LINKDING

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

Summary: <blockquote>“I think the member coordinator saw our Chinese names and was like, ‘Better send all the Chinese Jews to these guys,’” Ning said. “All the better!” Wuxian said, grinning. “Double holiday for everyone!” / The Wens host Sukkot/Mid-Autumn Festival.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>Jin Ling didn't mean to commit zine fraud. Surely you get a free pass if you didn't know how taxes work?!</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Who are you?” Wei Wuxian asks finally. Sizhui takes a deep breath. This is it. He isn’t ready. But he is. Er-ge said so. He lets his eyes fill with tears and spill down his cheeks. Wei Wuxian leans away, probably unconsciously. Good, Sizhui thinks, a little viciously. He never promised Er-ge to tell Wei Wuxian the truth, but he has never had a better weapon at hand than exactly this. “My name is Nie Sizhui,” Sizhui says. “I’m the master of the Unclean Realm, now.”</blockquote>

<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>Lan Zhan finds A-Yuan lost in the railway station. He maybe finds more than he bargined for. Some mornings you leave for the office and come back with a son (and possibly a husband too). cw. lost child and the fears that surround that, but nothing bad happens to A-Yuan. Loss and grief lightly touched on.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Jingyi has his hands up immediately, ready to fire a warning talisman. “Who are you?” “Jingyi, it’s me. It’s Sizhui.” “I don’t know any Sizhui. How do you know my name?” / Something has gone wrong with the world. The worst part is, Sizhui's the only one who realizes it.</blockquote>

<blockquote>[All of the Wens die and the world calls it justice. The Yiling Patriarch dies and the world rejoices. His soul responds to neither summoning nor Inquiry. A shattered soul, not enough to linger. The war is finally over—history rewritten. And Lan Huan wants to retch as he watches the ghost of a Wen boy follow his brother into the Cloud Recesses.] Or: A-Yuan in the Cloud Recesses for thirteen years as a ghost.</blockquote>

<blockquote>It’s too late for any of Hanguang-Jun’s rabbits to be awake -- one of the sundown chores for young disciples is to herd them back into their hutch -- but the rabbit field is as good a spot as any for quality sulking, so Lan Jingyi makes his way there. Someone has beat him to it. Lan Jingyi stares at Hanguang-Jun. Hanguang-Jun stares passively back. When Lan Sizhui is swept away with the Ghost General, off on a new adventure, Lan Jingyi is the one who returns to Cloud Recesses alone. </blockquote>

<blockquote>“Well, when I asked Wei-gongzi what you might want for your birthday, he asked me what I could give you that no one else could.” Lan Sizhui can’t help but smile. It’s so Wei-qianbei to answer a question with a question. “A-and I thought… if you wanted, I could…” The next words are so quiet, Lan Sizhui struggles to hear them. “I thought I could show you our family.” For Lan Sizhui's birthday, he receives a glimpse behind the curtain of all that was. </blockquote>

<blockquote>“He smiles too much,” Lan Wangji says, frowning at the pixelated headshot of the instructor. Flippancy is not necessarily forbidden, but it is strongly discouraged, especially when one is a thousand feet above ground instructing the light of someone else’s life. Lan Sizhui is going for his Sword Flight Licence. Lan Wangji is panicked.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Lan Qiren did not raise Zhan'er to text an hour and a half before dinner to call it off without explanation.</blockquote>

<blockquote>In his madness, they say, the Yiling Patriarch stole into Koi Tower and abducted the widow of Jin Zixuan and her young son, only for all of them to die in a fire in the Burial Mounds shortly thereafter. Sixteen later, Lan Jingyi runs into two rogue cultivators during a night hunt.</blockquote>

<blockquote>He doesn’t remember his first life; he only has the scraps of stories which Wen-shushu has been telling him. He doesn’t know what he will need in order to come home but he knows he needs to go on this journey if he wants to find it. Post-canon, Lan Sizhui travels with Wen Ning as he tries to reconcile his identity and family, and find out what home looks like for him.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Modern AU. Wei Wuxian and his Burial Mounds are slipping away, so Lan Wangji makes a decision to keep the one part of him that he can. And becomes a parent. Eventually.</blockquote> ➤ lwj learning how to parent a-yuan

<blockquote>Wen in body, Wei in motion, Lan Wangji is certain he has never hated, nor loved, any being so much as he feels towards the boy in his room. After Wei Wuxian's death and his own severe punishment, Lan Wangji must decide the direction his life will take.</blockquote> ➤ lwj & a-yuan, as lwj slowly recovers from the discipline whip ➤ brief sequel also good, about sizhui's courtesy name ➤ series consists of: Velle: to will, to wish Wynn: joy

<blockquote>And whatever is at the inner gate -- a something, not a someone -- has already passed clean through the wards. Which means whatever it is, it isn’t barred from entry. It’s waiting. / When a shadow appears at Cloud Recesses, an impromptu night hunt begins to unfold. </blockquote> ➤ the one where lxc's grief is manifesting as a resentful spirit when he's sleeping & dreaming. Also it's about sizhui's relationships with all the adults in his life and also with jingyi

<blockquote>To someone who knows how to look, Gusu Lan is watching and waiting, one eye on the horizon. When Wei Wuxian fails to return to Cloud Recesses on time, Lan Sizhui takes matters into his own hands. </blockquote> ➤ fic from sizhui's pov, but lots about how/why it makes sense for wwx to keep traveling post canon

➤ Series starts from the premise of Wen Qing living, and then wanders through a whole bunch of different characters. I forgot to note down anything of note about this series when I read it, but I enjoyed it. ➤ Series consists of: cranes flying west amidst the storms emerging with an unbridled heart their eyes remain clear when autumn leaves fall teach these young ones life and death's joy and grief

<blockquote>“Did you break the ward to come in?” Lan Wangji asks, point-blank. He has his sword out and pointed at Wei Wuxian, no bothering with niceties like hello I’m Lan Wangji, and you are? Wei Wuxian eyes the sword, but doesn’t react. He keeps lazing back on the roof, casually drinking his wine, as if this is the usual way he meets new people. (And maybe it is! I don’t know your life, Wei Wuxian!) Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian meet on Season 8 of The Cultivation World. Ouyang Zizhen writes the recaps.</blockquote> ➤ the cultivation world is like a reality tv show where a bunch of cultivators have to live as though it's historical times

<blockquote>Jingyi makes a sympathetic sound. “I’ve got a buddy in one of the Hefei labs, and he says there’s some evidence to suggest that people stuck in limbo develop, like, whole new neural pathways. And you go in and out of it all the time, right, so who knows what your brain is up to.” His eyes light up. “Oh man, would you let me — ” “Obviously no,” Wei Ying says, voice flat. “But you’re close enough to right. I can keep you all safely in the level, but it’s tiring. I can’t be both dreamer and extractor.” “I’ll do it,” Lan Zhan cuts in, before Jingyi can protest or Wen Yuan can ask any further questions. “It’s not a problem.” “Are you sure?” Wen Yuan asks, brow furrowing. “If your sub-security picks up that Xian-gege doesn’t belong — ” “They won’t.” Wei Ying frowns. “Not for nothing, ge,” he says slowly, “but the last time we were in your dream together, I fell off a cliff.” Lan Zhan looks up and over at him. There is something in his eyes that Wei Ying can’t quite read: something fierce, and faraway. “I remember,” he says, voice quiet. “Do you?” / Wei Ying takes a dream heist job with an old friend.</blockquote> ➤ Love the feeling of the depth of complicated history between the characters underlying everything

<blockquote>The first time Lan Yuan hears a story about the Wen remnants, he is seven years old. The second time Lan Sizhui hears a story about his family, he is seventeen years old. / Or, the things the cultivation world says about the Wens in the Burial Mounds and the things Lan Sizhui learns much later</blockquote> ➤ About sizhui's understanding of his Wen identity as he grows up

<blockquote>It didn’t take Wei Wuxian long to see what he was pointing at, and as soon as he did, the smaller man turned back to face their juniors. “Cave!” he shouted across the thunder of the raindrops hitting the muddy path. “Hanguang-Jun found us a cave! We’ll stop to dry off, and head out again once the rain has stopped!” Beside him, Lan Wangji inclined his head in silent agreement. The bickering of the juniors cut out as they focused on making it the remaining short distance on the slippery ground. They all huddled into the entrance of the cave, taking refuge from the rain, but waiting for directions before heading in. Ouyang Zizhen ran his hand over the wall, feeling slight bumps and indents below his fingers. He brushed off the dirt, reading the characters revealed. “The lovers’ cave,” he read, shaking his head with a smile. Probably a local pair who came here occasionally. It was a bit romantic, when one thought of it. It also probably meant that the cave was safe - no lovers would hide away in a cave that contained resentful energy or other dangers.</blockquote> ➤ the one where to escape a cave there needs to be a true, romantic, and requited declaration of love

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian prompted him as gently as possible. Really, he was dying to know. “Who, exactly, did the juniors think I had some fantastical romance with while out fighting a war?” Lan Sizhui opened his mouth, and then closed it. Wei Wuxian smiled at him encouragingly, ignoring the growing concern and trepidation in his ribcage. The resentful energy there didn’t ignore it, snapping at it in a way that didn’t make him calmer. Sizhui looked at the ground. “Hanguang-Jun,” he mumbled. Wei Wuxian choked. (OR: Wei Wuxian runs into his son, who has questions about romance that lead him to a realisation, and then, somehow, they end up back at Gusu)</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>“...What is it?” Jin Ling ventures, knowing whatever Ouyang Zizhen suggests won’t end well. Ouyang Zizhen rises from the low table; now that all focus has shifted to him, he’ll preen in it until someone wrestles it away. He puffs his chest out, placing his hands on his hips and looking imperiously towards the inn roof. “We’re not going to let your uncle be tragically alone all his life! We’re going to find Sandu Shengshou a Cultivation Partner!” / In which the Junior Quartet take pity on Jin Ling’s painfully single uncle and, once and for all, find him love.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Later, when he’s older, it’s this that A-Yuan will remember most: the stretch of silence, the two of them both dirty and shaking with fever, as he looked at Brother Rich, and Brother Rich looked back at him.</blockquote> ➤ does an incredible job of evoking a tone and mood, and the quiet delicate complexities of emotions

<blockquote>Wei Sizhui sets out on his first solo trip and finds a best friend</blockquote>

<blockquote>“You’ve got a fever,” Wei Wuxian says soothingly. “You just keep still as well as you can. We’ll have you fixed up soon.” Lan Sizhui recognizes his tone—this is the voice that Wei Wuxian uses on hurt people and young children, a very calm and no-nonsense voice that has none of the mischief and cheer of the way he sounds the rest of the time. Lan Sizhui looks up and meets his eyes, and they are dark, stormy gray, muddled and concerned. “I’m all right,” he croaks. “Hush,” Wei Wuxian says, in a low croon, like someone quieting a baby. Then he blinks, and looks away, awkward. “I mean—you shouldn’t speak. You’re tired. Rest if you need to.” or: lan sizhui gets sick on a night hunt. wei wuxian comforts him. they both have a lot of feelings about it.</blockquote>

<blockquote>As always, he arrives with no forewarning. One second, Lan Sizhui and the others are struggling against the hordes of resentful spirits created by some villagers’ accidental disruption of an ancient burial ground—far more spirits than had been initially reported, far more than they had been prepared for—and the next, he’s there, striding fearlessly into the mix, the sound of Chenqing piercing the air. / Or: A meditation on family and the merits of communication, courtesy of Lan Sizhui.</blockquote> ➤ mostly gen about sizhui and jin ling and wwx being faaaaaamily

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?” “Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.” “There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.</blockquote>