LINKDING

Summary: The Institute of Religious Studies was housed in one of the oldest structures at the university, an ornate hipped-roof building that overlooked the campus from the foot of the northern peaks. Aside from the narrow drive that wound up the rise from the other side of campus, the only access was via a steep staircase or a switchbacked path that took twenty minutes to ascend. Most people on campus called it the Mountain. ➤ songxuexiao t4t4t modern au where they're grad students in china ➤ I had the pleasure of getting to see this fic as it came together, and the thought and care verity puts into their writing is always so evident in their beautifully written and beautifully constructed stories! ➤ from song lan's pov as he watches creepy stalker xue yang entwine herself into his bff (and object of pining) xiao xingchen's life ➤ sl DOESN'T trust xy, he DOES find it super hot to put her in her place and have sex with her, he DOES struggle to be fully vulnerable with xxc despite everything she is to him ➤ the vibes are so good, I love how real and present each character and their complex emotions about each other are, and I love the way the theme of the weather runs through the whole fic holding things together ➤ highly recommend! ➤ 12k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>In which Lan Wangji attempts to reconcile who he thought he would be with who he is.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Lan Zhan here really surprised me. When we first met, I thought ‘now here’s a guy who could probably bite my head off if I annoy him,’ but then he didn’t? You know, all of our friends in Seoul would say I’m the shameless one, but I have no idea what they’re talking about, like, have they met Lan Zhan? Gege, you’re kind of crazy.” “Mn,” says Wangji, sounding very pleased. “It’s okay though, I like crazy. Hey, Xichen-ge—can I call you Xichen-ge?—anyway, do you mind if I add a little something to my tea?” “We do not imbibe alcohol in this house,” Shufu seethes. “It’s not alcohol,” Wei Ying corrects like he expected to hear this at some point. Xichen glances at Wangji, who’s making an expression Xichen has never seen before: unbridled exasperation and fondness. Then Wei Ying pulls out a pack of what Xichen is pretty sure is chili powder. / Basically a modern AU where lwj and wwx both take a semester abroad while in college. They were originally in different colleges and never met before. They meet in this new college and being the weirdos they truly are, fall in love and get married within one semester.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Okay!” says Wei Ying, already taking another customer’s order. “I’ll find you later! Remember, though, you have to be nice about my act – I thrive on praise!” Wangji finds a table for three. He sits down, maintaining a white-knuckled grip on what remains of his virgin pina colada. He stares at it, morose and – for the first time in his life – unbearably horny. I am also a virgin, he thinks, as though a non-alcoholic beverage is in any way capable of reciprocating his sudden kinship with it, and tries not to think about other, considerably more naked contexts in which Wei Ying might be said to thrive on praise.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Ying thinks he’s going to meet a younger version of Professor Lan, since they’re brothers- gently smiling, a little sad way back somewhere, smart as a whip and just a touch gullible, but instead he meets a drop dead gorgeous sonovabitch who refuses to make more than cursory eye contact and has about as much empathy in him as a brick fucking wall. In which Wei Ying is forced to take AAS100: Intro to Asian American Studies to graduate. He has a cruelly strict grader, and his only hope of passing the class is attending extra credit movie nights in a ridiculous dorm with 3,000 rules. Or: I watched a Chinese piece of media, promptly had a whole pile of feelings about being Chinese-American, and dumped them into a fanfiction.</blockquote> ➤ Chinese American identity is important theme

<blockquote>"Pop some bread in the toaster for me?” Wei Ying asks. Lan Zhan has one, a chrome thing with dials and buttons. A pause. “This isn’t a relationship,” Lan Zhan says. Wei Ying blinks. It’s such an incongruous thing to say. At first his brain says, that must be code. It’s almost like listening to two spies talk in a drama. The handler would say something like ‘the duck swims at midnight,’ and the spy would say, ‘purple is the loveliest colour’ and they’d both nod to each other and know that the prime minister was about to be assassinated, or something. That’s all he can think of, at first. Because of course this isn’t a relationship? This was a fun night. So Lan Zhan must be saying this for a reason. There’s some response he’s supposed to make now, but he’s lost the script if he ever had it. “Okay…” he says. Then it clicks. Lan Zhan means: you should leave. / Maybe Wei Ying shouldn't have hooked up with his hot neighbour two days into his exchange semester, but everyone makes choices in life.</blockquote> ➤ I loved the way the friendships and family were integrated into this fic, and the beef been jyl & lxc over their brothers was perfect and beautiful, and the way wwx got hung up on toast as a metaphor is perfectly integrated

<blockquote>Lan Zhan, on the other hand, is a delicate flower from Shanghai, yet he wakes up every morning to go jogging around the campus in a tracksuit that Wei Ying is sure he would find sexy if he was ever awake to observe it. In contrast, while Wei Ying is technically the more winter-savvy, he beat Nie Huaisang at fourteen days without leaving the hodge-podge of tunnels and walkways connecting the university’s sprawl, even if it was only because Huaisang’s professor wouldn’t answer his email last week.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian didn’t eavesdrop on their conversation, but, well. Walls are thin, and all. “Xiongzhang!” Lan Wangji hissed. “I know you and Uncle believe this will be a good experience, but I cannot live with him. He is messy and undisciplined and -” Wei Wuxian hadn't thought he’d make his roommate hate him within an hour of their first meeting. There was one thing that would make him feel better. Wei Wuxian pulled out his laptop, booting it up and opening Cultivation Untamed. He then yanked his phone out of his tight jeans pocket, tapping Discord open. yilinglaozu: u up to play???? The response came through immediately, which sent a small jolt of joy through him. Even if he was basically alone at a college, he still had one one friend. Hanguang-Jun: Why? yilinglaozu: my new roommates a bastard n i need stresssss reliefffff Hanguang-Jun: I understand the feeling. Wei Wuxian frowned down at his phone. What? Did Hanguang-Jun also have a bad roommate? Wow, that sucked.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Jin Ling resumes thumping on the door to room 721, and the small collection of freshmen starts chanting “Senior Wei! Senior Wei! Senior Wei!” with increasing volume until finally Wei Wuxian opens the door. “Yes?” he says with his widest, most innocent eyes. “Senior Wei!” demands Lan Jingyi, shoving himself to the front of the group. “Why didn’t you tell us you’re a contestant on this year’s season of The Great Gusu Bake Off?!?” -- Several months ago, college student Wei Wuxian secretly competed in the most popular reality show in the country. The show starts airing in the fall. The freshmen in his dorm collectively lose their minds.</blockquote>

<blockquoteA new plan hatches in Wei Wuxian’s head. If this nocturnal, bottom-feeding, slimy, invasive mudcat posing as a beautiful actor thinks he can sway Wei Wuxian with animal pictures and a sob story and an unbelievably stilted way of texting with still no dick pictures in the first five minutes of conversation, he has another thing coming. Wei Wuxian’s got it, alright, he has this in the fucking bag. / Wei Wuxian plots to expose a catfish using strategic memes and turtle pictures while wiggling his way out of family dinner. Lan Wangji just wants companions. </blockquote> ➤ I loved how the resolution was about more than just the lwj/wwx but was about wwx's relationships with all the important people in his life. Also the sudden outside pov with the internet talking about lwj's mystery friend after so much time in wwx's head gave me LIFE.

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian plays the flute. Someone in Wei Wuxian's apartment complex plays violin. Sometimes, they play the flute and the violin together, and it's... nice. It's really nice. It's sort of the nicest thing going on in his life right now, honestly. It's like the poets say: Music is love in search of a word.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian wants nothing more than to be a good friend to Lan Wangji. A great friend. His best friend. What more is there for Wei Wuxian to want?</blockquote>

<blockquote>A fic based lightly on a reddit post— "I (21f) have a crush on my roommate (20f). I can't figure out if she actually likes me back or not or is just being friendly. She cooks for me and knows all my favorite foods, and brings me lunch. She buys me anything I want, and her family all joke about our wedding. I once fell asleep on her lap and when I woke up she was stroking my hair and I almost had a stroke. I can't figure out if she's flirting with me or not. Help!"</blockquote> ➤ do I know anything about any of these characters? No. Was I charmed anyway? absolutely