LINKDING

summary: In the present, Wei Ying finds himself separated from his family and friends when he travels to help Lan Zhan move into a new home. In the past, Nie Huaisang brings a new friend back from summer orchestra camp. ➤ an #mdzs #wangxian modern au set during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, with flashbacks to 2003 ➤ this fic is everything to me. it's just. so beautiful & good? grounded and present to its settings, seeing its characters with open-eyed affection, funny and heartbreakingly painful-hopeful and so, so gentle ➤ I love how the fic is about many relationships at once - wwx & the wens, wwx & jiang cheng, wwx & whatever he had going on with nhs back in the day, and of course, of course, wangxian. and all of these are vital relationships in wwx's life; all of them make him who he is ➤ a "straight boy wei ying" type fic; I love how compassionately wwx is viewed as he goes through his years-long process of realisation. the fic is never mean-spirited about wwx's lack of self-knowledge. he had a lot going on & was doing his best! ➤ I've read this fic at least 3 times and it hits just right every time ➤ 25k words

Summary: <blockquote>Sequel to Late Night, North Station. Lan Zhan brings Wei Ying and A-Yuan home with him. Now he just needs to figure out how to get them to stay.</blockquote> ➤ modern au where wwx reappears after many years and lwj wants to keep him in his life in whatever way he can ➤ I love! how much they care about each other, and how they try to navigate the new/old dynamics between them with the additional perspective that being older will bring ➤ though lwj still hasn't entirely figured out the framework to understand his attraction to wwx ➤ they're both trying so hard to not overstep boundaries between them but they can both agree that whatever is best for a-Yuan is worth doing ➤ watching them slide into intimacy and intertwined lives, and how lwj comes alive with wwx and a-yuan in his life! endless delight ➤ impeccable under-negotiated d/s vibes between them ➤ I love the glimpses into all the other people in their lives as well! ➤ ahhh there are so many things I could keep saying about this fic! it's so good ➤ 106k words in length

<blockquote>Mianmian sets her drink down on the floor with a clink. “If she’s that perfect, it’s no wonder she can put up with you two.” The room goes silent. Across the room, Wen Qing’s expression has morphed from this might be a crisis to this is absolutely a crisis and we need damage control, stat. Jiang Wanyin bristles, opens his mouth to say something mean in response. Lan Wangji is more worried about Wei Ying, who has gone very, very still beside him. He knows that Wei Ying’s relationship with his adoptive family is complicated—a web of obligations and resentment that might never be untangled; he knows that Wei Ying constantly felt like a burden, and that Jiang Yanli was the only one who offered unconditional affection. / or, lan zhan reflects on sibling relationships while wei ying scrambles to get his jiejie the perfect birthday gift</blockquote> ➤ unfinished, possibly abandoned, but the one chapter stands alone just fine

<blockquote>In which Wei Ying plans his return to the theater world (again) and a-Yuan moves in.</blockquote> ➤ I adore everyone in this fic, I love that everyone gets arcs, either relational or professional, and half the relationship arcs are platonic; and I love how much they all care about each other and support each other in their various ways! (and I love that nhs's arc is about his relationship with himself and his identity?)

<blockquote>Every morning he wakes up, and forgets.</blockquote> ➤ this is soooooo good ➤ SPOILER: the premise of the fic is: "What would Xie Lian have done in the name of atoning for his regrets, and how might that have been taken advantage of."

<blockquote>Sometimes Lan Zhan doesn’t work through lunch. Sometimes he makes conversation with coworkers in the halls. Sometimes he goes home instead of spending the last hour trawling through Grindr. But mostly, that’s exactly what he does. The sameness is comforting. His life spools out in easily measured increments: capsule collections, yards of hand dyed textiles, ninety day lead times, sell through figures, cost of goods sold. Every date in manufacturing can be calculated backwards and forward from a single horizon point: the date that the goods must arrive into the country where they'll be sold. Other than that, nothing else really matters.</blockquote> ➤ well this is devastatingly good

<blockquote>Lan Zhan looks so sad. He holds out his hand and says "Help." "Aish, this man," Wei Wuxian sighs. "What's wrong?" Lan Zhan holds out his hand a little further, insistent, and Wei Wuxian sighs again and takes it. A costly mistake that results in getting pulled deeper into Lan Zhan's apartment, squawking protests about how he's still wearing his shoes that Lan Zhan ignores. He leads Wei Wuxian down the hallway to the bedroom at the end. Then he shoves at Wei Wuxian's shoulder until he loses his balance and sits on the edge of the bed. Then he climbs on after him. / Thirteen years after he dies on New Year's Eve, Wei Wuxian is reunited with Lan Wangji.</blockquote> ➤ an amazingly good sense of place as well as development of the mood created by the narrative in the reader

<blockquote>When Shen Qingqiu transmigrates, he finds himself in a world where heartbreak can make a person fall apart - literally, since those who are heartbroken crack open starting from the space over their heart, and only cultivators can survive the blood loss by using their qi to hold their blood inside their bodies where it belongs. Having a physical indicator like this that alerts Shen Qingqiu in real time of the hearts he's breaking... well, it changes things. Luo Binghe, somehow, still ends up suffering more than Shen Qingqiu ever wants him too.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Seven Necessities. Seven Tenths Full. What makes a meal, and what makes a family.</blockquote> ➤ A story told through encounters with food. Suffused with deep feelings, both the pleasure and the pain and the longing (both for what cannot be and for what, in the end, can be). It's beautiful.

<blockquote>One of the first things Wei Wuxian’s new co-star said to him was “this show isn’t a gay love story.” Vignettes of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian performing Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, not in order</blockquote>

AU based on the following: <blockquote>Because it was impossible, he allowed himself to imagine, just once, what it would be like to face Laurent as a man...if there had been no animosity between their countries, Laurent journeying to Akielos as part of an embassy, Damen's attention superficially caught by the blond hair. They'd attend banquets and sports together, and Laurent...he had seen Laurent with those he cultivated, charming and edged without being lethal; and he was honest enough with himself to admit that if he had encountered Laurent in that mode, all golden lashes and needling remarks, he might well have found himself in some danger.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Darren doesn’t find out that Geoffrey’s dead until three days after the fact.</blockquote> ➤ odd, intense, and interesting

<blockquote>For the prompt "No divorce on the beach - Charles goes with Erik": Charles may be dead, but that doesn't mean he's gone.</blockquote> ➤ http://archiveofourown.org/works/269288

➤ In which, prior to Atlantis, Rodney picks up John in a club when John's on leave, and turns out to be utterly unlike any top he's known before. Fascinating dynamics ➤ (in which I have STRONG OPINIONS on my headcanon of what happens after the end, namely, THEY MEET AGAIN.)