Summary: “A-Ying,” Lan Wangji says quietly, trying to gauge whether the boy is asleep. Even as the boy’s figure tenses and his head peaks out from the rest of his body to look around, he doesn’t stop shaking. His clothes are wet, Lan Wangji can see in the candlelight, clinging to his skin. Winter has not yet passed. The boy must be freezing.
“Hello?” A-Ying asks hesitantly, looking around. His eyes are big, but despite some suspicion in their depths, the boy mostly looks curious.
“Hello, A-Ying,” Lan Wangji says kindly. “I heard that you prayed to me.”
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a boy, a god and a rebellion against the empire
Kay's comments: THIS STORY!! I love it very much and I recently re-read it and it immediately had me hooked once again. This story really has everything. I loved the historical world building with the cultivation sects having fallen a thousand years ago and everyone living under the Wens' tyranny ever since, I loved God!Lan Wangji, who looks out for abandoned children and makes sure Wei Wuxian finds his way to the Jiangs, where he is raised as Jiang Cheng's and Jiang Yanli's personal servant, I absolutely adored Hanguang-Jun hypeman and the very best wing man Lan Jingyi and I loved how Lan Wangji didn't want to admit to himself that he had fallen in love with Wei Wuxian, very in-character for him. Also, the identity shenanigans were very fun!
Exerpt: “It is an honour to meet you, Lan- gongzi ,” Wei Wuxian says politely with another bow. “This lowly one is Wei Ying, courtesy Wuxian.”
“You have a courtesy name?” Lan Jingyi asks, surprised. Wei Wuxian is used to this surprise and doesn’t do anything other than nod. Lan Jingyi doesn’t pry either—must be the famous Lan restraint to abstain from gossip. “Come with me, I’ll show you to the guest dormitories.”
“Many thanks, Lan- gongzi ,” Wei Wuxian replies. Lan Jingyi takes him through the grounds with only a lantern to light the way. Wei Wuxian has missed his chance to explore, but still… “Lan- gongzi , may this one ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure,” Lan Jingyi says. When he shrugs, the lantern he’s carrying gets jostled and the light plays on the shadows around them.
“Is it true that the Cloud Recesses have the first temple that was built for Hanguang-jun?” Wei Wuxian asks. “And Zewu-jun?” he adds quickly, in case Lan Jingyi is offended that he’s included only one of them in his question.
Lan Jingyi’s face brightens up under the yellow light. “Yeah! Hanguang-jun is the best —and Zewu-jun, of course, but he’s not as cool as Hanguang-jun, although he’s so close. Zewu-jun and Hanguang-jun were the last cultivators to ascend to immortality before the shift into the Wen dynasty when the cultivation clans were wiped out. They were both sons from the direct family line in charge of the Lan Sect—Zewu-jun was the heir and then the sect leader when their father, Qingheng-jun, also ascended to the Heavenly Realm. Zewu-jun is the god who protects leaders and musicians—you may note that his statues always depict him playing the xiao—he’s a martial god regardless, like his younger brother, Hanguang-jun.”
Wei Wuxian knows all of this, but he doesn’t interrupt. Lan Jingyi sounds as excited to tell him about them as Wei Wuxian is to hear about Hanguang-jun again.
pov lan wangji, pov wei wuxian, canon divergence, god lan wangji, tgcf, tian guan ci fu fusion, historical, sunshot campaign, secret identity, identity porn, identity reveal, worship, angst with a happy ending, age difference, friends to lovers
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(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)
As part of the #SaveWillow campaign, here is a masterpiece Tanthamore trailer from @sand_dune_cat on twitter. I wish I could write an introduction half as incredible as their video, but I'll let it speak for itself.
fic: if you keep it just yours (Willow, Kit/Jade, E)
Home is a generous word for the space they share. Home implies - Kit thinks of warm sunshine through a kitchen window. Bread baking on the windowsill. Home is for the living. This isn't like that. Lair is such a strong word, laden with melodrama and seediness in a way that doesn't feel quite right. It's the place where Kit sleeps. Where Jade lives. Where Kit curls into Jade cool in her coffin at the break of each dawn, and where Kit wakes every evening. Their eternal resting place.
Kit slips in the front door in the hours before dawn, smelling like cheap liquor and blood and sex. Jade is waiting for her. She's reading in the nook on the landing; ankles crossed as she sits in the tasteful vintage armchair arranged there for just this purpose. In her hands is a small leather-bound volume that looks old, but well-loved, well-cared for. Just like everything else in this space.
"Did you eat?" Jade asks. Her voice is calm and even. She is the still eye to Kit's hurricane, ever-steady.
RQG request #34, just for you, yami. they match!!!!!
fineliner and permanent marker on cream paper, with digital colors.
ID under the cut!
[ID: a looping gif of zolf and wilde. it shows them drawn in a simple, line only style done with black permanent marker on yellow paper. zolf is on the left, and has short white hair, a beard done in a single plait, and is wearing a sweater and plain trousers folded belowe the knee. he's fat, is missing both legs below the knees, and is sitting on a wheelchair. he has a neutral face and is looking off to the left. wilde is on the right to, and he's tall, skinny, and has shoulder-length white hair that is wavy at the ends. his eyes are closed and he has a small smile. he has a long black coat draped over his shoulders, and has his arms crossed behind his back. he's wearing a turtle-neck white shirt, a vest, and black trousers and heeled shoes that blend into a single shape.
zolf's sweater and wilde's vest have digitally-applied matching patterns through which the gif loops. it starts with pink hearts on a red background, then yellow sparkles on a royal blue background, then yellow diamonds with pink outlines on a purple background, and lastly a green-and-yellow plaid motif. end ID]
My second Willow blog post is up! In this post I talk about the show overall and how it made me fall back in love with fantasy. It's such a fantastic show and I hope Disney decides to put it back on Disney+ one day. I don't necessarily need a second season, but the first season deserves some more attention.
After this shit start, danny did a fantastic job. And can we talk about how sexy it was to made decent times on this 43 old mediums? HOW????? I'm sorry that the first lap incident ruined possible points today. I'm sure he could manage to get at least 10th today. But next weekend danny... next weekend will be better <3
This year sure had some real lows for me but I think it’s also the year of new beginnings. It makes me really happy to see Les Normaux turn up again by the end of the year. Feels like reuniting with an old friend 💚
Also it might not show so much in the summary itself but I experimented a lot and I think I definitely improved quite a bit!
Happy 2023 everyone I hope it’s going to be a good one for all of us! ✨
To everyone who makes Willow edits or memes or art or fanfic (or podcasts celebrating that fanfic) I love you so so so much, you are what keeps me going, please never stop creating your magic
fic: the street heats the urgency of now (Willow, Kit/Jade, E)
The October full moon is wet and bleak, the saddest kind of late-autumn weather. The rain and wind have beaten away the fall foliage and left it in a soggy mess on the ground, slowly browning in piles in the gutter and along the forest trails. The longer nights coinciding with damp days have made the last few weeks feel like an endless expanse of blue-grey and brown, despite the rain-bright green of the cypress and hemlock and cedar high on the hills.
The winter wet has found them early this year. Meet me, Jade had whispered into the phone last night, and Kit's heart had leapt in spite of the practicalities of finding her clothes even a little bit dry the next day. Please.
Watching the BAFTAs right now and I'm so happy Del Toro's Pinocchio got Best Animated Film and the team behind the film was allowed to say 'Animation is an Art Form!'.