#MDZS ficlet

[sasukimimochi]

.✦ Blackened Wings. (Pt 1) - Happy Halloween!! 🦇

WC - 1080 ( .MDZS Bat flock AU✦. )

Summary: The siege of burial mounds was set, but upon arrival none were found- all belongings left behind besides the clothes on their backs and Wei Wuxian's scripts. When there is nothing else left behind and no traces to find, what more is there to do than move on?

Timeline: Post first siege on the timeline. Wens/WWX did not die in the seige, and are completely off the map.

Prompt 26, for my Writing/Drawing Challenge- Animal.

.✦

Lan Wangji had been spending a great amount of time with the bats that had chosen to roost under his roof- he knew it wasn’t good practice to be in close contact with them, but he felt especially attached to them since they showed up not too long after Wei Wuxian’s and the Wens disappearance.

He was, of course, distraught. Absolutely devastated and worried- but he was very much wounded, so what could he do in such a state? When he went there to see, there really had been nothing left of them. All of their belongings were still there besides the clothes that were likely still on their backs, and Wei Wuxian’s inventions. 

The assumption was, despite months of searching, that they had all died, ran away, or the most nausea inducing, been secretly done away with or decided to die together on their own terms. There was just no evidence, nothing- it was like they were spirited away. 

Like they never existed.

Lan Wangji had drank that night. So much so that he thought he might disappear too- his brother had brought him home safely though, somehow.

He’d spent the next few nights trying to sneak out, being brought home and at one point even restrained- his family didn’t want him to go on a search for someone they considered evil, but especially when injured and having no leads- he didn’t care. However all he was allowed was time sitting on his deck, the night sky all he had to keep himself from going completely out of touch.

He could remember stories that Wei Wuxian told him as he looked at the stars- how he hoped his parents were two of those very ancient lights watching over him- on a long past anniversary of his mother’s passing.

And then…they came from that sky.

A somewhat large, black and red bat with a group of small white bats- he hadn’t ever seen the small white kind before, but the larger one looked kind of like a flying fox. It was large, but it wasn’t as big as some he’d seen- which made him think it was a different breed than those he’d seen in the past. Its wingspan was impressive, but its body was smaller than a cat’s. The small ones could fit in his palm if they allowed him to hold them, with sunburst orange details and dark gray wings, accented by that same golden color mixed with a light, delicate red on the outer fold of their wings. The smallest of them had an especially brilliant hue and a lovely fluffy white coat, and was the friendliest of the bunch. A baby, he presumed.

He’d focused on them, watching them hang from the beams and all huddle up inside the larger’s wings in what he assumed to be to stay warm. It was still chilly at night, and the white bats were quite small- and as they were white primarily they likely didn’t get a lot of heat retention. The larger bat though was the one who shivered. The smaller ones would huddle close, and eventually the larger one would fall asleep for a short time.

So he watched them, and stopped trying to run away. For some reason the bats stuck around, and one of the smaller ones especially loved to fly over to him and hang off his robes, sit on his shoulder or on his head. The larger one would quickly follow as if worried, but would stay as well when treated to pets and figs. It turned out even the smaller ones ate fruit as well, which he found unusual. He’d never met such small bats that didn’t eat insects and rather ate fruit.

It became his reason to keep going day to day, the only reason he didn’t rush off with his injured body looking for the one he loved. He had to stay here as long as he was injured, but he felt the time was easier now, spending time with his bats.

“A-Ying,” Lan Wangji whispered to the large bat, watching as its head turned to him expectantly. These bats were so smart, and the little things this one did reminded him of all the cute characteristics Wei Wuxian had. Rubbing its nose with its wing, tilting its head when told something curious. He still remembered the angry flapping accompanying a quite squeaky, chittery shriek the bat had made when his uncle had gotten too close to the little white bat. Those two seemed bonded, despite the little one appearing to have some sort of family amongst the other white bats left.

“Is it alright if I name your little one too?” Lan Wangji asked softly, watching as it leaned forward to give him a little lick on the nose with its soft little tongue. He exhaled quietly like an attempt of a laugh despite the exhaustion, listening to the soft mewling and chirps that sounded like real laughter to him.

“What about ‘Sizhui’?”

The bat moved its head back as if it truly understood the words, mouth slightly ajar with its head tilting ever so slightly and eyes wide- as if he was looking into his heart with those dark eyes.

“It is from a poem…do you want to hear?”

The bat chittered quietly in response.

“Yearning for but cannot chase after you, longing for someday when you will return.” He looked outside briefly, where the bats usually were roosting. The bats however were roosting in the corner of his room where it was warm, except for the littlest one currently hooked into his lapels. “It loosely means ‘chasing memories’, or another: ‘to yearn for’.” He gently scratched under the large bat’s jaw, watching its ears vibrate with happiness to the affection, but still stare at him so closely. It was unusual to see the bat this focused.

“Do you like it?”

The bat gently booped their noses together and wiggled its ears again, the soft little clicks bringing the corner of his mouth up, however tired it was. “Little Sizhui then.” 

He paused, remembering the boy that followed at Wei Wuxian’s heels. He called the boy little radish, didn’t he? He missed them so much…

He hadn’t realized he had started to drift to sleep until he felt something soft gently wiping away the tears he hadn’t known he shed. His eyes cracked open just slightly, and he could have sworn he saw pale anthracite blue looking back at him.

✦.

Hope you guys enjoy Halloween! I took time to finish most of chapter 28 instead of working on the second part for this, but just so you know its basically a second perspective with perhaps a bit more addition. It'll be for prompt 18 "Love."! I will hopefully have another part to show you guys before long, but for now i hope you enjoy this ! 🦇 💖

I did a very quick sketch with it, but I apologize cuz it doesn't look too great hahaha I'm just trying to get ahead so I can't spend time on side stuff too much. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! eat lots of candy and enjoy some halloween movies etcetc!!

.✦.👻🦇💀🎃🍬🍭🍫🌙✨✦. *

Read More MDZS stuff I've written or look at more MDZS stuff I've drawn in my masterpost! ❤

-

Random Information about this au:

WWX turned himself and the Wens into bats together to “disappear”. The bats start roosting under the edge of the Jingshi roof in the corner and LWJ watches them during his recovery days. He thinks it's in his head that two of them remind him of wwx & wy but doesn't care - he protects them now, and even a bit of the vice versa.

WWX is a fruit bat (I felt like a flying fox would be too big), and the wens are Honduran white bats. They are seen as a flock, despite WWX presenting as a different breed. They CAN change at will, except for Wen Yuan which WWX keeps tight control of because he’s a kid and accidents can happen. They don’t though, so the Lans assume they are all just regular bats that have taken a liking to the Jingshi roofing.

(Extra: convo excerpts when developing, it won't be completely cohesive):

Sasu: Someone is mean to LWJ (forcing him to accept liquor, etc etc) bat wwx pops out and starts squeaking at them from inside his lapels. It scares em off (works almost everytime).

A-Yuan is still little so he stays on LWJs shoulder half the time (tucked under wwx wing the rest of the time).

Yuyu: “Pristine cultivator Hanguang-Jun” chilling in front of his uncle who’s seething. Cause there’s two bats on his nephew; One is chewing his ribbon.

Yuyu: Would be funny if only wwx was the big bat and all the wens and a-yuan were just-

A tiny mob of fluffs under his wing

Sasu: jfhshfjfj beautiful, I like the idea. Maybe not a flying fox size cuz that's huuuuuuge but fruit bat. still big enough!

Yuyu: Everyone in Gusu just sighs as they now not only got “totally not pets” bunnies but bats too. Wangji privilege smh

I like to imagine Qiren is like….slightly afraid of the larger bat

Sasu: all the Lans start to like the small bat flock tho cuz the big one brings bugs and fruits to the small ones

they also don't poop there which is a plus xD

I'm sure they wouldn't like guano on Gusu paths

Yuyu: Omg.

Maybe one of the smaller bats got stuck in Qiren’s closets or something 

And well….

Qiren might explode

Sasu: jfhsgdjfb LMAO LWJ is just like “why did you close them in there” and just babies the bat and feeds it a berry or smth

Yuyu: The lost bat was a-yuan ಥ_ಥ Hence wwx was just panicking flying everywhere

Sasu: I think wwx woulda led them to the closet and just sqUEAK

Qiren: "no u cant get in there!" but then heard the other squeaks gjhsgxjf

LWJ just following them around like what's wrong and that's how he ends up on the scene jfjshdhf much bat cuddles after that

Yuyu: wlskjheiocewin one day LWJ just full on cuddles bat wwx like a plushy and wwx bat is just (a bunch of flustered emojis) And all the other bats are just looking at him from the other side of the room like e u e

Sasu: HAHAHAHA they know they for sure know- god I'm dying a little imagining LWJ petting wwx slowly while he's going to sleep like he's a cat (and falls asleep with his hand on him)

Yuyu: God imagine if that’s how he poofs back into a human- /jk

Sasu: ignshdjfn fruits basket style. imagine he wakes up and sees the bat replaced with wwx nods

Yuyu: Wwx has not dared to move all night

Sasu: wwx panic shifts back into a bat and LWJ wonders if he was seeing things

Yuyu: Just eyes his water next to his bed all suspiciously……"did i accidentally drink"

Sasu: hfhsbdjd - he starts calling the bat a-ying (cuz wei ying would be too on point) and the bat seems a little flighty so he's like ‘did i catch smth’ nfhshdjjf he's sus but also doubtful haha ‘maybe i offended him’

aw but imagine he like recognizes mannerisms in bat wwx that human wwx would do, like rubbing his wing over his nose a lot, having human like expression and these squeaks that seem like laughter (and he of course gets scary or protective depending on who he's with) so he act like air puppy sometimes or shows his teeth at other times and he likes to wrap his wings over LWJs shoulders to have a full body rest

Yuyu: A living blanket

Sasu: mn, living blanket with claws

Yuyu: Lwj has learned not to voice this opinion out loud or the bat gets upset (A puppy! Of all things)

Sasu: kfhsgzcjfj hahaha- that’s just the term for fruit bats they’re nicknamed air puppies. I don't think LWJ would call him that, maybe some juniors tho haha

Yuyu: Jingyi

Sasu: pft haha Jingyi bonds with bat a-yuan nods the bat LWJ personally named Sizhui because he is small and reminds him of the little boy wwx once cared for owo

so a-yuan is a shoulder bat for Jingyi a lot when he's in his kid years

Jingyi says he's his best friend and has to be convinced to leave the bat at home when training dnhdgshsj

Yuyu: Mo Xuanyu lives in this? I can imagine him being absolutely infatuated with the bats, also hilarious if he looks at wwx bat for like 1 min and is just ... leans in whispering, Yiling Patriarch!?

Sasu: wwx, internally: that's my name don't wear it out

wwx, outside: angry bat flutters

how would he recognize tho

vkjdhdj hahaha

Yuyu: Haah love bats, wonderful stuff

Sasu: Bats are the best (❁´◡`❁) ❤

[bibookdemon]

So, I know I've introduced my werebnnuy Wei Wuxian au to yall, at least the art, but I'm craving some fluff rn so. Here yall go:

Lan Sizhui found himself drifting, sleepy, but not enough to actually close his eyes fully. They were drooping, begging to succumb to sleep, but they just wouldn't. His hands idly played with the soft toebeans on one large, monstrous paw of the creature currently cleaning him. The beans were not rough, despite the fact that they were walked on almost every day over long distances. They were not solid either, an almost jelly-like thickness making it possible for him to jiggle the masses of pawpad. It was quite the satisfying thing, really, and judging by the way the creature's chest and throat rumbled happily, it was for him, as well.

A tongue began to work at his messy hair, tangled from an impromptu night hunt just an hour or so prior. His father, Wei Wuxian, had seen him, glanced to his other father, Lan Wangji, nervously, than hurried him off to a nearby field to get clean. He'd shifted into his wererabbit form, scooped Lan Sizhui against his chest with his paws resting carefully in front of him to make a sort of nest, and set to work.

Lan Sizhui enjoyed the warmth of his father being close by, the way he could move the giant paws with little effort, pulling them into his lap and making a sort of security blanket. He wasn't so fond of Wei Wuxian's rough tongue working out the tangles in his hair, but at least he tried his best not to cause pain.

His hair was soon sorted out. Wei Wuxian dropped his head to snuffle at his neck playfully, tickling the skin with his fur. Lan Sizhui giggled at his father's antics. His heart warmed at the fact that he was finally getting this experience with his other father. There was so much time to be made up for, and he knew Wei Wuxian was doing his absolute best to do just that. He spent any time he could with Lan Sizhui, stealing him away to play in the fields or help Lan Wangji feed the bunnies (the regular ones, that was) or race through the mountains in his wererabbit form with Lan Sizhui clinging to his back. Occasionally they'd even sneak out of the Cloud Recesses to explore the town below. Even though Lan Sizhui was sure he'd tasted and seen everything there by now, it was always a new adventure when it was with his father.

As Wei Wuxian settled himself and pulled Lan Sizhui closer to curl up around him for a nap, Lan Sizhui couldn't help but sigh contentedly.

The past had caused him a great deal of grief, but the present had gently wiped his tears and cradled him.

He was at peace.

...

Please talk to me about werebnnuy au I will love you forever and ever 👉👈

[depressinglwjthoughts]

Teenage Lan Wangji internally screaming, crying and punching the wall through the day and night as he thinks about Wei Wuxian. So close but so unattainable, so bright but so endlessly frustrating (for multiple reasons). And there Lan Wangji was, all by himself as he finally sat with the pent up anger, sadness and longing he had for Wei Wuxian. Coming to the final realisation that he isn't normal and never will be.

[antebunny]

find me in the future

After so many reincarnations and reunions, Wei Wuxian’s soul is so attuned to Lan Zhan’s soul that all it takes for Wei Wuxian to remember his past lives is making eye contact with Lan Zhan. He never remembers a life before the first one where he met Lan Zhan, which is probably for the best. You have to start somewhere. 

Of course, as the centuries fly by and Wei Wuxian collects reincarnations like Pokemon cards (fantastic new invention, he’s finally born in the right century!), it takes longer and longer for him to recalibrate to centuries of memories getting dumped into his previously innocent nine-year-old brain. (Always nine years old. Can’t ever get away). 

This is Wei Wuxian’s excuse for why he doesn’t immediately run to Lan Zhan after making eye contact with him on a crowded street. Well, one of many excuses. There’s also the part where he’s a tiny little nine-year-old orphan (again?!) tossed between the bodies of many, many stampeding adults, all attempting to reach for Lan Zhan. He’s above them, of course; Lan Zhan cultivated to immortality so long ago that now he doesn’t walk, he glides, or floats, or flies. The result is the same: the god-like light-bearing lord appearing before his people, who fall over themselves (and Wei Wuxian) in their eagerness to be blessed by his presence. 

By the time Wei Wuxian struggles to the front of the crowd, Lan Zhan is long gone. 

Okay, so here’s his problem: Wei Wuxian is not immortal. Mo Xuanyu’s body, if it ever possessed the potential to cultivate to immortality (doubtful), had that potential beaten out long before Wei Wuxian came to own it. Unfortunately, back then, he and Lan Zhan, still young and naive (ha, funny what perspective time gives you), truly believed that with enough effort he could succeed where so many had failed. 

Instead, Lan Zhan was forced to watch as his beloved withered, wrinkled and finally grew still while he remained as pristinely young adult as ever. To make matters worse, Jiang Cheng also cultivated to immortality, proving that Wei Wuxian’s original golden core had that capability. The ensuing guilt from both of them–Jiang Cheng for having Wei Wuxian’s core, Lan Zhan for encouraging Wei Wuxian to cultivate to immortality with him–and loneliness as the only two immortals of their generation brought the two of them together, which Wei Wuxian still thinks is kind of cute. They’re like frenemies now, who know how to work with each other instinctively and will defend each other to the death (or a death–no, bad Wei Wuxian, not funny) but still hate each other’s guts. 

Over the centuries Wei Wuxian has been reborn as just about every type of person. Some lived entire lives without ever even hearing of Lan Zhan. Some never learned to write, much less cultivated a golden core, some were widely beloved, some were scorned, and some found their way back to Lan Zhan.

If Wei Wuxian is being completely honest–and he’d never share this brutal honesty with any of his loved ones–those lives are the worst. Inevitably, Wei Wuxian’s new body lacks the capability to cultivate to immortality, and his loved ones who have are all forced to watch for the thousandth time as Wei Wuxian sputters and stalls until his body inevitably gives out and he dies. Old age, Wei Wuxian has come to learn through vast unwanted experience, is an unlucky way to go. No, better to go out in a blaze of glory, for a cause or for a people. The death is temporary and he will be remembered by people who love him. Making his loved ones watch his slow demise when he knows that he will never reach immortality in this lifetime is nothing short of torture.  

Perhaps that’s why it is such a surprise when little nine-year-old Wei Wuxian (Zhang Xinyin, or William Zhang, in this lifetime, he’s Chinese again but he speaks Cantonese now for a total of twelve languages, nice) hunkers down in a quiet little corner of the orphanage and discovers that this body has the highest potential to cultivate to immortality of any body he’s ever had, including his original. 

The practice of cultivation fell out of use many, many centuries ago. Wei Wuxian is on his own for this one. The good news is that he’s an expert at forming a golden core at this point, perhaps more than anyone else in the world. So all Wei Wuxian has to do is find a stable way of life for the next decade or so, which supports a child practicing an esoteric art like his life depends on it, and then he can worry about finding his family.

That is, of course, easier said than done. 

“Will! Hey, Will!” 

Wei Wuxian startles out of meditation (if only Lan Zhan could see him now) when he hears one of his new friends calling his name (well, one of many). He had spread a blue rubber yoga mat out on the green concrete rooftop, hoping to find some peace and quiet wherein he could meditate and nurse that slowly-budding golden core in his chest. 

Freckles, or Ruddy, or Rush, or Chen, pokes his little cherub-like face over the roof edge. (Everyone Wei Wuxian’s age–biological age–looks like a little baby child to him, and everyone in the world seems impossibly young. It helps that he likes kids, and they tend to like him). 

“What troubles you?” Wei Wuxian calls as he stands up.

So the last time he learned English it was quite different, okay? Sue him. He’s relearning it. 

“You’re so weird,” Chen informs him as he picks his way between cracks and loose sand and dust. “Were you meditating again?”

“Yes.” Wei Wuxian pounds a fist to his chest twice. “I will be stronger than anyone. You will see.”

Chen only rolls his eyes. “Okay, Bruce Lee. Anyways. Lynch is asking for you.”

A very nice white lady who is unfortunately named Ms. Lynch came to volunteer at their school to teach. Wei Wuxian likes her, and to his surprise he likes the woman who runs the orphanage too. He’s had a bad run with orphanages in the past but this one is okay. No funding, of course, and understaffed, but Wei Wuxian doesn’t need adult supervision. (Somewhere on a different continent, Jiang Cheng sneezes loudly). 

“Yeah? Whatever for?” Wei Wuxian follows Chen down the ladder and misses Chen rolling his eyes again.

“Dunno, go find out.” 

Wei Wuxian takes a few shortcuts on his way through the school building. He goes to public school, of course, as do all the kids from the orphanage, but Wei Wuxian is their star. A shining example of what orphans can be if they apply themselves. The kids all think he’s weird, which is fair, because he is, but the (other) adults think that Wei Wuxian is a studious little goody-two shoes. The truth is that Wei Wuxian has learned how to solve problems discreetly and how to cause trouble without getting caught. And that he’s only well-adjusted in the sense that he’s had dozens of childhoods; one more isn’t going to mess him up too terribly. 

Ms. Lynch is poking around her computer (absolutely amazing new invention, Wei Wuxian was definitely reborn in the right century) when Wei Wuxian skids to a stop by her desk. 

“Hello, Ms. Lynch.” Wei Wuxian beams in a way that he knows she loves. “Chen said you were asking for me?”

Ms. Lynch closes out of a few tabs and turns in her swivel chair (another great new invention), brushing straw brown hair behind thick plastic glasses. “Yes, I heard that you have been trying to learn cultivation all by yourself, can I ask what sparked your interest?”

Wei Wuxian shrugs. “It seemed interesting.” He really wants to become immortal this lifetime in order to save people who he cares about deeply a lot of grief. “It’s fun.” 

“I see.” Ms. Lynch clearly isn’t satisfied with this answer, but she nods and smiles all the same. “You know, I wrote about the ancient practices of cultivation for my senior thesis, and it’s quite dangerous to do without supervision. Have you considered joining a class?”

“Uh.” Well, actually, Wei Wuxian could teach that class better than probably anyone else in the world, except maybe for Jiang Yanli, but it’s irrelevant because he certainly doesn’t have the money to afford it. “Noooo?”

“Hm.” Ms. Lynch smiles again, in a gently disapproving kind of way. “Well, I know that they can be expensive and quite a hassle, but I just wanted to make sure that you aren’t taking anything you learn from the internet about it too seriously. A lot of it is misleading and you can really harm yourself.”

Wei Wuxian is fighting for his life on the Wikipedia pages for cultivation. First, because he’d hoped that leaving some kind of coded message there could catch the attention of someone in his family and lead to them finding him. When that didn’t work, Wei Wuxian started combating misinformation (a losing battle) while having the reputation of that Wikipedia editor who put random gibberish in for fun. 

“Oh, I’m not,” Wei Wuxian chirps. “It’s all for fun, Ms. Lynch. I promise I’m not doing anything dangerous.”

“Okay, I believe you,” Ms. Lynch says, mostly sincerely. “I don’t mean to discourage you. It’s wonderful to see you taking an interest. Most kids your age have no interest in stuff like that.”

What she means is that cultivation is the ancestral practice and cultural heritage of his people. Because Wei Wuxian was born into the right social group: there are maybe a couple hundred thousand of his people spread across the globe, in little diaspora communities with varying levels of wider acceptance. Wei Wuxian’s family–the ones who have cultivated to immortality–are their leaders. Mysterious, reclusive figures who almost never interact with outsiders yet are beloved within their communities for how steadfastly they’ve protected them over the centuries. A lot of people outside the community think they’re a cult, which is probably fair, all things considered. 

It’s funny. Wei Wuxian has never been closer and yet never felt further from his family than this lifetime. A real chance of cultivating to immortality, a place in the only group of people with access to the famed (or rumored) immortals, and his reputation has never been better; his people celebrate his birthday every year (or they celebrate the excuse to party, same difference) and pray for his reincarnation. Yet if he–William Zhang–claimed to be the legendary Wei Wuxian’s reincarnation, no one would believe him. They’d ignore him as a loud-mouthed kid, at best. At worst, well, Wei Wuxian isn’t going to test that. In no situation would they–the community leaders–reach out to the immortals on his word. 

Instead, Wei Wuxian slinks back to the bedroom he shares with Chen and two other boys (he doesn’t miss being a girl, but damn could they keep a room clean) and wonders if Sizhui has gotten Lan Zhan an iPhone yet.

Maybe it’s for the best, Wei Wuxian tells himself. Reuniting with his family while in the body of a child will be awkward. Especially with Lan Zhan, who has been attracted to Wei Wuxian in whatever body they reunited in but is obviously not attracted to children. Wei Wuxian is not looking forward to spending years lusting after his own damn husband while Lan Zhan can only see a child. Yes, it’s definitely for the best.

Even if Wei Wuxian is terribly lonely. 

So the years pass. Wei Wuxian cultivates a golden core, gobbles up modern slang like he was born for it, learns how to code in Python, and enters high school with an end goal: immortality by age twenty-four. The current record-holder is Wen Qing, who cultivated to immortality at the ripe old age of twenty-five, the lucky bastard. She reincarnated in the 1500s into the perfect set of circumstances: a second-eldest son of a wealthy family who practiced cultivation. Her family patriarch was one of the community elders who semi-regularly communicated with the immortal cultivators. The year when Wen Qing was brought along for the first time, Wen Ning took one look at her and said “jiejie” and that was that.

Obviously, Wei Wuxian has to beat her record. 

Some of them choose to forget.

Over the centuries Wei Wuxian and the others have encountered countless reincarnations of people they knew from their original lives. (And important people from future lives too, but those were never quite the same. There’s something about their original lives that always sang like an unfinished symphony, an epic story not yet fully written, even though Wei Wuxian lived a full life). Sometimes the choice is made for them not to help them remember. Such was the case for a reincarnation of Jin Guangyao, found in 556 B.C. by Wen Ning and Sizhui. Sometimes they choose to move on, like the reincarnation of Jiang Fengmian found by Jiang Yanli. They leave him alone nowadays, whenever they find him. His soul is not so attuned to anyone else’s as to have the strike of realization that hit Wei Wuxian on that crowded street. 

The worst is when they reunite, live happily, and still choose to say goodbye. Nie Huaisang reincarnated in Italy, dragged Wei Wuxian off to France to learn Impressionist painting, and still chose to reenter the reincarnation cycle. Wei Wuxian, whose body that decade could not even form a golden core, simply could not understand Nie Huaisang’s unwillingness to cultivate to immortality. He still doesn’t. 

Humans have orbited the moon. For that alone, it is worth it. He only wishes all humans could feel how far they’ve come.   

Even those that chose to become immortal have retreated from the world. So many lifetimes, so many childhoods, so many parents and lovers and children–it’s impossible to care equally forever. The world feels so much larger when you have been an Egyptian farmer during the reign of Cleopatra, to whom the pyramids were ancient history, and one of the slaves who built them, and a Finnish soldier who fought on skis against invading Russians in 1939. In the face of such grandness, how can one tiny community, one family, one person matter?

It’s a blessing and a curse. Wei Wuxian has had good parents and bad parents and everything in between until he finally figured out how it works. He’s grown up in enough families with pet dogs that he’s lost his fear of them. On the other hand, he has had so many friends in so very many forms that he struggles to convince himself they truly matter. They’ll all be dead within the century, anyways. 

Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng have the opposite problem. They only have one life, the original, to remember, even as that life’s length stretches far past the boundaries of a normal human lifespan. Their main link to the world, Wei Wuxian knows, is him. Sizhui and Jin Ling drag them out for enrichment exercises, and Jiang Yanli can usually get her way if she sets her mind to it, but it’s still guilt over Wei Wuxian’s second life as Mo Xuanyu that keeps them here. 

The 21st century slams in, a rush of technicolor and lightspeed and skyscrapers (and like all centuries, war, disease and death). The tale of the Yiling Patriarch vastly outstrips the size and weight of Yiling. The Burial Mounds are a nice forest now. Hundreds of thousands of people hope for his return. And still Wei Wuxian cannot manage a single immortality-sized golden core. 

The opportunity sneaks up on Wei Wuxian. Shamefully, he needs the obvious spelled out before he can see it. 

“You going to the cultivation tournament?” 

Wei Wuxian was actually studying calculus. Seriously, it’s crazy how much people have proven about math since the last time he–wait, cultivation?

When Wei Wuxian digs his nose out of his textbook, Ian is smirking at him, and Chen is blinking innocently. Ian slouches over the library table so he can push the textbook shut.

“Eh, probably not worth it,” Wei Wuxian dismisses. He’s not learning cultivation so he can dunk on some kids who only learning cultivating without the cultivation. 

“You sure?” Chen butts in, now smirking too. “I hear winner gets to meet the immortals.”

Ian grins when Wei Wuxian’s mouth falls open. The kid has no idea what’s going on with “the immortals” or cultivation–he’s pretty sure that Ian thinks he and Chen are deep in a religious cult with weird beliefs but normal holidays–but Ian  gleefully abuses the effect it has on Wei Wuxian.

“Sounds made up,” Wei Wuxian says suspiciously.

“No, no, it’s true!” Chen insists. “They hold it every twenty-five years. Or they say they will. They haven’t done this before.” 

It’s very hard to get very old immortals to do something new. What changed? 

The answer smacks Wei Wuxian in the face as Chen pulls out his phone and shows an official-looking announcement, shared around their community, to Wei Wuxian. It’s the internet. Previously, Wei Wuxian lived entire lives without ever hearing of cultivation. Now, anyone with an internet connection will probably run into the term at least once. Now, Wei Wuxian’s family can reach out, through screens and cables and the casual interest of millions, to him.

They’re doing this for him.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t read Wikipedia articles. Lan Zhan regresses into a fugue state whenever Wei Wuxian’s not around. Maybe Wen Qing had the idea, maybe Sizhui put it together. Because they’re still reaching out, still waiting for Wei Wuxian to come home. 

This is his chance. 

[lamentfulwarbler]

Mo Xuanyu and the Supposedly Dead Patriarch

Written for @/februaryficletchallenge’s February Ficlet Challenge 2025

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: No Warnings Apply

Relationships: Mo Xuanyu & Wei Wuxian

Characters: Mo Xuanyu, Wei Wuxian

Additional Tags: Mo Xuanyu Lives, Wei Wuxian Lives, Wei Wuxian in Wei Wuxian’s body, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ficlet

Summary: If Mo Xuanyu had known that his map would lead him to a desolate cave, he would’ve just stayed at home.

(February Ficlet Challenge: Day 17 - Map)

[askew-d]

today i had an idea. that recess therapy channel, but make it wangxian.

teacher lan wangji, who recently adopted a-yuan, carried out his son’s desires to create a youtube channel interviewing other kids. he’s totally inept at it in the beginning, but fortunately his brother helps. and who would've thought? his son ends up making friends and he really finds children’s minds fascinating.

until their channel gets quite big. like, two million subscribers kind of big. other people interviewing him kind of big. and soon enough, his brother says, “wangji, huaisang wants to be part of one of your videos! he said it looks fun!”

nie huaisang didn’t have a large fanbase without reason. he was a well-known digital influencer with over ten million followers and a good writer. though lan wangji finds him odd sometimes, he accepts it. it couldn't bring any harm.

famous last words.

after nie huaisang, a lot of celebrities wanted to join in. lan wangji imagined it was for that facade of selling a good-hearted image inside the industry, but as long as a-yuan seemed to be enjoying, he continued.

in the two years he had the channel, he progressed to five million followers, hosted many top-tier artists along, interviewed hundred of kids — some more enthusiastic than others, that’s rather true — and received some proposals from famous entertainment companies to work with them, which annoyed lan wangji.

he continued being a teacher, a father and a host content creator for long, and one day, his son was checking his emails with him and jumped in excitement, “baba! look, look!”

lan wangji looked. it was a request from a certain wei wuxian’s agency, that, he later discovered, was one of the singer’s a-yuan and his close friends have been listening to lately. apparently, his rock band was very influential internationally, and when having a tour around china once more, he wanted to join for a video (why would his thirteen-year-old a-yuan be interested in rock music when humanity had the classical ones, he could never imagine).

lan wangji accepted, because again, it couldn’t do any harm.

well, maybe he should learn more about that expression, since wei wuxian was absolutely infuriating.

he was just a handsome, dauntless man in tight black pants and an oversized hoodie with the shiniest smile he has ever seen who got his son's favour in just minutes of conversation and could not, for the love of god, stop teasing lan wangji. lan wangji shouldn't be that affected by someone. he shouldn't be affected by the way he didn't care about social manners and plastered himself on lan wangji's side all the while he interviewed the kids as if they were intimate, but oh, what one shouldn't do truly wasn't how one acted or felt.

he found out that wei wuxian did have a good voice, although he secretly thought that he wasted it with those loud songs about rebelling against the government. he found out that he was exceptionally careful with children, withholding a balance of fun and wisdom; he had that carefree creativity and treated their worries with seriousness, struggling not to let them think he judged them childish. lan wangji was truly amazed at his character, and soon, they had recorded about four videos together.

and when it was all uploaded, the comments and views exploded. people focused more on them together than on the kids. it became the most viewed videos of his channels in no time.

"lan zhan, the numbers are growing each day! i'm so happy for that," wei wuxian said on the phone afterwards (when he proposed the idea of exchanging numbers, lan wangji was hesitant, but wei wuxian insisted that it was for them to share bunny videos, so he gave up on fighting the man, but weeks passed and they still talked more about their lives than just sharing said content). "but tell me, lan zhan, i think my amazing presence did bring some touch to your channel, won't you treat me to something as a sign of gratitude? you told me your family had a rule on being polite..."

they did have one. lan wangji told him once and it was enough to be engraved on wei wuxian's mind. he sighed and said, "mn. does wei ying want to have dinner with us tomorrow?"

wei wuxian laughed in apparent joy, and he shook his head slightly. it would be good to have someone over for dinner once in a while, beyond his brother. maybe he'd even buy some wine and meat for him, just as he said he liked.

lan wangji talked to wei wuxian some more, the other explaining about how his band would perform the upcoming sunday. they also talked about children, books and traveling. and on the other side of the room, a-yuan giggled in mischievousness.

[imogenegomi]

Day eighteen of the February Ficlet Challenge! ✅

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63347080

[incomplete-ruler]

I really need to add a lwj character study fic to my list of wips asap because I literally wrote and scheduled an entire ficlet on my lwj blog yesterday.

[gentil-minou]

one of my brain worms for Wei Wuxian birthday is an AU where wangxian immigrated to the US west coast so 10/31 begins at 9am PST on 10/30.

Which Lan Zhan uses as an excuse to spend two days celebrating his Wei Ying's bday.

He and A-Yuan prepare breakfast ind bed and greet Wei Ying at exactly 9am when midnight hits in China.

And then the proceed to pamper Wei Ying for the next two days straight, to the point where he's in a permanent state of blushing.

A-Yuan makes him a bazillion drawing while Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng keep showing up to shower him with gifts and soup (though JC pretends he just happens to have these lying around).

And Lan Zhan gives Wei Ying lots of kisses.

Wei Ying never forgets Halloween with it being his favorite holiday, but every year he forgets 10/30 at 9am. And every year he's greeted with bunny shaped pancakes and so many kisses and hugs from his favorite people he feels himself about to burst with the love his family give to him

[bibookdemon]

Gimme a sentence and a ship from MDZS or SVSSS (or a crossover ship of those two, whatever is fine) And I'll do my best to do <500 words of fic uwu Please. Distraction needed haha (Will spend 15-20 mins on each prompt. No beta, so expect misspells and silliness XD) (If you want spice and are 18+ just lmk and I gotchu ) :3

I may not get to them all + if a prompt makes me uncomfy I won't write it.

[i-will-cry-you-a-river]

"Huaisang," sighed Jin Guangyao with a slight reprimand in his tone, but instead of resisting, he leaned back into the embrace of the Nie heir.

"Hush, A-Yao, just relax," Nie Huaisang whispered, his hands massaging his overworked lover. It was such a shame that they could barely spend time together because of politics, but he wanted those stolen moments to be as peaceful as possible.

Nie Huaisang hated what happened, and how everything went south after Nie Mingjue banished Meng Yao and the Jins accepted him. He should have stayed with the Nies. He belonged to them.

He belonged to Nie Huaisang.

His hands tightened, but before he could get more frustrated, his lover tipped his head back, silently demanding a kiss.

Meng Yao or Jin Guangyao - the man knew how to make Nie Huaisang go soft. He could never deny his love anything. Especially not a kiss.

So, he complied, leading them to lose themselves in each other's lips.

Not for long, most likely, but that didn't matter. The only thing mattered was the man in Nie Huaisang's arms, soft and pliant, relaxed and so enchanting, entirely different from the usually high-strung overachiever the Jin clan member was.

And it was all because of Nie Huaisang.

[ailelie]

Burial Mounds weren't what they once were, but still only idiots dared to travel through them without copious protections. Jiang Cheng did not usually count himself among the idiots, but he had to admit his current actions were questionable.

He was in the Burial Mounds. Alone. Unplanned. And furious.

Fury was an old friend these days, though he was no longer fond of it. He did not want to be angry with Wei Wuxian any longer. Not when his brother was alive again. Not when he finally had an inkling why he'd lost his brother in the first place.

He stood where the Wen Remnants had once lived, wishing again for the dead to stand before him. Why, he wanted to ask, to demand an explanation. Why did you do it?

Then he heard the howl. Followed by a scream.

Abandoning all sense and desperate for a fight, he raced toward the sounds.

When he saw the beast, he knew to his bones he would not survive it.

He fought anyway.

When the beast was dead and Jiang Cheng was dying, a child dressed like a clerk approached him. Through the haze of pain, he thought their eyes were stars.

"Apologies for the beast, but it was necessary. You saved me in this lesser form, and thus I can provide a reward. Your family is nothing but headaches, you should know. One imbalance after another. I fix the scales and you tip them again."

"Who?" Jiang Cheng asked. The word ended in a bloody cough.

"Oh. Right." The child or man, maybe, touched Jiang Cheng's forehead and the pain eased. "You did well stopping Wen Rouhan, but destroying all the Wen was a headache. And do not get me started with everything related to the Yin iron. Utter migraines. Your brother's death and return? I should let the worms consume you all."

"Who are you?" Jiang Cheng demanded. The man's babble was too quick and strange to follow.

The man, no, the child smiled at him. Had it always been a child?

The child pressed a hand against Jiang Cheng's chest. "You will return to the past," the child said, his words now clear and ringing with truth. "The simplest way to fix this mess is to try again. You may choose one person to accompany you. The first time you met will be the time to which you return."

"That is impossible," Jiang Cheng said, hope flaring to life in his chest.

"No," the child said, "only difficult. Who do you choose? Anyone who was alive then, but is dead now. I will return their soul with yours."

His first thought was Yanli, but that would mean returning to infancy. His parents would be the same.

"Can I change anything?" he asked.

"Yes. I would rather the wild imbalances not repeat."

Hope bubbled into excitement. He could stop his siblings from dying. He could maybe even keep everyone's cores where they belonged. He could perhaps even save his parents.

He needed someone smart, but straightforward, with motivations he understood. Someone who owed him.

"Wen Qing," he said. Jealously, he wanted to ask her why she had performed the surgery all those years ago. He could not demand such answers from a Wen Qing who had not done it.

"So be it." The child gathered Jiang Cheng into a hug and pressed his forehead against Jiang Cheng's abdomen.

Fire exploded in each of Jiang Cheng's dantians. He screamed. Silence cocooned him.

He blinked and he was in the Cloud Recesses. Wen Chao was speaking and Wen Qing was by him. Her eyes met his and narrowed.

The ceremony continued, but he registered none of it. As soon as it was done, he hurried to find Wen Qing. They met each other on the path; she had apparently been seeking him just as urgently.

"What did you do?" she demanded.

"Me? What about you? His Core?"

"I was dead!" she hissed.

"Yes," he agreed. "You and countless others. Wasted."

"How dare you!"

"But they aren't dead now," Jiang Cheng continued, ignoring her ire. Around them people gave them wide berth, but stared with curious eyes. "We've started over."

"How?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I was dying and a child offered me a chance to fix imbalances. I could bring one other soul with me."

"And you chose me." She looked distinctly unimpressed.

He growled. "You understand what's at stake. Your people are alive now. Your brother is alive. My family lives, too. Do you not want to keep them that way?"

"And how do you propose we do that? Our families are at war."

"Not yet," he countered. A wild idea seized him. "Marry me."

"What?"

He laughed; the sound was mangled with betrayal, anger, desire, and hope. Part of him hated her. More of him still desired her. He could not trust her, but he had chosen her as the only person in the world now who understood him and who he could trust.

"Marry me," he repeated. "If the future repeats, I will have standing to save your family." He had no comb to offer her anymore, so he took the comb from his own hair, letting it fall loose. A lotus curled over the comb's golden spine. "Will you help me?"

"A-Ning lives."

"Everyone we care about." He held out the comb.

She accepted it. Wen Qing traced her fingers over the lotus. "How are we going to explain this?"

He thought for a moment. Strangely, it was a memory of Wei Wuxian that gave him the answer. "We're soulmates."

She laughed. "You've made us so, I guess."

That resonated. He liked the idea of choosing fate over being at its whim. "Thank you, Qing'er."

Her eyes narrowed again at the stolen intimacy. "Of course, A-Cheng," she responded, meeting his impertinence with her own. "I should tell my brother the happy news."

"And I'll tell my siblings." He bowed, and they separated.

He still did not have his answers. Betrayal and hurt still twisted like snakes in his chest. But, he had time now.

He quickened his steps. He had a sister to embrace, and a brother to cuff and then also embrace. He did not want another moment to pass without seeing them.

[lamentfulwarbler]

When my time comes around

Lay me gently in the cold dark earth

No grave can hold my body down

I'll crawl home to her

[twistedappletree]

TYPE: One-shot

JURISDICTION: It’s fluffy with a dash of angst, your honor

PAIRING: 💛 Jin Ling / Lan Sizhui 🩵

SIDE CHARACTERS: (background) Lan Jingyi, (background) Fairy

ELEMENTS: Gusu/Lanling settings, canon universe, Lan Sizhui POV, friends to lovers, teens to adults timeline, Lan Sizhui being adorably patient with Jin Ling~

✨

Sometimes, people break and they just need to be held. So, Lan Sizhui holds him and thinks about how beautiful hands are.

As Jin Ling’s breathing steadies under the gentle touch of his hands, he’s so thankful he has them.

🪭

In which Lan Sizhui navigates his feelings for Jin Ling from the day they meet, through friendship into adulthood and learns that some hearts just need love and patience to heal.

{AO3}

Lan Sizhui thinks hands are beautiful.

Maybe it’s the aesthetic of them—their idle poses, so effortlessly poetic, the stories told by callouses, scars, or lack of each. Maybe it’s what they’re capable of—creating, working, holding, nurturing, speaking without words.

Or maybe it’s who they belong to. Maybe it’s the way their hands brushed when they first met, briefly, but long enough to electrify Lan Sizhui’s senses. Enough for him to spin around with stars in his eyes and question what they might become.

Ever since, he daydreams a lot.

He’s careful not to let it disrupt his studies but it’s difficult at times. Difficult when he’s a stride away from him, looking determined and prideful and frustrated and bored in the span of seconds, a constant storm of emotions shamelessly on display. It’s the air of someone who boasts confidence, who always gets his way, who feels openly, fervently, vocally until his throat is raw, until someone listens.

It’s alarming and endearing. It’s an eruption Lan Sizhui wants to explore and understand, even if it burns him because it doesn’t make sense.

Nothing about the feelings Jin Ling gives him makes sense, and so he often looks at his hands for an answer. This complicates everything.

•

They’re on a night-hunt in Gusu.

Lan Sizhui stays by Lan Jingyi’s side while Jin Ling trails behind them with Fairy. He refuses to walk with them, no matter how many times Lan Sizhui invites him to. They haven’t known each other long but Jin Ling has made his prideful demeanor obvious. Perhaps he feels he’s too good for them, or maybe he just doesn’t like them.

But Lan Sizhui stops himself from speculating because Jin Ling is here with them of his own free will, choosing to night hunt with them instead of on his own. He can feel Jin Ling staring at him as they walk—not at Lan Jingyi, only him. He’s burning a hole in his back with those fiery amber eyes. Lan Sizhui is patient and mature for his age but he’s still young. He wants to turn around and ask him what he wants but he bites his tongue because part of him is afraid of the answer and another part of him is afraid of the way his words will catch in his throat when he looks at him.

It’s embarrassing. It’s confusing. It’s exhilarating.

He hopes their hands touch again.

•

After agreeing to separate and cover more ground, Lan Sizhui hears a scream in the distance and recognizes it immediately.

He runs faster than he’s ever ran in his life, runs to the same person who turns his nose up at him and tries so hard to pretend he doesn’t exist. Why? He thinks, Why am I running?

Because he’s human above all else. It doesn’t matter if Jin Ling doesn’t like him. That doesn’t mean he wants him to get hurt.

Lan Sizhui arrives just in time to defend Jin Ling from an unusually aggressive corpse. He notices Jin Ling’s sword is on the ground, too far for him to reach. Jin Ling is also on the ground with a deep gash in his forearm staining his golden robes crimson with fresh blood.

Something in Lan Sizhui ignites like a wildfire and he subdues the corpse more viciously than intended, severing its head and kicking its decapitated body with so much force, it crashes into a tree and crumples limply to the ground.

His breathing is heavy when he drops to Jin Ling’s side. He tries to touch his arm and examine the wound but Jin Ling flails and spits venom with his words. “I’m fine,” he snaps, “Don’t touch me!”

Jin Ling’s eyes are red and glassy. His lips are trembling, his body shaking. It’s obvious he’s hurting and the venom in his words doesn’t match the pleading in his gaze. Lan Sizhui ignores his protest and carefully helps him to his feet.

He’s clinging to him. He’s crying. He’s blushing. He’s beautiful.

Lan Sizhui retrieves Jin Ling’s sword and sheathes it for him, then helps him find his balance as they step onto Lan Sizhui’s sword and take flight back to the Cloud Recesses.

Jin Ling lets Lan Sizhui hold his hand to elevate his wound and sparks shoot through Lan Sizhui’s veins. Everything feels warm. He feels so warm against him.

•

Jin Ling walks with them now.

Lan Sizhui notices he prefers to walk alongside him instead of Lan Jingyi. They’ve known each other for months now but Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi still butt heads and bicker, even if it’s rarely serious. They won’t admit they’re friends and it makes Lan Sizhui smile.

Lan Jingyi is called away by one of their seniors, leaving Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling alone together. They walk wordlessly through the Cloud Recesses in the chill of Gusu’s wintry air. The Lans are always dressed for it but Jin Ling isn’t a Lan. He shivers and hugs himself and shuffles closer to Lan Sizhui.

Their shoulders brush together and Lan Sizhui looks down at him. Jin Ling is trying desperately to appear fine, to appear nonchalant and entirely uninterested in any comfort Lan Sizhui might have to offer. His nose and cheeks are dusted pink from the cold, his brows are sharp and pointed as he glares into the distance, focusing on anything other than Lan Sizhui to distract himself.

Lan Sizhui removes his outer robe and wraps it around Jin Ling, who freezes as though he’s been trapped in ice. Their eyes finally meet and Lan Sizhui expects Jin Ling to yell, to curse, to rip the robe off and shove it back into his arms.

But he doesn’t. Instead, he looks away again and tightens the robe around himself. He’s smiling.

Lan Sizhui’s heart melts.

•

There’s some days when Jin Ling wants to be left alone and Lan Sizhui respects that.

Today is one of those days but something’s different. He’s fidgeting, he’s cursing over his open book, he’s shredding his fingers through his hair in frustration. Lan Sizhui knows that Jin Ling often gets discouraged if he doesn’t understand the material they’re learning. His offers of help aren’t always well received since the line between help and insult is razor thin with Jin Ling.

His eyes keep wandering from his own work to Jin Ling until his heart drops. He looks closer. Jin Ling is crying and it’s not normal. It’s more than just frustration, more than incomprehension. Something is hurting him. Something is broken.

Finally, Jin Ling cracks and pushes himself to his feet. Their senior screams at him as he runs out of the room. Every disciple turns to look at him, including Lan Jingyi who turns to Lan Sizhui with a question on his face.

Lan Sizhui doesn’t think as he stands and runs after Jin Ling. Their senior is screaming at both of them now but he doesn’t care.

He runs faster than he’s ever ran in his life, faster than he did on their night-hunt. He runs to the same person who used to turn his nose up at him and tried so hard to pretend he didn’t exist, the same person who now looks him in the eyes, stands by his side and treats him like he’s the only one in the world.

Because they’re friends above all else. It doesn’t matter if that’s all they’ll ever be. That doesn’t mean he’ll abandon him to his thoughts.

•

Lan Sizhui finds Jin Ling with Hanguang-Jun’s rabbits. They’re hopping around him, pawing at him curiously as he hugs his knees and cries.

He’s careful as he approaches him, still unsure of what exactly is upsetting him but it becomes clear soon enough.

Lan Sizhui sits on his knees in front of him, far enough to give him space and close enough that he doesn’t feel alone. “A-Ling?”

That’s all it takes for Jin Ling to rush forward into Lan Sizhui’s arms. By the way he shivers and sniffs and sobs in his embrace, Lan Sizhui knows he’s stressed. He’s tired. He’s breaking and that’s okay. Sometimes, things are too much and there’s no clear explanation.

Sometimes, people break and they just need to be held. So, Lan Sizhui holds him and thinks about how beautiful hands are.

As Jin Ling’s breathing steadies under the gentle touch of his hands, he’s so thankful he has them.

•

It’s an odd feeling being older.

Everyone has specific duties now, duties that fill up their time in ways they never had to worry about as juniors. Lan Sizhui is the only exception after stepping aside to let Lan Jingyi lead the Lan sect. Lan Sizhui knows he’s the projected choice with the highest cultivation and the right temperament to lead—he simply doesn’t want to.

There’s too much to see, too many places to travel, too many souls to meet, things to learn, experiences to be had. He’s always wanted to know more than what’s directly in front of him.

So he travels. He sees the world. He collects things along the way to bring back to his friends, his family, to him. He thinks about him everyday, hears him in the songs around the world, sees him in the beautiful art of distant places. Even when they’re apart, they’re always together. They’ve known each other for years now. What they’ve become is no longer a question.

Lan Sizhui smiles as he boards a boat to go home.

•

Jin Ling is waiting for him at the docks of Lanling, as expected.

Lan Sizhui can see his long, burnt umber hair playing with the wind like vibrant smoke burning gold in the sunlight. His hair crown dripping with delicate chains reflects and glimmers like a beacon guiding Lan Sizhui towards him, beckoning him to hurry.

They’re closer now and Lan Sizhui hops onto the bow of his boat, earning worried and dismayed glances from both Jin Ling and the other passengers.

Jin Ling’s eyes are smoldering like sunsets with a turbulent mix of disapproval for Lan Sizhui’s antics and anticipation for the moment his boat docks. It fills Lan Sizhui with amusement and joy because sometimes it’s fun to tease him.

But the boat is simply too slow.

Instead of waiting for it to arrive, he uses a boost of spiritual energy to leap from the bow onto the docks. The other passengers yell and Jin Ling shouts out, “Lan Yuan,” in a scolding tone that incites a playful laugh from Lan Sizhui.

They’re still miles apart as they stare at each other—or what seems like miles because it’s never close enough. Jin Ling’s fury melts into something longing, wanting, overwhelming.

He runs. Lan Sizhui runs.

They run faster than they’ve ever ran in their lives. They run while looking each other in the eyes, eager to stand by each other’s side, to feel like they’re the only ones in the world.

Because they’re in love above all else. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of them now. They’re never going to hide.

And when Jin Ling crashes into Lan Sizhui’s arms, he thinks hands are beautiful. The way Jin Ling’s hands wrap around his waist? Beautiful. The way Lan Sizhui’s hands caress Jin Ling’s blushing face? Beautiful. The way his thumb brushes over Jin Ling’s lips before they kiss? Beautiful.

It’s better than a daydream.

Lan Sizhui thinks life is beautiful.

{ 🖤 }

[stiltonbasket]

would you accept prompts for svsss and tgcf? If you do, what ships would you write for? :D

I do! My ships are pretty much just the canon ones (Bingqiu, Moshang, Hualian) with the random addition of Quanyin and Shi Qingxuan/Yushi Huang for TGCF. :)

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

~*~

I wanted to rec this tumblr ficlet. Loved the line where jc said he could suddenly understand his father.

《the midnight sun》

Specifically, snippet seven.

by @drwcn

Summary: A female Wei Wuxian AU, in which Wei Ying had a child before her death.

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)