#happy birthday tianzi!

[geassgirls]

CODE BLACK in ASHFORD illustrations by Tabata Hisayuki

[lipid]

❤ Tianzi's birthday message on Genesic Re;CODE 🤍

Eh, what is this present? Ah! You remembered my birthday!

I can't believe that my friends are celebrating my birthday... I'm really, really happy...!

Um... um... Thank you for a wonderful birthday today...!

[stiltonbasket]

blue of sea, blue of sky

by stiltonbasket

The year Nie Mingjue turns twenty-three, he marries the youngest moon god, Lan Xichen.

(In which Lan Xichen is the Emperor of Night, Nie Mingjue is a humble fisherman, and Lan Jingyi is the half-mortal child growing up between them.)

As far as Nie Mingjue can remember, none of the stories about mortals falling in love with gods have ever ended well.

“They all end with the mortal lover dying, and the god grieving for eternity,” he grumbled, long before he knew just who—and what—his own best friend would grow up to be, someday. “Why do you like them so much, A-Huan?”

“Well, the moon goddess bestowed immortality upon her husband,” Lan Xichen laughed. “And though he could not join her, she could come when the moon was full, and visit him.”

 It is only later that he learns that the moon goddess from Xichen’s stories had married a young scholar and had two children with him; both sons, one human and one half-divine, and that the elder was fated to join his mother among the stars while his brother would remain on earth, with his father.

“That’s a sad story, too,” he complained—now with Xichen’s lips brushing his cheek, even though Mingjue’s skin smells of salt and the sea, and with their hands entwined on the soft grass beneath them as they gaze up at the sky. “She had to leave her husband, and now her son has to leave his didi.”

That last stung most of all, because Mingjue has a brother of his own, and leaving Huaisang would break him in a way that even his parents’ deaths never did.

“It doesn’t have to be,” his beloved whispered back. “Not for us, my heart.”

Perhaps it was then that Nie Mingjue knew the truth, but he refused to accept it until a year later, when Xichen finally kissed him goodbye on the prow of his little fishing boat and ascended in a blaze of silver starlight.

“I’ll bring something back for you,” Xichen said tenderly, dabbing the tears off Mingjue’s face. “Something very small and sweet, for you to remember me by until I can come to see you again.”

And then he could no longer doubt that his husband would return, because Xichen always keeps his oaths; and he keeps this one, too, descending on the tenth full moon after his departure with a drowsy infant in his arms.

“This is our son, beloved,” he smiles, as Nie Mingjue bows his head and soaks the baby’s sleeping face in tears. “His name is A-Yi.”

None of the other stories have happy endings, he thinks, when his newborn son fills the night with a wail that frightens away all the fish within a hundred yards of their boat. But this one—this one does!  

Lan Jingyi is four years old when he decides to find out why he can only see his A-Die once a month.

“Your A-Die is traveling far away,” his father tells him, bouncing him up and down in his lap while he takes apart a chicken carcass for soup. Father is very good at that, since he can disassemble birds and beasts and great fanged fish no matter how big or small they are, and then he makes delicious meat soups and stews in the kitchen with xiao-shushu’s help. “He can only come once a month. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Can we go see him?” Jingyi asks instead, chewing on a dirty spoon until his fuqin pokes his nose to make him stop. “Fuqin, I miss him.”

The look in his father’s eyes is very sad and far away, and sometimes he wonders how much Father must miss A-Die, if it hurts Jingyi so much to be without him.

“I miss him too, A-Yi,” Father sighs, kissing the top of his head. “More than you can imagine.”

Father misses A-Die with all his heart, so much that he covers the wall with charcoal sketches and paintings of him. He keeps them hidden with thick black curtains whenever anyone visits, though–to keep guests from losing their senses to A-Die’s divine beauty, Uncle Huaisang says, even though Jingyi insists that the whole world should know how pretty A-Die is.

“They already do!” Father laughs, when he says so for the tenth time. “Go ask anyone you know what the most beautiful thing in the heavens is, and you’ll see.”

Jingyi tries this out at school one day, and his teacher–Maiden Jiang, father always calls her, though Jingyi just calls her Aunty–tells him that the loveliest thing in the night sky is the full moon, fully risen and surrounded by twinkling stars.

“The stars come second,” she goes on, very seriously, as if Jingyi had begged her to fill his chubby little palms with treasure instead of just asking her a question. “But the moon rules the realm of night, just as Lord Sun rules the day.”

“You were right,” Lan Jingyi says to his father, when he gets home that afternoon. “Even Aunty Jiang knows that A-Die is the most beautiful person in the world, and she knows everything.”

And A-Die is the most beautiful person in the world, because when he visits, everything he touches glows silver and white like moonlight kissing the ground, and his skin is so smooth and fair that even Jingyi’s favorite bracelet–a first-birthday gift from his little uncle, strung with round beads made of mutton-fat jade–looks dingy and dark when he holds it up to his A-Die’s high forehead.

“Is this a present to remind me of my A-Yi?” A-Die laughs, cradling Jingyi close to his breast and covering his face with kisses. His dark hair slips over his shoulders and covers Jingyi’s back like a blanket, if blankets were cool and silky and soft and covered with little sparkling gems that nearly outshone the stars. “Then A-Die will wear it every day, to think of his little moonbeam.”

“No, no!” Jingyi giggles, snuggling deeper into his A-Die’s embrace. “A-Die has to give A-Yi presents. That’s the rules.”

“Hmm.” The soft gleam in A-Die’s eyes dances like light reflected on moving water, and he thrusts his soft hands into his pockets before pulling out–

“A bird!” Jingyi gasps and lets the little creature perch on his hand. It isn’t like the birds he sees every morning, but it sings even more sweetly than they do, and its wings are made of pure white snow with tiny carved-ice feathers. “Is he a real bird, A-Die? Can A-Yi give him a name?”

A-Die nods and pulls Jingyi even closer. “What will Jingyi call him, then?”

“Xiao-Bai,” he decides, missing the tender, loving looks his parents exchange over his head. “He will sleep on my pillow, and I will feed him Wei-shushu’s tianzi xiao. And chicken.”

Father makes a choking sound before throwing his head back and laughing, curving his arms around A-Die’s waist and pulling his magnificent head down onto his shoulder. “Perhaps you should try the roast duck in the kitchen, too,” he says merrily, his fingers entwining themselves with A-Die’s like vines curling into a knot. “Xiao-Bai might like it. What do you think?”

“No, Father! Jingyi wants it, so Xiao-Bai can’t have it.”

A-Die leaves before Jingyi wakes up the next morning, as usual, but there is a cool dent on his side of the bed, and Xiao-Bai is singing his jiujiu’s favorite lullaby on the windowsill. He wonders for a moment (as he always does) if A-Die was a dream, and if he was ever really here at all–but then Father comes back in with the laundry, and his lips are stained with sparkling stardust like frost on an early peach.

“There’s a new gift coming for you,” he says, helping Jingyi clean his face and hands before carrying him to the table. “Even nicer than your Xiao-Bai. Can you guess what it’s going to be?”

“A sword?”

“A-Yi is too young for a sword,” his father grins. “Guess again.”

“A dog?”

“Absolutely not, your Wei-shushu would drop dead on the spot and then Wangji would haunt me to the ends of the earth.”

“…Two dogs?”

“Jingyi!”

But on the next full moon, A-Die doesn’t bring him more snow-birds, or rattle-drums with stars for beads, or even a new puppy. He arrives on an icy winter night with a little bundle of blankets in his arms: a bundle with toes and two small hands and a pair of big round eyes, and Father gives the bundle a name of her own to go with his, and with Jingyi’s.

“We can’t call a baby Xiao-Bai, darling,” he says, when Jingyi pouts at his new sister and cuddles up against his A-Die. “We’ll call her Ying’er, for now, and when she’s bigger, we’ll call her Jueying.”

Lan Jueying, Jingyi thinks. It sounds a little sweet, like Lan Jingyi, and a little happy, and a little mischievous, too.

“….Do I have to share her with xiao-shushu? I won't! Papa can't make me!”

A-Die tries not to laugh, at that. “A-Yi!”

[angstymdzsthoughts]

Jiang bell anon here! OMG, I loved all these answers! NOW, MORE ANGST: Xicheng now know the truth, LJY is their son, their REAL son, but like 2 or 3 years later... In that time, LJY tried to talk to Xicheng million times, only to be rejected because Xicheng had now their "real son" so they didn't feel like they had to speak to LJY anymore, in fact, they believed that it might be better if they go in different ways. (1)

LJY is not happy anymore, all these years trying to impress his paren-No, he is not worthy of calling them like that... LQR is the one who discovers the truth: The elder took Jin Ling's bell to make it reject LJY. That only makes things worse cuz the young man Xicheng found was abused in his old house and can't find the courage to tell him that he is not the real heir, he's so happy to have loving parents! (2) (Let's call the fake son Bai to make things easier) Jiang Bai has never been this happy in his life. He never knew why his old family was so cruel with him but now he can imagine why! He was the son of Sect Leaders Jiang and Lan, no wonder why his cultivation is stronger than other boys his age. In the time he's been at Cloud R, Papa Huan has spoiled him rotten and Father Cheng always keeps an arm around his shoulders while they talk for hours about the Jiang family. (3) The day LQR tells Xicheng the truth is Jiang Bai's (and LJY) birthday, they are organizing the biggest party Cloud R has ever seen for their baby son cuz he only deserves the best. LQR's ruthless, he's mad at them for neglecting LJY, even if LJY wasn't their real son, they spent years believing that! Jiang Bai is happy, playing outside with cousin JL and Tianzi, oblivious of the truth. In that moment, a disciple is screaming for help, it is LSZ! (4) His arm is bleeding, but he doesn't care! Wangxian and LJY need help! A powerful pack of beasts attacked them on their way back to Cloud R, only LSZ could escape to ask for help. LQR, Xicheng and other disciples fly on their swords while LSZ is leading the way. Only to find Wangxian heavily injured and LJY in his last moments. Jiang Bai is sad, he liked LJY even if they weren't close friends, but what is this weird feeling in his chest when he see his parents crying and hugging for that boy? (5)

[q--uee--n]

Presenting Part 2 of my Post-Zero Requiem headcanons/notes! I’m so happy the others were well-received, and I hope these will be, too. Enjoy:) 

Nunnally 

• never for a second contemplates hating Suzaku for his role in her brother’s death. Though she was admittedly bitter, those feelings are later targeted toward Lelouch for leaving her behind in a “perfect world”. So long as he isn’t around, the world will never be perfect in her eyes. 

 • is one of the youngest ever rulers of Britannia. This, coinciding with the fact that she actively used  F.L.E.I.J.A. in the past, leads to questions about her competence and fidelity. However, she proves herself an effervescent, warm-hearted empress who is determined to make up for the many, many faults of her predecessors. She starts by improving Britannia’s egregious foreign policy and establishing a stable Parliament. It’s hard work, but that’s how she prefers it since it’s also her own way of repenting for her past sins.  

• never regains her ability to use her legs, and she hates being patronized due to her crippled state. War and politics have hardened her some, so she rarely hides her feelings to make people comfortable when she isn’t and doesn’t hesitate to tell others when they’re acting condescending. In the earlier stages of her reign, she frequently has to remind Suzaku that she isn’t a glass doll or a helpless little girl.   

• her official residence is in Japan. She remained there during Pendragon’s reconstruction, and though she knows she’ll more than likely have to move back to Britannia someday, she can’t help but consider Japan her true home. It was where she and her brother lived and made their first friends, and despite the circumstances, some of her happiest childhood memories are there. 

 • becomes close friends with Kaguya due to their being so young and so involved in the affairs of the world. They meet for lunch whenever they can find the time and host pajama parties where they gossip about their older contemporaries and how nonsensical they behave. The Tianzi joins them once she gets a little older, and she has dirt on everyone. Seriously, the girl has ears everywhere. Do. Not. Mess. With. Her. She will destroy you with what she knows alone.  

• bequeaths hefty amounts of money to humanitarian organizations each month, despite being advised to donate less, and was key in helping Kallen and her mother's charity get off the ground. 

 • develops a guilt complex. It's why she overcompensates to the point that she does, even though she's accepted that no matter how hard she works, nothing she'll do will make up for the lives she's ruined. 

 • goes to therapy sooner or later to sort out her issues, but it's at Kaguya's behest because "my cousin doesn't even vilify himself the way you vilify yourself—and pardon me because he absolutely does. But my point still stands." She's reluctant to share her feelings at first, but once she does, she doesn't stop. She reaches a point where she stops blaming everything wrong with the world on herself, which is a huge step-up from where she started. 

 • takes an interest in fashion. It starts off as a means of distraction from her less pleasant thoughts, but she quickly embraces it. She vigorously designs and sews in her free time, and it isn't unusual for servants to find sketches of gorgeous ensembles in the most random places in the palace. She's also quite efficient at styling, Suzaku being her favorite model due to her finding his fit physique the most fun to work with. 

 • visits her brother's grave once a year, on his birthday. Suzaku and Arthur are her lone companions. It starts off as a morbid affair, but as Zero Requiem grows into the distance, it gets significantly more lighthearted as she allows herself to let go. Her favorite thing to do is "show" Lelouch her designs, as well as update him on the progress the world has made in wake of his sacrifice. 

• never quite accepts Lelouch's death as much as she just moves on because she knows he wouldn't want her to spend the rest of her life mourning him. Still, anniversaries of his death are hard for her to get through since she has to pretend she hates him as much as the rest of the world does. Kaguya's kind enough to let her cry into her lap when it all gets to be too overwhelming. 

 • the first person she falls in love with is a commoner and is unattainable for multifarious reasons. The second person she falls for is more accessible but oh-so oblivious.  

 • her moniker is the "Champion of Peace". 

Kaguya 

• mellows out considerably and loses a lot of her fangirl tendencies. Her straightforward attitude, though, is still intact, and you either like her or you don't—at least that's the case for her fellow politicians. Her charisma and natural appeal guarantee that's she's well-received by the public. 

• figured out Lelouch's motives the second he was killed and is irritated that the world hasn't and likely never will. As a result, she holds the few memories she has of him as a child close to her heart. 

• difficult to work with, but that's only because her adult peers should know better than to underestimate a teenager who runs three-fifths of the planet, and Kaguya never backs down when challenged. The most irking thing is said to be that she does it all with a smile.

• though she's grateful she and Suzaku are on speaking terms again, she is every so often overwhelmed by his affection and attention. She wonders if that was how Zero felt in regards to her. 

• finds every opportunity she can to make Nunnally smile. She can sense the sadness permeating her being and thus makes it her life's goal (one of them, anyway. Never let it be said that the girl isn't ambitious) to maintain her friend's happiness. 

• is a contributing (anonymous) writer for Zero Weekly, because duh. Her articles are popular due to their being quality garbage, and she once wrote a think piece alleging that Zero was the second coming of Christ that generated so much controversy, it was denounced by multiple religious sects. The situation got so out of hand, Nunnally herself had to come out and declare that there were more important matters to discuss than whether or not Zero should be worshipped as a deity. Kaguya regrets nothing. 

• is eventually introduced to Milly, and they hit it off immediately, something made possible due to their peculiar senses of humor and mutual love of gossip investigative journalism. Kallen tries in vain to keep them apart, but they prove too incorrigible to manage. 

• forms an unexpectedly close bond with C.C. Often times she doesn't even understand it, but there's plenty of wisdom to go around, which is why they work so well. She discovers C.C.'s name by accident but doesn't disclose it out of respect, no matter what Kallen does to try to get her talk. 

• remains petite even into her adulthood. Unlike Nunnally, who doesn't grow much in terms of height but does fill out some, she is forever tiny and diminutive. She isn't overly happy about it. 

• fully anticipates Suzaku's reaction the first time she tells him, " I love you". Hence why she ensures they're in private when she says it. 

Milly 

• quits anchoring and becomes a full-fledged journalist. She loves the thrill of research and investigation, especially when it comes to digging up information that shouldn't be accessible under any circumstance. 

• discovers Zero's identity after launching a months-long investigation into Zero in general and the events leading up to Zero Requiem. She's not surprised so much as she is relieved, because she could never quite bring herself to hate Suzaku or Lelouch as she should have, and once she learns the full truth, most of it, that is, she's ecstatic. Confused ("I get making up for his sins and all, but couldn't he have become the Emperor of Justice or something elegant like that instead of, say, using a contrived dictatorship as a means to force the world to unite? I mean, there were other ways to accomplish that") but ecstatic nonetheless. 

• chooses to make Japan her permanent home, defying the wishes of her parents, who wanted her to move back to the homeland with them. She learns fluent Japanese and extensively covers the decolonization of Japan and other states formerly under Britannian occupation. 

• is the proud(ly anonymous) founder of the infamously hedonistic Zero Weekly. It starts as a jocular thing she uses to entertain herself, but when the subscribers come pouring in...Well, she still uses it to entertain herself, but it's a very beneficial source of entertainment. 

• one of, if not the most controversial name in journalism. Her work has sparked outrage from just about everyone, and her most debated project was one that revealed a good chunk of the stories circulated to emphasize Lelouch's wickedness to be false. However, the one thing that people can agree on is that she never excuses his wrongs so much as she puts them into perspective.  

• after revitalizing their friendship, if you can call it that, her favorite pastime is teasing Suzaku. It astonishes her that despite everything that's happened, he can still be so easily flustered if she pushes the right buttons (such as when she brings up Kallen being his supposed "paramour"). Seeing glimpses of the Suzaku she knew reminds her of the short but pleasant time they spent together at Ashford Academy. 

• met C.C., once upon a time. They sat beside each other on a crowded bus, and Milly couldn't shake the familiarity radiating off of the other woman in waves. The incident bothers, even after she's officially introduced to C.C. through Suzaku, because she knows this girl. She just doesn't know how or where from. 

• begins a matchmaking business as a side job—aka what she does whenever she's suspended from the real thing, which is often (some people have no sense of humor). She initially does it because she's bored and nosy and needs an outlet, but she quickly discovers she likes meddling in others' love lives. Unfortunately, no one else seems to be as appreciative of her newfound hobby, but hey, at least Rakshata and Cecile seem happy.