Lan Xichen. If asked, he might have admitted that he'd held warmer feelings than he ought to have toward the man who had so cruelly murdered his brother. But Lan Xichen?

Nie Huaisang would have been hard pressed to decide what he felt for the man while he was alive. Only in death was he forced to realise that Lan Xichen too had been an important figure in his life and, yes, perhaps dearer than he would have liked. But it was hard to hate a man such as Lan Xichen, he told Nie Liyan when the realisation became too bothersome to bear it alone. Nie Huaisang simply could not imagine that anyone in the world might have met Lan Xichen and not liked him.

“I've never understood what people saw in him,” Nie Liyan had just replied. “And I've told you as much many times, even before your brother's death. His looks were good but not to the degree everyone claimed, he smiled too much, and he spoke too much like a book.”

“That says more about your tastes than about his qualities,” Nie Huaisang retorted hotly.

“Perhaps. Or it says something about your tastes.”

That insolent answer had not pleasant Nie Huaisang, who had promptly changed the topic, and never breached it again with her.

-

The melancholy did not ease with time, but instead invited some friends to live with it in Nie Huaisang's heart.

Such as a sharp terror over the concept of his own mortality.

Nie Huaisang had always known he would die early. It ran in the family, and he'd seen it happen twice already to his own relative. Considering his own temper, his weak and unstable cultivation, Nie Huaisang had long feared that he would not even live long enough to see his brother avenged. This had made him frustrated with the slow pace he'd been forced to endure, which in turn had only had a worse effect on his general state. Things had improved after the death of Jin Guangyao, making Nie Huaisang hope he might perhaps make it to the venerable age of forty, something neither his brother nor his father had managed.

The death of Lan Xichen robbed him of that hope.

It was only, Nie Huaisang told himself, that the loss had reminded him people died of reasons other than familial curses or to pay the price of their hubris. Death, even for cultivators, was not an uncommon occurrence, so no man could leave his bed in the morning and be certain he would return to it at night. And if he were to die now, what would he have to show for it except a sect that still wouldn’t be treated seriously, and the blood on his hands?

That consideration was also an important one in making a decision. No matter how hard he tried, Nie Huaisang couldn’t seem to correct the reputation he had given his sect. When people talked about the changes happening in Qinghe Nie, the way it might has started to become reliable once more, they always felt the need to point out that it could be nothing more than a stroke of luck, something that was sure to return to normal very soon under Nie Huaisang’s poor guidance. It was a source of great annoyance to him that people now considered it normal for Qinghe Nie to be weak and useless, when not twenty years earlier it had been greater than Lanling Jin.

It would take a dramatic change for people to accept that Qinghe Nie was returning to its roots.

So Nie Huaisang told Nie Liyan that he would abdicate in her favour.

She was more than ready for this, he told her. They had been working in tandem since long before the death of Jin Guangyao, and she had proven multiple times that she would handle the position of Sect Leader better than he ever would. She was a good administrator, with great martial art skill, a cultivation level that was among the best in their generation. She was also an excellent teacher, and well liked by all the disciples, from young juniors who had never known their sect’s glorious days to elders who’d known Nie Huaisang’s father as a young child. Nie Huaisang and Nie Liyan had always agreed that she would succeed him if he died the way his family so often did, or whenever he would decide to give up on a position he had never wanted.

“Are you sure now is the right time?” Nie Liyan only asked him.

“There is no right time for these things. But Lanling Jin is still not quite stable yet, Gusu Lan is in the hands of an old friend, and Yunmeng Jiang is caught up in the Jins’ business. That means the three great sects won’t give you a hard time as you settle in, and I know you can handle the others.”

“And what will you do?”

“Travel, perhaps,” Nie Huaisang replied without conviction.

He had never planned for what he would do after handing her his title, and realised suddenly that he’d never expected to be alive for that. No matter how often they discussed the possibility of a quiet succession, Nie Huaisang had never really considered he would be luckier than his father and brother. Yet there he was, suddenly forced to accept that tomorrow was something that existed for him while also dreading the uncertainty of his own mortality.

Nie Liyan accepted his answer, and they set out to plan the succession, calculate the best possible date for it, and choose how to announce the news to other sects. They did not talk about Nie Huaisang’s future any further, for which he was grateful. He had a vague suspicion that Nie Liyan thought he intended to kill himself, which would explain why she kept suggesting he took a companion with him when he left.

Nie Huaisang promised to consider it. He even did wonder who in the world might be a travelling companion worth putting up with. Nobody from his own sect would do, as he thought they would quickly grow bored of any destination that might appeal to him. And there was no one left outside of Qinghe Nie who he felt close enough to. It was only a pity, he thought one night, that Lan Xichen had passed away, as he would have been a very interesting person to have on a journey. Someone who shared his sense of beauty and his love of great landscape, who would not complain if Nie Huaisang asked to stop and paint but might instead join him. And perhaps travelling in that manner might have lifted some of Lan Xichen’s melancholy in a way that locking himself up away from the world could never have done.

Perhaps it could have saved Lan Xichen.

Nie Huaisang slept little that night, half drowning on sorrows and what-if that could never come true.

Come morning, he told Nie Liyan that he would travel alone, and she did not insist.

-

Nie Huaisang left the Unclean Realm as soon as the succession ceremony was over so he wouldn’t have a chance to change his mind. He recently bought an excellent horse, and the animal was packed with whatever belongings could not be put inside a qiankun pouch. Nie Huaisang had money, he had clothes, everything needed to paint and write. He even had a destination in mind at last, one suggested to him by Lan Qiren, of all people. The old teacher, upon learning of his intention to step down, had written him a thoughtful letter wishing him the best of luck in his new life, inviting him to come and stay in the Cloud Recesses if he ever went that way so they might play weiqi together, and suggesting he should go visit Baidi in his exile, where he too might become inspired to write some poetry. Perhaps, Lan Qiren added, a place so rich in history would help him find new meaning to his life.

The idea had something romantic to it. More than that, though, Nie Huaisang remembered that several times over the course of their acquaintance, Lan Xichen had expressed a wish to visit the city, while always failing to find an excuse to do so. It seemed appropriate that Nie Huaisang’s first destination should be inspired by the man whose death had forced him to reconsider his own life.

So Nie Huaisang set out toward Baidi, and promised himself to enjoy his time there, for Lan Xichen’s sake as well as his own.

[tchaikovskym]

Wangxian fic recs pt2

(Part 1 here)

some life yet unspent by Fahye

Lan Wangji wasn't privy to the conversations that took place among Yiling staff, but there was always an apologetic, tense edge to the tech's voice when someone else took over his missions. As if Wei Ying had put the fear of God into them if they let anything happen to Lan Wangji when Wei Ying was not personally available to oversee him.

"Something like that," Mianmian told him. "Anyway, it's not like there's anything for either of you to be jealous over. None of the other agents prefer him."

Really cool fic with spy missions and tech and love of course. Loved it.

The Fire Lapping Up the Creek by notevenyou

Wei Wuxian travels to Lanling for his nephew’s one-month celebration alone, without Wen Ning.

Lan Wangji lives with the consequences.

Loved it so much!! Fix it fic of sorts and boy they really did fix it.

boyfriend material by ricken

Lan Xichen would do anything if it meant his brother was happy, which is what lead him to eavesdropping on the Jiang brothers as they discussed their requirements for a partner.

Or; Lan Wangji attempts to woo an already infatuated Wei Ying using bad pickup lines, and a few more things.

Loved this a completely normal amount. I'm weak for idiots in love. Aaaaaa. It really was like "wwx: oh if only Lan Zhan knew how much he meant to me" and then cut to smth like "lwj: I can only gaze at the love of my life from the distance. If only he knew."

you're the only thing i think i got right by sandustorms (lucianclouds)

Life was fine until the hurricane of Yu Ziyuan came crashing into his desk on a boring Wednesday morning and said, “Get up, Wei Wuxian. You’re getting married.”

Marriage is a very foreign concept to Wei Wuxian.

Ohhhh sweet sweet arranged marriage that just hits all the right spots

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli

Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”

“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”

“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.

In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's... surprisingly effective.

Hqnguang-jun is in love? Yeah bitch, with you 😭😭😭 amazing fic with juniors making things happen

Deeper grows my longing by feyburner

Jiang Cheng stared at him. “How are you this dense,” he said flatly. “Wei Wuxian. The common people aren’t scared of you, they’re scared of your husband."

“My what,” said Wei Wuxian.

Short and very very good one.

I'm Going Out (Gonna Make A Name For Me And You) by cosmicmilktea

The Chief Cultivator's Herald. Wei Wuxian is not quite sure when they started calling him that, but as he traipses through beleaguered towns and villages, as he finally starts to build the world that he and Lan Zhan have always vowed to build, he finds that he doesn't mind it so much.

He doesn't mind being anything at all, as long as he is Lan Zhan's.

Wei Wuxian goes where the chaos is in Lan Wangji's stead, and finds a home in the process.

Aaaa such a lovely fic

this river runs to you by sundiscus

Framed by the soft morning light, sleek hair swept back and pale blue robes not even slightly rumpled, he looks almost inhuman.

He looks like the last person who should be knocking on Wei Wuxian’s door.

In which Wei Wuxian is a curse worker secretly searching for a lost dragon, Lan Wangji is his new assistant, and the two things may not be entirely unrelated.

Ohhhhh such a great story with dragons!!!

puzzle pieces by Yuisaki

“Sorry, I, uh. Laundry day caught up to me before I could catch up with it. I saw this shirt left in the washer a few days ago, and—“ Wei Ying blinks up at Lan Zhan through dark eyelashes that he wants to kiss, maybe, and gives him an uncharacteristically hesitant smile. “Do you mind?”

I mind the fact that we are not married, Lan Zhan thinks.

Wei Ying keeps borrowing Lan Zhan’s clothes. It is only mildly driving him insane.

Just pure fluff to melt your heart aaaa

Battle Chefs by sami

BATTLE CHEFS IS COMING!

by Qin Su

The new season of Battle Chefs is upon us, and once again I will be recapping every episode. Join us to discuss the latest season of everyone's favourite video-game-themed cooking contest!

Wen Qing is returning as the Referee and Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli will be our Players for the PvP section once again. Raid Boss Wei Ying is sure to make things interesting as always, and the trailers for this season promised us new heights of drama and excitement.

They honestly could have just promised us pretty. It's going to be great!

Never have I watched any cooking show ever, but this was delightfully entertaining. Had absolutely no idea what foods they were making but I was living babes.

Ghosts Shouldn’t by ShanaStorytrller

Wei Wuxian's spirit lingers.

Oh Wei Wuxian’s ghost... is it really? Hehe loved this fic <3

these colours fade for you only by doodlebutt

What if, before Wen Chao found Wei Wuxian in Yiling, Lan Wangji went looking for him?

What if...

"Tell me who did this to you."

"Aiya, Lan Zhan, I really don't know what you're -- ah!"

Lan Zhan tugged hard on the blue line that bound them together, and Wei Wuxian all but flew across the room, crashing into the bed with a pained groan and sinking to his knees on the floor. He supposed, slightly hysterically, that this must be something like what Jiang Cheng had felt when he had hit Wei Wuxian with all the force of a biting insect the day after his rescue.

"You have no spiritual energy."

"Haha, Lan Zhan, that's funny, because actually it's just that I --"

"You have no golden core."

This diverges from MDZS canon rather than CQL (so no yin iron, etc)

Title from Sunlight by Hozier (which is SUCH a wangxian song it actually causes me pain)

Loved this so much aaaa! Love!

[rosethornewrites]

Wednesday & Thursday NR, E, & M reading

The usual

Finished

Not Rated:

Your Face Still Lingers, by geethr75

Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen have been hooking up since the Sunshot campaign

Jiang Cheng/Nie Mingjue/Nie Huaisang - imperial harem AU, by nirejseki

Prompt: Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang/Nie Mingjue - emperor Jiang Cheng & his Nie spouses/concubines? Or a canon divergence fic? I'd just like to see all three happy together with no impending doom

Explicit:

a debt for a debt, by spookykingdomstarlight

Lan Wangji overthinks the act of lovemaking.

Mature:

dormiveglia (in between sleeping and waking), by comforting_monachopsis (4 chapters)

“The Yiling Laozu kept a journal,” they say. Greedy eyes pore the pages for secrets to godlike power.

What they find instead is a mortal man’s tragedy.

...Sorry... and thank you..., by Azura_lights_18

“Did you hear me? I said my name isn’t Mo. I’m Wei Wuxian! Wei Ying! The Patriarch of Yiling!” Wei Wuxian yelled.

Lan Zhan’s grip didn’t tighten. If anything, it grew softer, gentle. Lan Zhan nodded and spoke in a heartbroken voice.

“I’m sorry… and thank you.”

ameliorate, by lemonlight (2 chapters)

Wei Ying does what he can to avoid both Jiang Cheng and the hurt in his chest. Surely, it cannot stay this way between them forever.

Unfinished

Not Rated:

No Loss, by eb4life

After being forced to remain stuck in his wolf form by Madam Yu, Wei Wuxian conforms to her wishes of making it appear that he's runaway from home by doing just that. When he's God knows how far from home and manages to get captured by the knights of a king he's only heard rumors of, Wei Wuxian expects to be killed or imprisoned as the king's personal attack dog. He doesn't expect to move from "exotic pet" to "closest friend" within only weeks of his stay at the king's side. This story is inspired by Bisclavret.

Explicit:

Butter My Biscuit, by LikeAFlamingKiss_Consume

Wei Ying has been very comfortably - definitely not romantically - fucking his roommate / best friend Lan Zhan for a while now, and considering the fact that they always use multiple types of protection, he'd assumed they'd be fine.

The handful of positive pregnancy tests littered around his bathroom tell a slightly different story.

He just has to hope Lan Zhan doesn't kick him out on his ass when he tells them what's happened. Maybe they'll be cool with it, maybe they'll even let him stay - but there's no way Lan Zhan would want to sleep with him ever again after this. Right?

Mature:

Wolf's Call, by JewelzGalaxy

Wei Wuxian's fear of dogs is put to the test beyond what he could ever imagine. When his new home is being attacked by canines filled with darkness, and his husband is off on a mission, will he be able to face his fears in order to protect Gusu, and the Lan Clan that resides within?

[yibo-wang]

Wangxian FicRec Masterpost

So I’d been getting a few asks for more wangxian fic recs so I decided i might as well make a master post where I just rec all the fics I’ve read and liked :) They aren’t in any particular order but I’ve grouped them into basic categories so it’s easier to find what you’re looking for.

*(some abbreviations: ER-established relationship, FWB-friends with benefits, AU-alternate universe, CD-canon divergence) 

*under the cut cause it’s long

Canon Verse

*Post Canon

your words upon my lips by uchiuchi (Case Fic, ER,17k): In which Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji investigate a curse and get cursed instead. Everything they try to say comes out of the other person's mouth. It can only go downhill from there.

Four Parts Honey and One Part Vinegar by masked (ER, Humor, 13k):  Four times Wei Wuxian doesn't get jealous, and the one time he does.

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (Getting Together, 19k): In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's... surprisingly effective.

grow by cafecliche (De- aging, Gen, 14k): Wei Wuxian is cursed on a night-hunt, and the junior quartet rapidly finds themselves in over their heads.

You, Asleep and Dreaming by etymologyplaygroundSummary: (Fluff, 9k)  Wei Wuxian chuckles and starts pushing Lan Wangji's outer robes off his shoulders. "Poor Lan Zhan, subject to such earthly miseries. You must be exhausted, come to bed, come to bed." "Mm," Lan Wangji says. He raises his arms so that Wei Wuxian can keep undressing him. His clothes will end up on the floor, but no matter. Wei Wuxian's deft hands at his belts are worth wrinkled robes."... Goodness, Hanguang-Jun, you wear too many damned layers," Wei Wuxian tells him after a while. "Would it kill you to stop after a reasonable five?"

The (Several) Convenient Kidnappings of the Chief Cultivator by the Yiling Patriarch by misscam (ER, Humor, 3k): The Yiling Patriacrhc kidnaps Lan Zhan and it’s very convenient for everyone.

Content Warning: Romance by Ariaste Wei Wuxian just wants a little warning before Lan Wangji says nice things. Lan Wangji just wants to love on his husband, thanks.

Besieged by Ariaste (ER, 11k): Lan Zhan doesn’t like the idea of Sizhui getting married, Wei Wuxian has other ideas.

Diplomatic Incidents by Ariaste (Cross Over with Dragon Age: Inquisition but prior knowledge about it is not required,Getting Together, 35k): Wei Wuxian and the mortifying ordeal of being known

Love of a Different Kind by Keysmashed (1k, bg wangxian, LanXichen-Wei Wuxian /platonic/) Lan Xichen heard a beautiful yet incomplete-sounding melody from outside the Hanshi. Opening the door, he finds Wei Wuxian in a mess of handwritten musical score, composing a song.

A Lot of Edges Called Perhaps by hansbekhart (it’s just being sad and horny ngl, 21k): The funny part is - and it is a little funny, even if Wei Wuxian has no one left to share the joke with - they never have. Not anything. He has never kissed any part of Lan Zhan besides his slim hands; never been even partially undressed with him anywhere besides a miserable, xuanwu-infested cave. It’s always been like this between them, this simmering need, this desperate understanding: a knowledge so deep that it lives somewhere in his bones, that if he wanted to have Lan Zhan he could have him, and if Lan Zhan wanted Wei Wuxian he could have that too. But they never have.

*Canon Divergent

A stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke (Arranged Marriage, 180k) When the entire cultivation world turns against Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng comes up with a plan to save him and arranges a marriage between his brother and the Second Jade of Lan, Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian, Who's That? by bumbledees (48k): In which Wei Wuxian gets himself out of being Jin Sect enemy number one by becoming Lan Qiren's niece-in-law, and falls in love with Lan Wangji somewhere along the way.

A Wedding For The Age by spupeez4eva (Time travel, 6k): Where time travel occurs, and Wei Wuxian ends up being a guest at his own wedding).

Listen to the Voice Inside Your Head by pupeez4eva (Time travel, 12k): After a time travel attempt goes awry, a shameless, happily married Wei Wuxian finds himself traveling to the past in the most inconvenient way possible - being temporarily stuck in the mind of his fifteen year old self. His younger self just wishes he'd stop mentioning Lan Zhan so much. There's no way they're actually married, after all.

Jealous Thy Name by mmiles (4k): Lan WangJi listened to what she was saying and talked back! Wei WuXian can hardly get a sentence out of him but now that some Princess has come along he suddenly has lots to say?!Wei WuXian pouted and crossed his arms as he sulked quietly. or four times Wei WuXian was jealous of a Princess 

an ode flows in you by tentatively (8k): In which Wei Wuxian feels threatened by a certain someone who has managed to make his Hanguang-jun smile.

Alternate Universe 

*Modern Setting (Modern Cultivators)

and so my heart beats wildly by lily_winterwood (Hunergames insp AU, 106k) “You know, you’re the one to beat this year,” Jiang Cheng offers helpfully, having seen the glare from right next to him. “Hanguang-jun’s been through juniors with the rest of us, he knows all of our tics. You’re an unknown variable, since he’s never competed against you before.” “Thanks,” says Wei Wuxian drily. “That’s very comforting.” Or: five nighthunting competitions where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were rivals, and one where they weren't.

*Modern Setting (Non Cultivators)

tempo rubato by Spodumene (Highschool AU, 107k+):  Lan Wangji starts high school in perfect step with the rhythm of his uncle's expectations and his duty to his family. He doesn't quite stay that way.

your touch in the dark (your voice in the silence)by b_ofdale (Friends with benefits, 13k) :  When music begins to fill the silence of his apartment, Lan Wangji falls in love with it; not as fast, however, as he does with the busker down the street. 

总有一天; a place to hide (can’t find one near) by yiqie (Pianist AU, 76k+) *tw suicide :  That’s just the thing, isn’t it? Wei Ying feels nothing. He doesn’t feel anything, and this emptiness should scare him. He knows he should be scared. He wants to be scared. He isn’t. Fear itself is never scary; fear is just a response. It means that your body wants you alive. It’s the absence of terror that scares him.

Year of NIght call by  ailuridae (abigailnicole) (Hospital AU, 22k):  Very few jobs give you the perfect storm of moral high ground, manic energy, and being a huge dick to people on the regular that Wei Wuxian finds so satisfying about trauma surgery. However, they don't call it trauma for its psychological wellness. A year of q2 36 hour call would be unbearable if Lan Wangji weren't the other fellow that he shares a call bed with.

the best of you by sysrae (College/University AU, 41k):  When Jin Zixuan calls in a favor, Lan Wangji ends up renting his spare room to Wei Wuxian. It doesn't go how any of them expected. 

If I Can't Have You by Leffy (Actors AU, 47k): Lan Wangji hates Wei Wuxian. That's what Wei Wuxian and the rest of the world think anyway. That's also the reason why no one can wrap their mind around the news that Lan Wangji has agreed to star alongside Wei Wuxian, and as his love interest no less.(Spoiler Alert: Lan Wangji doesn't really hate Wei Wuxian)

(our friendship) up against the ropes by daltoneering (36k) The reboot completes, and Wei Ying’s brain smashes this information together into two mind-shattering thoughts. Number one, he knew very well already, and is now further seared by defined muscles and a mouth-watering tattoo into his every waking moment: Lan Zhan is the hottest fucking person on the planet. Number two: that guy wasn’t visiting Lan Zhan’s neighbour, he was visiting Lan Zhan, which means: Lan Zhan fucks.Lan Zhan fucks. Lan Zhan fucks.; Lan Zhan has been Wei Ying's best friend for years. Literally, years. How did he not already know? How has he missed this most important of facts? And more importantly, how is he ever going to get over it? (listen no judgement here alright?)

These Things Stay the Same by notevenyou (29k) After a career covering news across the world, journalist Wei Wuxian is unexpectedly on his way home with a child in tow. Unfortunately, the path home isn't without obstacles.

*Wei Wuxian gets adopted by other Sects/ is a Rogue Cultvator:

The Light That Fails to Dim by glowingreverie (Nie Sect AU, 310k+) In which Jiang Fengmian is unaware of what happened to Wei Wuxian's parents and Nie Mingjue takes him in and the story continues from there...

SanRen by Kyogre (Rogue Cultivator AU, 87k+):  Leaving YunmengJiang in an effort to curb the tensions in the Jiang family, Wei WuXian becomes a rogue cultivator. Even without the support of a sect, he is a rare genius whose name will become known across the cultivation world and whose techniques will influence the course of a war. However, what influences his own fate is a chance meeting that becomes the first step toward love.

*Domestic Wangxian + A-YUAN (deserves a separate place lol):

The Simplest Way Forward by harriet_vane (Accidental baby acquisition, 71k):  It’s a really unfortunate thing, developing a crush on your husband. Wei Ying had assumed this would be easy. Lan Zhan had been so icy and unpleasant to him, it had never occurred to him that he might end up spending the next however many years with this dumb, burning feeling in his chest whenever he looks at him. “Okay,” says Wei Ying. “But tell me if I…if the pretending gets to be too hard, okay?” “It will not,” says Lan Zhan, quietly certain.

Your heart, two doors by downficklish (Parenting, 9k)  Lan Zhan and Wei Ying start off as neighbors but soon find themselves fitting into the spaces in each other's lives like they were meant to be there all along. 

Incomplete/WIPs

love, in fire and blood by cicer (AU/CD, 175k+):  In which the Sunshot Campaign ends through an arranged marriage to the Yiling Patriarch, and Lan Wangji suffers the mortifying ordeal of falling in love with his own husband.***highly recommended

The Murder of Crow by scerbykerby: After thirteen years in the Burial Mounds, the Yiling Patriarch finally makes a public reappearance. Civilians are scared. Cultivators are outraged. Sect Leaders are concerned. Wei Wuxian has been too quiet, they say, and nobody knows what dark horrors the Burial Mounds may now contain. Wei Wuxian wouldn't quite call them dark horrors, but the description wasn't too far off.(tl;dr Wei Wuxian lives, raises a whole gaggle of demonic cultivator children, and the cultivation world panics.) ***highly recommended

I will be chasing a starlight by feyburner, sundiscus (Start trek Universe, Friends to Lovers, 18k) “You know what?” Wei Ying said. “I think we should be friends.” “Vulcans do not have friends,” said Lan Zhan. He was staring very determinedly at the screen in front of him. Wei Ying frowned at him. “That can’t be right.”

[niets-is-onbeduidend]

Untamed fic recs: Yiling Laozu

One of my favorite tropes in this fandom is Yiling Laozu Wei Wuxian. There are different takes on this trope and I love them all a normal amount.  

Favourites are marked with *

the shadow of a name in skin by iliacquer 

Wei Wuxian doesn’t let the Wen Remnants hand themselves over after Jin Zixuan’s death. Instead he makes one last sacrifice to ensure they survive. Months later, a Lan cultivator kneels at the edge of the Burial Mounds, ready to offer himself to the feared Yiling Patriarch.

Or: Sacrifice is an old magic, but love is even older.

Words: 9000/ amnesia 

*the necromancer's fairytale by iliacquer 

The Prince of Gusu is kidnapped for ransom. He’s saved by a nightmare made flesh.

Or: A necromancer, his palace of bones, his long-lost husband, and the rise of their dark kingdom.

Worlds: 17.000/ Excellent read!

*tie a knife with a ribbon by iliacquer 

The Yiling Patriarch makes a bargain with the cultivation world. He'll give them the power to defeat Wen Ruohan. No more death. No more war.

All he wants in return is Lan Wangji.

Words: 5600/ can you tell I adore iliacqers writing? 

*love, in fire and blood by cicer (WIP 27/30 posted)

"You want Wen Ruohan dead," the Patriarch continued idly. "You want his corpse puppets eliminated. You want his halls burned to the ground and his soldiers disemboweled and begging for mercy. Have I about covered it?"

He gave another knife-edged smile.

"But what will you give me in return?"

"We would be willing to offer quite a bit in return for Wen Ruohan's defeat," Lan Xichen admitted. "But I'm afraid we don't know what an immortal such as yourself desires. Please advise us."

The Patriarch waved at hand at the front of the tent. "I want Second Young Master Lan."

Words: 288.000/ pining and emotion, lots of it

hold me fast, fear me not by cicer

The Yiling Patriarch hummed. "You would like some of my plants?" he asked.

A rhetorical question, of course. Lan Wangji gave him a small nod.

"I would," he said.

"I see!" The Patriarch's thumb brushed against the edge of Lan Wangji's jaw. His fingers curved around the back of Lan Wangji's neck. "But surely you are willing to pay for what you've stolen."

Lan Wangji resisted the urge to moisten his lips, but he allowed himself to swallow. The Patriarch's eyes locked onto his throat.

"What does the Patriarch ask as payment?"

Words: 16.000/ Tam Lin retelling/ Mpreg

rare the man who'll hold to faith by Fahye

There was no blood. No char. There was nothing to see except the strange softening of the Yiling Patriarch's mouth, as if just for a moment he was another person entirely.

"There is the mark of our bargain, and here is the challenge," said the Yiling Patriarch. "You may strike at me, exactly once, with your sword. I will not fight back; I will not resist you at all, Hanguang-jun." That silvery suggestiveness crept into his voice again. "And a year and a day from now, you will come to me and I will deliver exactly the same to you."

Lan Wangji heard his brother's voice raised in sharp and incomprehensible protest. His own heart was beating too loudly for him to hear anything else.

Words: 13.000/ retelling of the Green Knight/ quite distinct

*Getting Jet Lag From Time Travelling by Monyas 

Lan Qiren stared in mute horror at the letter in his hands.

The world's most dangerous demonic cultivator and immortal leader of the great Yiling Wei Sect wanted Lan Wangji's hand in marriage. Lan Zhan, his youngest nephew, his most promising disciple, a quiet boy of barely twelve.

Words: 1300/ humour/ time travel

Echo, Murmur, Dream, Here by bluerainmist

Lan Wangji was not delusional. He knew Wei Ying was dead. The sharp stab of hope had spread out and dulled.

But there was something firmer than hope, firmer also than fantasy, which he would not leave behind. Even if Wei Ying was gone and would never come back, nothing would take his place in Lan Wangji’s heart. He thought about that occasionally, when he glimpsed the moon through stark branches on a forest trail, or when he felt drowsy and distant in the seat of honor at banquets.

It was simple. He would always love Wei Ying.

Words: 50.000/ Yiling Wei sect

in the land of gods and monsters & its sequel  joy of life by rikke

Lan Wangji was never supposed to die. Thirteen years later, the Yiling Patriarch rules the world with his corpse bodyguard.

Words: 12.000/ dark/ hurt no comfort

Old Foreshadows by protos_metazu_ison

With the threat of the Wen sect looming, the other major sects decide to summon the aid of a man they’d killed centuries ago: the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian.

Words: 15.000

[silverflame2724]

Ok. Since I'm a person who lives for angst, I had this scenario played out where WWX is asked by all his friends and family to come to a discussion conference since they believe that the cultivation world wants to say sorry to WWX. However, since most of them aren't forgiving just yet and still strongly resent WWX, I can easily imagine those people punishing WWX by physically and mentally torturing him in order to reduce him to the same condition he was in before he died. Once they let him go, he arrives at the conference only for most of the cultivators there to verbally degrade him without remorse. Wanting to end his suffering, he commits suicide in front of everyone there, leaving the people who love him, especially LWJ, JC, JYL and LSZ both enraged and heartbroken that they couldn't protect him

BTW, this is the anon who asked about you AO3 fic "Misunderstood." And I'm sorry if my prompt is triggering to you in any way

Ohhhh. My god. This is going to hurt so much.

(I am not triggered in any way, so don’t worry about that!)

I really, really hate putting Wei Wuxian through any form of torture. Which seems hypocritical of me because I’ve written many fics like that. I must warn you though, I’m not really good at torture scenes.

(Oh right, for those that don’t know, Wei Wuxian (in my Misunderstood fic) has two cores, one of resentful energy and one of spiritual energy. If one of his cores runs out of energy, his body starts to fade because those two energies are the only thing keeping him together (literally)!)

Nevertheless, *rubs hands together* Here we go!

___________________________

It happened about a week before the discussion conference.

Wei Wuxian had been having a nice drink by the inn near Lotus Pier when he suddenly felt very dizzy and collapsed into a dead faint.

When he woke up, it was to a room full of unfamiliar people staring down at him with sneers on their faces. And immortal deity binding rope was holding him down and his flute had been chucked off into a corner.

It would be difficult to get out of the rope binding him, but what many didn’t know was that he could still use resentful energy without any tools. It was harder to control them, sure, but he would still be able to escape. He didn’t know what these people were planning and he sure as hell did not want to find out.

Someone came up from behind and kicked him to his knees. His face burned in humiliation as they grasped a hand in his hair and forced him to look up.

“Do you know your crimes, Yiling Patriarch?”

At that, Wei Wuxian had blanked.

The men sneered and one brought out a discipline whip.

“Since you’ve forgotten, for every crime you’ve committed, for every life you’ve taken, you’ll take a lash from this. And don’t worry, we need you to be alive for this. We won’t be too rough.”

Ice flooded his veins as they named the people that had died during the Sunshot Campaign and Nightless City because of the Seal. His Seal.

So he didn’t move. Didn’t try to escape. Because it was true, wasn’t it? Those people died because of him. Even if he didn’t intend for it, he killed them.

If it was only that, it wouldn’t be that bad. He had been whipped before, he could handle the pain. His body was made of energy, so he didn’t bleed (though he could still feel pain) but that made the cultivators angry so they broke his fingers, sewed his lips shut when he got too loud, but he could endure it.

Then, they began to talk down to him and tell him how he didn’t deserve to come back to the cultivation world, how he was ruining the Jiang sect, how he was ruining Jiang Cheng and his Shijie, how everything he touched became ruined.

Wei Wuxian gradually grew numb to that. He had heard the same words from Madam Yu and from the cultivators at Nightless City all those years ago. It was no different then than it was now. But the pain he felt from those words was no less.

The resentful and spiritual energy in his body was scrambling to patch his wounds up in the lapse of their attention. However, because it was focused on healing him rather than helping him break out of the ropes, he wasn’t able to do anything when they fed him something. Wei Wuxian began to grow dizzy. His body felt hot and sweaty. This.....

Oh. They fed me an aphrodisiac.

Wei Wuxian didn’t know what they were planning to do and he sure as hell did not want to find out.

So he gathered all the resentful energy in his body - which, from experience was not a good thing to do -, absorbing as much as he could from the emotions of the men in the room before letting it burst out in an explosion. The rope disintegrated and he bolted for the door.

But not before a few sent their swords at his back. The remaining resentful energy removed them and the spiritual energy frantically tried to heal his wounds but he still lost a lot of energy. He could feel his body fading already.

He pulled himself together nevertheless and bolted out the door. Looking around, he was relieved to see he was near Yunmeng. However, despite that, he could trust no one. So he kept silent through all the pain until he made it back to Lotus Pier.

The sounds of his shidi and shimei calling for help sounded fuzzy and far away. He hoped he would survive. He hoped he would not.

After all, wouldn’t his death make everything better?

....................

When he woke up (on his stomach), it was to Shijie, Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan all sleeping by his bedside in what looked like the infirmary room. He shifted and then groaned in pain. Using energy as recklessly as he did must have put a lot of strain on his cores.

Instantly, three heads popped up.

“Wei Wuxian!” “A’ Xian!!” “Wei Ying?”

“Are you alright?” They asked in unison.

Wei Wuxian would have laughed at how in sync they were. He didn’t. He only gave them a strained smile that he hoped they would not notice and told them he was fine. They didn’t believe him, of course, and kept fussing over him for the rest of the day.

As they did this, Wei Wuxian swallowed quietly, remembering the parting words that were shouted at him.

“As long as you’re alive and well, we’ll never forgive you! Next time, we’ll go after your family and friends. All those bastards who dared to support you!

Wei Wuxian quietly contemplated his next moves. He didn’t want to leave his family and Lan Zhan and everyone else behind, but......what else was he supposed to do? As long as he’s alive, they might forever be in danger!

He swallowed a qi replenishing pill and forced his tears down.

I never wanted to come back in the first place. What was ghost!me thinking when he decided to come back? I......I don’t know anymore........

......................

The discussion conference was held at Lotus Pier and Jiang Cheng and the rest had tried to convince him to go. After all, they believed that the cultivation world wished to apologize to him (and simultaneously ask for his help against the new evil).

That’s what they were hoping.

That’s not what happened.

Instead of an apology, they started blaming Wei Wuxian for their current predicament. They hurled abuse after abuse at him and Wei Wuxian just stood there with a blank face and took it silently.

That was, until, someone yelled, “Wei Wuxian, it’s all your fault for creating the Seal!!! If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be in this situation! We’ve all suffered because of it. The Jiang sect is one of the only sects who hasn’t suffered. Shall we make them feel our pain? After all, your sect should pay for your crimes, should they not?”

Wei Wuxian let out the most heartbroken sob and stood in front of the cultivation world.

“If it’s life you want, then I will offer you mine.”

Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, Lan Wangji and a few others cried out his name and reached for him, but Wei Wuxian simply reached deep into his cores and turned the energies against each other.

His cores cracked and shattered and Wei Wuxian began to fade right in front of everyone.

“NO!” Lan Wangji yelled out in an uncharacteristic display of emotion. He rushed forward and recklessly poured spiritual energy into Wei Wuxian. “No, Wei Ying, no. Don’t leave me! You can’t! No, no, no.”

The rest of his family and friends gathered around, trying to see what they could do to keep him alive, but.....his cores were gone, it was useless.

“I’m.....sorry.....” Wei Wuxian managed. “And thank you.....for everything.”

And then he was gone.

______________

Hmmm, I still feel a liiiiiiiiittle iffy on how this turned out (so I might edit it later) but I hope you enjoy, anon!

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

A collection of fics I’ve read (/reread) and thoroughly enjoyed in the past week-ish from all kinds of fandoms and genres

ATLA

this love burns so yellow (becoming orange and in its time, exploding) by meliebee                

Ten months after Zuko is crowned at seventeen, he faces his first coup.

A Hundred Golden Suns by aeoleus                

Zuko does not survive that first fateful Agni Kai.

But no matter how much Ozai strives to pretend otherwise, the Old Gods are not dead.

And the Old Gods are angry.

Divergent Bonds by runningwafers                

A chance encounter with a stranger at a low budget play in the Lower Ring kicks off a friendship that changes the course of Zuko's destiny.

the snakes, and the people that they bite by Serie11

Rai is just a normal guy, really. One of the many guards that patrol the Fire Lord's palace.

Why did it have to be him who got caught up in this assassination attempt?

Untamed

I'm Going Out (Gonna Make A Name For Me And You) by cosmicmilktea   

The Chief Cultivator's Herald. Wei Wuxian is not quite sure when they started calling him that, but as he traipses through beleaguered towns and villages, as he finally starts to build the world that he and Lan Zhan have always vowed to build, he finds that he doesn't mind it so much.

He doesn't mind being anything at all, as long as he is Lan Zhan's.

Wei Wuxian goes where the chaos is in Lan Wangji's stead, and finds a home in the process.

put your heart where your mouth is by protos_metazu_ison                

Having lost a month's worth of memories might have been fine if Wei Wuxian hadn't managed to forget the part where he and Lan Wangji got engaged. If that was, actually, what happened. He hasn't figured out that part yet.

but there were things worse than love by walking_through_autumn                

“I heard that there were three thousand children in that cave. Three thousand!”

Ming Liangque was rather doubtful. Putting aside Xu Zhenyi’s state of inebriation, it was hard to imagine any cave able to fit in three thousand children, their angry guardians, Hanguang-jun, the Yiling Patriarch, the Ghost General, and ten thousand undead corpses.

“No way!” the rogue cultivator who had introduced himself as Wei Yuandao gasped. He shook his husband’s arm. “Hear that, Lan Zhan? Three thousand!”

(Five times the Yiling Patriarch and Hanguang-jun weren't recognised, and one time they were mobbed by fans.)

Umbrella Academy

traumaversary by WeWalkADifferentPath                

It follows him like an unscratched itch. Under his skin, over his body, around his  energy, like a mosquito that won’t leave him the fuck alone.

April 1st.  April 1st. April 1st.

(A character study of Five, with some inevitable family feels, in honour of March 24th).

The Witcher

A Blessing, A Curse by aileenrose                

"For a while, Jaskier doesn’t know he’s cursed. It feels like free will, going back down that mountain, just as dangerous down as the way up, and alone this time, too. The descent is fast, maybe even reckless, but Jaskier’s feeling numb and out-of-sorts anyways, Geralt’s words simmering in his mind, and at the time it doesn’t feel like he’s being pulled on by anything but his own desire to get away."

Based off a post that Geralt's words on the mountain are granted by the djinn.

[eleanorfenyxwrites]

((~2.4K of a much larger fic that I’ll keep posting snippets of!))

(Part 1)

———

“Father?”

“A-Yuan,” he replies as he cleans his brush and turns his head, the sharp, raw edges of his grief softening as he watches A-Yuan rub sleepily at his eyes in the soft candlelight warming the Jingshi. “What’s wrong?”

He sits still as A-Yuan crosses the room to clamber into his lap, sitting himself squarely in the hollow of his crossed legs facing him, and Wangji wraps his arms around him automatically, a concerned frown on his lips as A-Yuan collapses forward to nuzzle into his chest.

“A-Yuan?”

“I’m sad,” he replies softly and Wangji’s own grief is immediately shoved aside in favor of his son’s.

“Why? What happened?” he asks, his voice as neutral as it can be when he’s already burning inside with the desire to protect his and Wei Ying’s son from any and all harm.

“I don’t know,” A-Yuan replies and then he’s sniffling and Wangji realizes that he’s crying and he immediately curls around him, shielding him with his arms and shoulders, his unbound hair falling around them in a dark curtain. He ducks down to gently kiss A-Yuan’s bare forehead where his headband sits during the day and he strokes a hand slowly over his hair, brushing it back from his face as he lets the boy cry uninterrupted. His child will never have to mourn in lonely silence like he did, even if what he’s mourning may be trivial by an adult’s standards.

Wangji holds his crying son and lets a tear or two slip as well, his heart too fragile and raw today to stay stoic while his child hurts.

“What’s wrong A-Yuan?” he finally asks softly when the boy’s crying has subsided and he keeps stroking his hair back from his face for him even as he turns around to sit forward and face the table holding the guqin, his back and head resting on Wangji’s chest.

“I don’t know,” A-Yuan repeats, audibly pouting, and Wangji panics a bit. How can he fix it if A-Yuan can’t tell him what to fix? “I tried to sleep, but then I got sad and I wanted to cry.”

Wangji knows that the fever A-Yuan was fighting when he found him in the Burial Mounds has, perhaps in an act of divine mercy, kept him from remembering his life before he woke up properly in Cloud Recesses. But sometimes Wangji wonders if those memories are still there somewhere in his mind, and if sometimes he misses his first family, the village that raised a happy child in the midst of war and death.

“I am sad tonight as well,” Wangji confesses quietly, his barriers nonexistent around the person in his life who loves him unconditionally with the sweet trust of a child. “It is alright to be sad, even if you do not know why,” he adds as he reaches out to rest his hands on his guqin. A-Yuan immediately stretches his arms out to rest his little hands on top of Wangji’s and he relaxes just a little, thinking to himself that it’s nearly time to begin helping A-Yuan choose the instrument he’ll wish to learn for his musical cultivation.

“Close your eyes, A-Yuan. It’s time to rest,” he instructs gently and then he starts to play.

Memories of Wei Ying come flooding in as he plays the song he wrote for him. As he plays he can almost imagine the sound of a flute accompanying the strings and he sucks in a deep breath, his entire being - the very essence of himself - longing for Wei Ying.

A-Yuan dozes in his lap, his hands going limp where they still cover his own, and once he’s sure that the boy is unlikely to wake again Wangji closes his eyes and begins to channel the familiar flow of his energy. He stills the strings with his palms and then begins to pluck them delicately, listening hard.

‘Wei Ying?’ Wangji knows that it’s unlikely to work. He has to try anyway.

When there’s no answer, he pours more spiritual force into the question, sends it out further.

‘Wei Ying?’ He lifts his hands from the strings and stares at them, willing them to play Wei Ying’s response.

Nothing.

Wangji lingers for a while longer until his last glimmer of hope that Wei Ying will come to him tonight fades into nothing. A-Yuan is fast asleep in his arms so Wangji stands carefully and returns him to his bed, tucking the covers tightly around him to make sure he feels safe and warm. He extinguishes the candles in the main room with a wave of his hand and then he retires to his own bed, feeling numb. Tomorrow he will do it again, and nothing will change.

-

By unspoken agreement in the days following, A-Yuan begins to attend as well when Wangji practices his guqin in the evening.

It began the following night, and has continued every night since, with A-Yuan leaving the toy he was playing with to climb into his lap and rest his little hands on top of his again. Wangji can’t help but feel pleased that it seems the boy is going to want to choose to follow in his footsteps.

When he puts A-Yuan to bed after their practice has relaxed him, Wangji continues to return to the instrument and ask for Wei Ying. He knows that it’s fruitless, that there have been five years of nothing now and it’s unlikely that he remains. Even his body can’t be found, and Wangji knows that it’s entirely too possible that the resentful energies he held were too powerful to leave even a corpse or a shred of spiritual cognition once the spirits had him in their grasp.

He can’t stop searching.

Three weeks have passed since he sent his last search party out before one of the other pairs returns. He’s walking with A-Yuan around the training yard and observing the swordsmanship lesson when the husband/wife cultivation partnership he’d sent out towards Lanling approaches. He freezes in place and feels A-Yuan look up at him in confusion, but now is not the time or place to answer his questions. Wangji glances at the disciples practicing their sword forms, spots one he recognizes quickly, and he signals her to approach.

“Please take A-Yuan to play with his friends in the Children’s Hall, either myself or his uncle will retrieve him in a few hours,” he instructs.

“Hanguang Jun,” she replies with a bow and then she holds a hand out to A-Yuan and Wangji gives him a nod to reassure him as he glances back at him over his shoulder on his way around the courtyard with his new escort.

“Hanguang Jun,” the pair greets as he turns his attention to them and he returns their bow with his heart in his throat. Thankfully these are cultivators who know him reasonably well (as well as anyone outside his very small family circle can) so they know he has no interest in pleasantries.

“We flew the perimeter of Lanling, as instructed,” the husband of the pair begins. “We sensed nothing unusual and began landing in towns and cities to ask about strange occurrences, night hunting where necessary but always deferring to our fellows in the Jin Sect where possible.” Wangji is growing impatient so he’s relieved when the woman rests her hand on her husband’s arm to stop his full report.

“We see no sign of him, Hanguang Jun. Not even a whisper of the Yiling Patriarch except for idle gossip that flows like water from the mountain. We apologize for our shortcomings.” Wangji watches as the pair sketch another bow, discomfited by their nervousness to approach someone they saw as such an imposing figure with bad news.

“Do not apologize,” he replies simply around the tightness in his throat. “Rest today and return to your regular duties in the morning.” He begins to bow and then quietly murmurs, “Thank you.”

He watches them as they leave, walking almost close enough to touch and in perfect synchronicity with each other, and he aches.

-

For the next few weeks things go much the same way. One by one the search parties return, and one by one his hopes for news are dashed. By the time the last pair he’d sent out have returned from Yiling itself with empty hands, he’s too exhausted to continue asking others to search for Wei Ying. The waiting, the hope, and the inevitable disappointment have become too much to stomach. He wants to go himself, continue the search when he can be in control of it.

But he’s got A-Yuan to think of, and bringing him along is out of the question. The places he wants to search are dangerous and certainly no place for children, especially since Wangji wants to go by himself. He hasn’t hunted with another partner since Wei Ying and quite frankly he doesn’t ever want to, and he can’t singlehandedly fight and protect his son at the same time. But the idea of leaving A-Yuan behind now that they’ve become so bonded and such an important part of each other’s lives makes him feel physically ill.

The only thing that makes him feel worse is not looking for Wei Ying.

After his period of isolation but before he had officially taken over raising A-Yuan, Wangji had gone searching for him. He’d heard the news from Xichen that Sect Leader Jiang had been unable to find any trace of Wei Ying’s whereabouts, but he’d refused to let that discourage him. As soon as he was able, he’d gone to Nightless City to begin the search for him, only returning to Cloud Recesses when he had exhausted the potential of every possible ravine, every crevice, every dungeon, every rock. It was only the thought of A-Yuan and Wei Ying’s overwhelming love for the boy that had convinced him to return home to his duties. It’s been two years since the end of that search and the parts of him that ache for Wei Ying are yearning to return to it.

Playing the spirit communion pieces on his guqin helps curb his desire to go flying off without a word to keep looking.

‘Wei Ying?’ he asks for what feels like the thousandth time. As long as he receives no answer, he’ll never tire of sending those notes into the air. He takes comfort in them, really. In the music that communicates his soulmate’s name.

Wei Ying?

Wei Ying?

Wei Ying?

“Wangji.” The voice at the door startles him, his surprise evident only in the way his fingers twitch on the strings.

"Uncle," he greets stiffly in return. He makes no move to stand and he knows it's disrespectful but he can't quite bring himself to care. It's late and he'd expected to be alone. He wants to be alone.

"Enough of this, Wangji," Lan Qiren says with no other preamble and Wangji doesn't even deign to look up at him. He'd always hated Wei Ying, and the longer Wangji’s mourning goes on the less inclined he is to forgive the people who feel such negative things for the other. "Do you think people don't notice that you search for Wei Wuxian endlessly? Do you think they don't wonder at the reason?"

"Gossip is forbidden in Cloud Recesses," he recites dutifully, voice edging a little sharper. A warning, if Lan Qiren is willing to hear it.

"That doesn't mean they don't notice, Wangji," he retorts and only then does Wangji raise his eyes to meet the older man's. His face is as impassive as his Uncle's is twisted in anger.

Wangji meets his Uncle's glare levelly and, without breaking eye contact, gently plucks the strings again.

Wei Ying?

"WANGJI!"

"Shouting is prohibited in Cloud Recesses," Wangji replies and then adds, as an afterthought, "And in my home. A-Yuan is sleeping."

"You have duties here, Wangji," Lan Qiren replies tightly, though he's at least lowered his voice so Wangji can stop worrying that he's going to wake the boy sleeping just one room away. "You're distracted."

"Does my work displease? Xichen says nothing."

Lan Qiren is silent and Wangji stands slowly, tucking one hand behind his back and facing his uncle straight on. He used to fear him, the impact he had, the influence. He used to be so, so afraid.

His fear of the judgement of others died with Wei Ying.

"Uncle. I will continue to do my duty to my family and sect. Wei Ying is my familial duty as well. I will continue to search," he says quietly and he's fascinated to watch some unnameable emotion pass over Lan Qiren's features.

"It will only hurt."

"Even so," he murmurs, practically soundless, as he nods and keeps his eyes trained low. "I have a duty to him."

"Why?"

Wangji doesn't even dignify that question with a response. It had been asked of him before in various ways, and he is tired of answering when it seemes like it should be so obvious. Why would he stand with him? Side with him? Fight with him? Heal him? Care for him? Do his best to find him not once but twice now? Why? Why? Why?

He can't believe people are still asking him. He hates himself a little for not making his thoughts and intentions clearer, because clearly he didn't if everyone still feels the need to question his motives like this.

"Wangji. Eventually you'll have to stop."

"When I find him, I will stop."

His words are met with nothing but a long-suffering sigh and Wangji knows already that he's won this particular argument. The feeling is..almost novel, to win an argument against Lan Qiren.

"Nothing will dissuade you?"

"Nothing."

"Go, then."

Trust uncle to still find a way to surprise him and make him feel like he's on his back foot.

"Go?"

"Search for him. Xichen and I will watch Lan Yuan for you. Go find him."

Wangji freezes and thinks about the implications of his uncle offering this to him. No time limits, no rules, just an offer to care for their son so that Wangji can go find Wei Ying and bring him home. He's struck momentarily speechless and he's grateful that Lan Qiren lets him have this silence, letting him think it over in his usual ponderous way.

"I will leave in the morning after I deliver A-Yuan to the Children's Hall," he decides. It's fast, but he's been anxious to leave and search for weeks now. He feels guilt surge through his chest at the thought of leaving his son, but he knows that he, at least, will be safe and loved in Cloud Recesses, and it's Wangji who will be aching more for his own bed and his family.

"See to it. Goodnight Wangji."

"Goodnight Uncle."

[intoxicatingimmediacy]

Fandom Fic Rec Days - CQL/MDZS

I bring you FIC RECS! ENJOY! And to our beloved writers - THANK YOU! I don’t have the words to express my gratitude for how much joy you bring into the world. 

Under the cut there will be pining, there will be devotion, there will probably (definitely) be kink, and most of all there will be rampant wangxian.

For my first ever fic rec post, these are the first stories I thought of without checking my downloads. Some I read long enough ago that I don’t remember them exactly, but they must've hit me hard enough to recall their names off the top of my head. Some of them are definitely top tier ultimate favourites, but many of those are also missing from this list as I’ve spent the last year in Severe Lockdown feat. Hours Of Ao3 Every Day.

A caveat: I read wide - as in, I enjoy interpretations of the characters that contradict how I experience them in canon, as long as they have internal consistency. For example, in canon WWX doesn't read as self-loathing to me - he’s seethes confidence in his abilities; it's his place in the world that he struggles with - but I thoroughly enjoy fics rooted in self-worth issues. So, YMMV.

In the same vein, I like pure CQL, pure MDZS, and mash-ups, as well as RPF; my squicks are few and far between, my triggers nonexistent, and I have happily eaten many a dead dove. For our yown safety, read the tags.

+ Linger in the Sun by etymologyplayground, Teen/39k

"Tell Lan Zhan that I'm weeping uncontrollably," Wei Wuxian says to the juniors. "Tell him I'm truly pitiful and he needs to do everything I say until I'm well again."

Lan Congyi is in the middle of carefully holding his eyelids open to check his pupils, but he still obeys, bless him. "Hanguang-Jun, Senior Wei would like us to tell you that he can't stop crying and he'd like for you to do everything he says until he's better." There's a moment of silence, and then Lan Congyi says to Wei Wuxian, "Hanguang-Jun says he already does everything you tell him."

- Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji find themselves cursed, unable to see or hear each other. They figure things out anyway.

(I remember reading this on a long train ride home over a year ago, so spellbound even after finishing, that I alighted a stop too early.)

+ The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch by aubreyli, Teen/20k

Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”

“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”

“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.

- In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's… surprisingly effective.

(My original comment, because it’s been too long, I think it’s long overdue a re-read: ‘Pure joy! This made my whole week. My cheeks ache from all the giddy smiling at my screen.’)

+ An Account of His Days by theherocomplex, Teen/3k

Someone, someday, may read it, though what they will gain from doing so is anyone's guess. They will learn he loves Wei Wuxian, but that is no secret. It never was.

(Utterly gorgeous and so very much exactly how I headcanon LWJ's inner life.)

+ (our friendship) up against the ropes by daltoneering, Explicit/36k

The reboot completes, and Wei Ying’s brain smashes this information together into two mind-shattering thoughts. Number one, he knew very well already, and is now further seared by defined muscles and a mouth-watering tattoo into his every waking moment: Lan Zhan is the hottest fucking person on the planet.

Number two: that guy wasn’t visiting Lan Zhan’s neighbour, he was visiting Lan Zhan, which means:

Lan Zhan fucks.

Lan Zhan fucks.

Lan Zhan fucks.

- Lan Zhan has been Wei Ying's best friend for years. Literally, years. How did he not already know? How has he missed this most important of facts? And more importantly, how is he ever going to get over it?

(My salivating comment upon the first read: ‘Ah I'm so glad I waited until you had finished posting the whole glorious thing so I could inhale it in one delicious go. Not that I did, I had to take a break twice, just so that it'd last longer, so I could live with it in my brain for a few hours more.’)

+ Meng Yao vs. the Board of the Homeowner's Association by Ariaste, Mature/114k (as of this post, series not concluded)

Two gremlins, their husbands, and the horrible HOA board. As long as nobody gets arrested for arson or murder, we're gonna call it a win.

(Mainly XiYao, with WangXian secondary, but this one is really about the ridiculously stupendously funny. As in, I discovered new sounds coming from myself, ever escalating levels of snortcackling.)

+ For a Good Time, Call by ScarlettStorm, Explicit/171k

The picture is of Wei Ying, that much is clear. It’s of a lot more of Wei Ying than Lan Zhan is used to seeing. He supposes that, technically, Wei Ying is dressed. It’s a bare technicality, since one of Wei Ying’s hands has rucked up his black tank top practically to his collarbone, showing a long expanse of abdomen and one nipple. Sweat beads on his sternum, catching the light like jewels. His other hand is--Lan Zhan feels his eyes widen, as though unable to look away from a train wreck--on his hip, one thumb tugging down the waistband of a pair of red briefs. Wei Ying is biting his lower lip and looking directly into the camera, sultry, his eyes dark and inviting. His erection is obvious, outlined against the red of the briefs and framed carefully with the hand on his hip. Lan Zhan’s brain goes wildly, screamingly blank.

Or: Lan Zhan accidentally finds his best friend's OnlyFans account and has an ongoing emotional crisis.

(This one has so much, the funny, the painful, the smut, it has such meaty substance to it. I get a craving every few weeks to re-read and it never fails to make my belly go swoop. ‘Just... one of the most satisfying reads EVER.’)

RPF

+ Fixtures and Fittings by ella_minnow, Explicit/42k

The client is tall and slim, the padded leather motorcycle jacket he wears adding artificial bulk to his upper body which angles sharply in to slender legs braced wide on either side of the bike. His face is fine-boned and delicate and -

Very, very familiar.

It’s a face that Xiao Zhan has seen daily for the last several months, although never in real life. No, he’s used to seeing it through his kitchen window, twelve feet tall on the billboard that graces the side of the building down the block from his apartment.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

It’s Wang Yibo.

(One of my very first loves in this fandom way back when; wonderfully engaging and detailed.)

+ The Scent of Happiness by mrsronweasley, Explicit/49k

He raises his head up at the drinks menu and that's when the guy behind the counter turns around and greets them both with a smile.

Oh.

Yibo is aware that he's staring, but he just. Can't stop. The guy is tall--taller than Yibo—with long hair tied loosely into a bun. Soft bangs cover his forehead, with longer tendrils framing the most beautiful face Yibo has ever seen on a human person. And Yibo has met a lot of beautiful human people.

(My flailing comment upon first reading: ‘Some moments you had me literally, physically breathless. I kept copypasting exceptionally exquisite sentences out to flail over their particulars but the list got too long. I feel like my ribcage has been cracked open and my heart is bigger after having read your gorgeous words.’ I think I enjoyed it.)

[plaidcladjuno]

The Untamed (MDZS/CQL) Fic Recs

Oh man. I’ve been reading SO. MANY. good—nay, great—fics ever since I got sucked into this fandom. I’m already doing my best to comment on them and to add them to my bookmarks on top of leaving kudos, but you know what, I’m also going to share the love and rec some of them here.

Let’s start with 5 for now, shall we?

(is there more to come? yes! soon? maybe! is this going to become a regular thing? who knows! don’t hold your breath, though, I’m not good at staying a. organized and b. committed) 

Note: I put a (?) next to the author’s name when I couldn’t find a Tumblr account for them. If they do have one, please tell me so I can @ them!

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch by aubreyli (?) WangXian | T | 20K | Post-Canon, Getting Together, Junior Quartet

Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”

“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”

“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.

(In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's... surprisingly effective.)

*stefon voice* This fic has everything: pining, the Junior ducklings, great great great writing. Ugh! I love it so much. It made me laugh, it made me sigh, it’s just one of the best post-canon WangXian get-together fics I’ve read. Have I already mentioned that it’s beautifully written? Yes? Well I’ll say it again: it’s so well-written, it filled me with both intense joy and deep writer envy.

by the light of the dark moon by iodhadh (?) SongXiao | 10K | M | Post-Canon, Yi City Fix-It

“No,” Xiao Xingchen bites out, the words like a whipcrack: “You can’t have him.”

He reaches for the resentment that lies buried in his heart, and rips it out into the world.

As far as Yi City Fix-It fics go (and God knows I’ve already read a number of them, I’m so soft for SongXiao but it also hurts so much 😭) this one does a great job of integrating as much of the events of Yi City as possible while still providing a satisfying and somewhat happy ending for SongXiao (and A-Qing!). It wrangles with original ideas and concepts (i.e. Xiao Xingchen turns to demonic cultivation to free Song Lan from Xue Yang’s clutches, but there’s more) and it’s got great characterizations and dynamics.

Misdirection by feenwitch (?) ZhuiLingYiZhen | 11K | M | Modern Setting, Magic / Night Hunts, Getting Together

Lan Jingyi had not anticipated quite so much kissing when he’d joined the premier cultivation agency in Gusu. As he understood it, he had joined a team responsible for suppressing and eliminating restless spirits and cursed items under the noses of the unsuspecting public. The job description hadn’t mentioned kissing at all, and it certainly hadn’t been covered in training.

And yet, it keeps happening. It just keeps happening.

Look, I’m a sucker for Junior shenanigans in all shapes and forms. Also, I have a particular soft spot for Jingyi and it’s always a delight to read a fic from his POV when it’s as well-written as it is here. There’s so much love for and between the Juniors in this, it’s just... #hearteyesemoji But what really sets this fic apart for me is the worldbuilding and in particular the mix of modern technology and magic used by the Juniors for night hunting, it’s so well-done and so interesting. 

Positive Reinforcement by @ghost--houses ChengYi | 8K | E | Modern Setting, Fluff, Humor

Jingyi sits up and finds himself looking Sandu right in the face. This is definitely a mistake; Sandu is already absolutely livid that Jingyi has had the gall to set foot into his home, and now he's barking like Jingyi looking at him is just rubbing it in.

“Sandu, come on, go lie down,” Wanyin tries. “Sorry.”

“It’s cool, I’m used to it.” Jingyi stands up, grabs his bag, and follows Wanyin further into the house. “Maybe he’ll get used to me this time?”

Wanyin makes a non-committal noise. Jingyi purses his lips, considering. He’s got all weekend, after all.

(Jingyi spends a long weekend with Jiang Wanyin, and decides to befriend his antisocial rat terrier, Sandu)

This is such a delightful read! I had never even considered this pairing before but Jiang Cheng and Lan Jingyi actually work so well together in this fic (while very much staying in character!) and now I have so many feelings about them. It’s a very fun, very entertaining read (Lan Jingyi’s voice is HILARIOUS, I actually giggled out loud more than once) full of love and, well, DOGS. Plus some actually sexy ~sexy times~.  What’s not to like?  Please please please do yourself a favor and check it out.

Uninvited by @theghostcaptain  SongXiao | 40K | E | Modern Setting, Case Fic, Established Relationship

A missing persons case takes a turn for the worse when bodies start showing up. Psychic medium Xiao Xingchen, police consultant, gets called in on the case, but soon notices things are not all they appear to be when an impossible creature starts haunting his visions.

When I saw the summary and tags for this one, I immediately downloaded it on my Kindle and snuggled up on the couch to read it all in one go, and I was not disappointed. It’s an engrossing read and I particularly enjoyed the care and attention that was paid to writing it from Xiao Xingcheng’s perspective as a blind (from birth) character. I loved his relationship with Song Lan too (they care so!! much!!) and the more explicit scenes between them are very hot. (That shower scene! Damn!) Plus, if you like this fic, there’s a couple more set in the same universe!