#mdzs is very tightly written

[wutheringskies]

if I start posting more mdzs analysis I'm going to upset a lot of side characters enjoyer and tbh it's just a book and not that serious (except it is which is why I have a blog for it lmao)

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian did nothing wrong #whoever thinks otherwise failed to appreciate the canon themes #and that is okay you can have your own interpretations #but i personally think death of the author is a stupid concept #mdzs is very tightly written #you just turn a blind eye or develop 0 reading comprehension to get it wrong #other interpretations are cool and interesting but not canon #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Turtle Takedown Teamwork.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #tulu xuanwu #Something about changing the action sequence to something gentle is hilarious to me. #The lesson here is “Be nice to turtles. They are gentle creatures. And many are very endangered.” #don't get me wrong here; I love this scene a lot. LWJ's string technique is one of my favoyrite things. #We do get a fair amount of LWJ fighting but I always loved how the theme of strings comes into play. #There is actually a lot to unpack with LWJ being associate with 'strings'. #The musicianship: Of dedication and rigor in one's practice. #The tension between following along a path or composing your own way forwards (playing what has been written vs composing) #A string is a tightly coiled/taunt entity; The same tension that makes it sing so beautifully can be it's downfall if pushed too hard. #And as a non-musical string - something that binds. Be it to his sect and family or how he binds his fate to WWX - #LWJ cannot exist without his binds. It is not something which ties him down though. It keeps him together. #And he himself *is* a bind. He 'ties wwx down' in ways that are initially negatively viewed ('come to gusu' - feels like: come be trapped) #But later it is shown how (despite being introduced as a free spirit) WWX truly wants to be bound to something and someone. #Marriage is a bind he wants. He wants to be tied and grounded by LWJ. #It's starting to sound like innuendo. Let's call his fondness for being literally tied up smart thematic writing. #Finally. Sex scenes that are important to the plot and characters

[weishenmewwx]

MDZS Volume 4 Annotations

Part 9, pages 293 - 309

Here begin The Edits.

My understanding, gleaned almost exclusively from reading tumblr, is that there are at least 3 versions of MDZS:

1) Original serialized story, published as it was written.

2) Cleaned-up story after the story was all done.

(I think this is the version that got published in Taiwan.)

3) Censored version, the only one that you can easily find online these days.

(This is the version that the ♥️Audio Drama♥️ is based on!)

While it’s awesome that Seven Seas didn’t censor MDZS, it’s also very sad that they didn’t incorporate all the sweet extra little scenes and adorable lines that MXTX added when she had to brutally cut out all the blatant physical intimacy (😢 that must have hurt 😢).

Here’s what to add back in, folks!

⭐️ 1)

WWX: “What do you want to do next?” He just barely restrained himself from saying “Whose house are you going to wreck next?”

LWJ furrowed his brow slightly and corrected WWX: “We.”

WWX: “Ok, ok. We.” (As in, “What will we do next, together.”)

LWJ nodded his head, and he even gave WWX the jujubes again. WWX wiped them on his clothes and took a few bites, thinking about how, in the middle of the night, Hanguang Jun wants Yiling Laozu to disturb the peace and make mischief with him.

If word of this got out, it would be disastrous.

Much more below the cut:

⭐️ 2)

After a moment, he tilted his head and asked, “How is it?”

WWX: “Hmm? What? How is it? … Good! Very good. I gladly bow down to your superiority!”

These were true statements. Even though he was drunk, Hanguang Jun’s handwriting was, as usual, exceedingly proper; WWX was ashamed at his own inferiority (re: handwriting) (handwriting is a big thing in Chinese culture).

LWJ nodded his head, and passed Bichen to WWX.

WWX: “…?…”

LWJ again tried to pass Bichen to him, and WWX accepted. He looked at the wall and noticed how there was a lot of space after the words “Lan Wangji,” then understood.

LWJ was waiting for him to write his own name up there!

LWJ stared at WWX unrelentingly, and WWX finally couldn’t take it anymore, saying “Ok, ok, ok. I’m writing. I’m writing.”

Resigned to this action (this fate), in the space after “Gusu LWJ,” he wrote “Yunmeng WWX.” Now, both of their names were side by side on the wall.

“Gusu LWJ, Yunmeng WWX, travelled here!”

⭐️ 3)

The sect rules of Gusu Lan were so strict, there was no way LWJ had ever had so much wild, crazy fun when he was little.

⭐️ 4) (an entire scene of Drunk LWJ exerting his dominance over a dog for the sake of WWX)

“Woof woof woof arf arf arf!”

Suddenly, an torrent of barking exploded like firecrackers in WWX’s ears. He screamed and instinctively jumped on top of LWJ: “Lan Zhan, save me!”

This household raised dogs?

In actuality, in the middle of this quiet night, WWX’s awful hollering and howling was much more terrifying than any dog’s barking. He was scared out of his wits, but LWJ’s expression did not change, and with one hand he held WWX and patted him soothingly, with the other hand he held his sword, then leapt lightly to the top of the wall; and from that position of superior height he looked down upon the wicked dog, and with a cold expression seemed to engage in a confrontation with it.

WWX had all 4 limbs wrapped around LWJ and his face buried in LWJ’s neck. His whole body was stiff, paralyzed. He screamed, “Don’t confront it! Go! Let’s go! Lan Zhan, get me away from here! Aughghghgh!!!”

While WWX was madly crying, the dog, upon seeing LWJ, had tucked its tail between its legs, extended its tongue, lowered its head, and was splayed on the ground crying; it didn’t dare bark anymore.

LWJ saw that he had achieved complete victory, then gently patted WWX twice more, held him tightly, then leapt down from the wall.

They had walked quite a ways away and didn’t hear a single bark; only then did WWX peel himself off of LWJ’s body. His eyes stared straight forward and his legs still trembled. LWJ patted his shoulder, expression focused on WWX as if asking if he was ok. WWX hadn’t fully calmed down yet, and with some effort took a deep breath, casually praising LWJ as he did so: “Hanguang Jun, you really are extraordinarily brave. Unparalleled!”

Hearing this, LWJ seemed to smile.

The moment was fleeting, and WWX thought that perhaps he was just seeing things. He was stunned.

A moment later, he sighed, rubbed his chin, and smiled. “Lan Zhan, now you know to regret not going to Lianhua Wu with me back then, right? Wait! Where are you going?! Don’t just run off!”

⭐️ 5)

WWX couldn’t help but tug on LWJ’s forehead ribbon. “You even order me around now?”

⭐️ 6)

WWX despaired. He gritted his teeth and pretended like everything was fine: “I’ll just help you pour over the bath water, ok? And the rest you can do yourself.” As he spoke, he made to dodge away from LWJ; suddenly, LWJ reached out and ripped off his sash.

⭐️ 7)

Seeing him this way, WWX’s heart inexplicably softened; he also felt it to be funny (Chinese doesn’t require subjects in sentences, so I’m not sure if WWX finds LWJ funny or the situation laughable or both). This person really has been this way since he was little — the things he wants, he would never say in words, but he would fiercely pursue with his actions. So, then, WWX dragged LWJ back to the tub, saying “Ok, I’ll help you bathe. Come here.” In his heart, he thought, “I’ve lost. I admit defeat. Ok, I’ll help him scrub a little — nothing more.”

⭐️ Alright!!

From here, pages 298 - 310, the edits were so many but also so subtle that I can’t just write them in. Instead, I highly highly recommend that you read the translation done by @boat-full-of-lotus-pods :

#mdzs #魔道祖师 #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #translations #mxtx #novel #translation #seven seas #volume 4 #bath scene

[ouyangzizhensdad]

I'm impressed by how mdzs is such a tightly written story. 'Kill your darlings' and all that. Almost everything adds either to the characters, plot or overall themes. It might not be a masterpiece, but it's a very well written story and I think mxtx deserves more praise!

I don't know if mxtx really did kill all of her darlings in mdzs, but for a long novel it is not only tight but is pretty good at keeping your interest by having shifts in the narrative by giving us more intimate moments between characters in between the action or reveals. I also think that mxtx is pretty good, at least when it comes to the revised version, at keeping up with the different threads she has woven into the narrative (unlike, say, cql). And it is very noticeable that she understands how to use different storytelling techniques, although she sometimes could afford to be less blunt when she uses them. She is also pretty good imo at giving 'voices' to her characters which not all writers who enjoy writing long and more plot-heavy novels are able to do. If she really continues to write in the future and keeps publishing despite the obstacles we are aware of, I'm really curious to see how her writing will grow and improve.

#anon ask

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

Stories I haven’t read yet, but clearly need to put on my ever-expanding List.

~*~

Welcome back queen [Thank you, it’s so lovely to be back!] if ur still doing follower recs I gotta recommend I would wait for a thousand years by bleuett it’s soooooooo good

[This one was actually recced to me by two different people, the other of whom said, “ Maybe I'm crying a little so I feel like a should recommend ‘I would wait for a thousand years’ by bleuett on ao3.”]... it’s def. on my List!

I would wait for a thousand years

by bleuett (T, 10k, wangxian)

Summary:  During the worst of winter, a traveler comes to stay at Lan Wangji's inn. He wears a red ribbon in his hair.

“Do you see the rabbit?” Wei Ying asks and points at the moon. “That’s the moon rabbit, he helps make Chang’e more immortality elixir. He keeps Chang’e company.”

“I do not wish the rabbit for company,” Lan Wangji says tightly. “You are the one I want by my side.”

“And I’m here, Lan Zhan. If you go to the moon, I’ll follow you, I’ll always be here now.”

~*~

I just read a great fic by aisthuu "every love story is a ghost story", didn't see it in your recs so wanted to recommend it! LWJ is a guqin composer and teacher, buys a cheap guqin off eBay which ends up being attached to WWX's spirit from canon era. It's bittersweet, LWJ deals with Lan's homophobia (implicit in a Lan way) and his feelings towards the ghost. This is author's only ao3 fic and honestly I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but I'm happy I did and hope you will enjoy it too!  [I’ve recently read this one, and loved it!]

every love story is a ghost story

by aisthuu (M, 59k, wangxian, my bookmark)

Summary:  The man is in Lan Zhan’s bed. Did they—he begins to wonder, eyes trailing to where the man’s body lies under the blanket. Had Lan Zhan—?

Then the sleep-fog clears and Lan Zhan realizes that the young man isn’t quite opaque around the edges.

“You’re a spirit.”

The spirit narrows its eyes. “I’m so much more than that.”

(Lan Zhan buys a guqin off eBay for a suspiciously low price, only to find that it’s haunted. And now there’s a ghost in his bed.)

~*~

Ok so I absolutely have to rec "see you yesterday" by glyphic. It's a wip, but it's currently at 101k so there's a whole lot there, and it's terrible and wonderful and beautiful all at once. The way the backstory of canon events is adapted to the modern-with-cultivation setting is brilliant, and then there's the amnesia, and then there's the time loop. This fic lives permanently rent-free in my brain.

see you yesterday

by glyphic (M, 101k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  

Wei Ying 21:09 hey lan zhan what’s the weirdest way youve died

Lan Zhan 21:11 Falling encyclopedias.

Wei Ying 21:12 omg no way that’s so rude turning books against you???

Lan Zhan 21:13 A betrayal I will never forget.

On Halloween night, an exiled demonic cultivator and a Lan disciple get stuck in a time-loop, find each other, and try to figure it all out.

~*~

If you are looking for recs for yourself I absolutely love (the complete!) story Just as the Snow Melts by draechali on AO3. It's a canon divergence where everyone lives, even WWX! ~ @airmidcelt

Just as the Snow Melts

by draechaeli (T, 67k, wangxian)

Summary:  Like a snowy mountain top in spring the residents of the Burial Mounds trickled down the mountain and joined the flow of society.

“I went to the Burial Mounds,” Lan WangJi said.

“Ah, yeah… I’m sorry Lan Zhan,” replied Wei WuXian, “I hadn’t thought anyone would come to visit. I am still not sure how it happened; I brought A-Yuan to Yiling to play by the river and then ended up somehow teaching a bunch of children swimming and writing along with him.”

~*~

Hello! It's come to my attention that you have not as yet read Grandmaster of Meme-onic Cultivation! Please do! It's the only thing that gave me joy during 2020 😆 like proper belly laughs and disney villain style cackling. It is a wip, and it is long but so so worth it!! The author has reworked the entire canon through these message crystals and still conveys complex characters despite the tricky format. It's just so good!! Highly highly recommend it! ❤ ~ @theladypeartree  [Oh!  I’ve been subscribed to this one, and know that @swaglexander-the-great is a reliable provider of Hilarity, so I’m excited for it to be finished!]

Grandmaster of Meme-onic Cultivation 

by Hades_the_Blingking (T, 49k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  The Untamed universe is exactly the same, except everybody has magical crystals that have a suspiciously familiar messaging system. The story is pretty much the same as the show, except everyone lives!! (so minor changes).

or in which Wei WuXian tries his darndest to date Lan Zhan, Jiang Cheng possibly has a aneurysm, Jin ZiXuan is still the most awkward human alive, and Xue Yang makes me write some VERY cursed things. Written in chatfic format! :3

~*~

Chomrafy on AO3 deserves love and encouragement; she’s written a body of compact, poetic, and eloquent shortfics each of which can stand alone, but that comprise an intricately cross-referential and mostly internally-consistent universe. They’re grouped as chapters in works according to theme; for example, “in cupped hands” focuses upon Jin Ling and his second-generation baggage; “Departure in Autumn” portrays the last years of WWX’s first life. Follow the tag “Chomrafy’s MDZS shortfics.” [I don’t see this tag?]

in cupped hands

by chomrafy (G, 2k, wangxian)

Summary:  Of secrets, of futures, of love. A Jin Ling-centric collection of 200-word fics.

Ch.1: Jin Ling repays a debt (JL, JC, & WWX). Ch.2: Jin Ling and a ghost in the mirror. (JL & JYL) Ch.3: A matter of friends (JL & the other kids) Ch.4: In this house we don't keep dogs (JC & WWX) Ch.5: In the end, he remains silent (JL & uncles) Ch.6: A first night hunt, of sorts (JL & the other kids) Ch.7: Jin Ling, forgiving, forgetting (JL & LXC & JGY) Ch.8: Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling argue (JL, JC, & WWX) Ch.9: Jin Ling and his father (JL & JC) Ch.10: Jin Ling speaks up (JL, JC, & WWX) Ch.11: Jin Ling and a piece of home (JL, JC, & WWX)

Departure in Autumn

by chomrafy (not rated, 6k)

Summary:  Four perspectives. A steady march to the end.

Ch.1: Because if anything happens to them, Wen Qing would never be able to heal with these hands again. Ch.2: As long as this is still home, Jiang Yanli will wait as long as she needs to. Ch.3: Five times Jiang Cheng reaches for Wei Wuxian, one time he turns away. Ch.4: Whether the road is broad or narrow, bright or dark, they would have to keep walking. Wei Wuxian digs Wen Qing's grave.

~*~

Hello, hope all is going well. I don't have an ask, by I do have a recommendation. I read this fic a while ago and found it again. I just wanted to recommend this for everyone. Let me know what you think please. Thank you. [Oh!  This one’s in my To Read list, but  I’d forgotten about it.  Mmmm, fox!wwx and dragon!lwj.]

Ten miles of Lotus Flowers

by Yukirin_Snow

M, 274k, wangxian

Summary:  He was a mischievous fox spirit, wreaking havoc where he went, about to depart on a journey that would span centuries.

He was a heavenly prince, a proud dragon destined to ascend the throne to become emperor.

Neither expected their paths to collide over the span of three lives.

~*~

I forgot if it was your blog 😥 that recommended “Bestseller” (when Wei Wuxian writes the Xianxia cut-sleeve equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, based entirely on his experiences with Lan Wangji, he doesn’t expect it to become the next big hit) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/21528316/chapters/51318766)

But OMG IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! I LOVED IT!! And if it wasn’t your blog, I’m so sorry for how weird this sounds 😭😭😭😭 I just loved this fic so much that I have to tell it to someone 😢 [It’s on my List, but I haven’t read it yet!]

Bestseller

by pupeez4eva

M, 8k, wangxian

Summary:  He had written the book to prove a point. It was never supposed to be a big thing, and he certainly never intended for everyone — Jiang Cheng, Zewu-Jun, the Juniors, literally everyone— to be reading about his sex life.

Oh God, he definitely needed to make sure Lan Zhan didn’t find out about this.

(Or, when Wei Wuxian writes the Xianxia cut-sleeve equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, based entirely on his experiences with Lan Wangji, he doesn’t expect it to become the next big hit).

~*~

I’d like to rec On Your Marks, Get Set, Bake! by @blackwiresgrowonherhead

It’s one of my absolute favorites and I laughed out loud so many times when reading it

on your marks, get set, bake!

by BlackWiresOnHerHead

G, 41k, wei wuxian & juniors

Summary:  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.

~*~

If you're in the mood for v. short ridiculous fun fic, may I suggest My chain hits my chest/When I'm bangin' on the radio by x_los It's 2k modern cultivators AU, featuring WWX calling LWJ's sword Bitchin' [omg I’m laughing so hard] and I think it's more fun going in blind?

My chain hits my chest/When I'm bangin' on the radio

by x_los

T, 2k, wangxian

Summary:  Lan Wangji finds he doesn't even need to call for help for Wei Wuxian to come running.

#follower rec #wangxian fic rec #I HAVEN'T READ THESE YET #wangxian #mdzs

[coffintownkids]

On this fine day, I think we all deserve the next edition of "WWX is an oblivious idiot and LWJ is suffering in silence." This is also known as chapter 44 in MDZS!

We last left WWX acknowledging he shot himself in the foot, so to speak, by teasing drunk!LWJ and got his wrists bound with the Lan headband as a result. Unfortunately, WWX does not learn his lesson.

After LWJ decides covering WWX's mouth with his hand is the best way to keep WWX from begging to have his hands untied, WWX exacts some...er...revenge.

Some spicy Wangxian below the cut!

Wèi Wúxiàn thought to himself, “If that’s how it is, then don’t blame me.”

His mouth was tightly covered by Lán Wàngjī’s hand, so he parted his lips, and let the tip of his tongue lightly flit against the middle of his palm.

He had barely made any contact, yet Lán Wàngjī abruptly pulled away as if his palm had been set on fire.

Wèi Wúxiàn took a deep breath and just as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, Lán Wàngjī turned his back to him. He tucked his knees up as he sat down on the bed and held his own hand that just had its palm lightly licked close to his chest. His entire being went completely still.

Wèi Wúxiàn said, “What are you doing? What is this?”

After being defiled by Dēngtú’s prodigal son, all interest in life had drained from his body. If one didn’t know better, they might also think he’d done something to Lán Wàngjī.

Seeing that this seemed to be a heavy blow for him, Wèi Wúxiàn said, “Did you hate it that much? You’ve got no right to hate it, either. Who taught you to be so overbearing and not let me speak? If you come over here, I’ll clean it up for you.”

After he spoke, he reached out with his bound hands to touch Lán Wàngjī’s shoulder, but he dodged it. Seeing Lán Wàngjī’s appearance as he hugged his knees and silently nestled into the corner of the bed, Wèi Wúxiàn felt the desire to be wicked rise sharply in his chest, “Are you afraid?”

All of a sudden, Lán Wàngjī jumped out of bed, as if he was as good as scared, and kept his back to him and kept his distance.

This time, Wèi Wúxiàn was able to get up unimpeded.

(As an FYI, as I don't think I've seen it mentioned in other fan translations, Dēngtú is a reference to Dēngtú Zǐ, a character from a story written during the Warring States period that was famous for being a lecher lol.)

WWX still persists in his teasing though.

He leisurely settled himself on the futon and was giggling as he said, “Hey, what are you hiding for? Don’t run away. You still have my hands tied up. I’m not afraid, so what are you scared of? C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. Come over here.”

He was smiling as he approached with nothing good in mind.

WWX determines that it's because LWJ had such a strict upbringing, he never got to act like a kid so WWX is willing to indulge him. Which is very sweet, even if WWX has a bit of fun at LWJ's expense.

Wèi Wúxiàn felt it was a bit like teasing a little kid and did his best to go along with it, chasing him around for three laps, “Run, run, run, you better hurry up. Don’t let me catch you. If I catch you, I’ll lick you like I did last time, see if you’re scared or not.”

His original intention had mostly been to intimidate him. Who knew that Lán Wàngjī would suddenly come out from the other side of the screen and collide into him head-on.

His plan backfires, though he can't figure out why...

Lán Wàngjī saw that he wasn’t moving and lifted up his tied-together wrists, then wrapped those wrists around his own neck as if he were taking the initiative to enter an unbreakable trap, “You caught me.”

Wèi Wúxiàn, “…Huh? Right, I caught you.”

As if he’d long-been looking forward to something and couldn’t wait any longer, Lán Wàngjī repeated those three words again. This time he spoke them rather seriously, as if he were a bit anxious to urge things along, “You caught me.”

Wèi Wúxiàn said, “That’s right, I caught you.”

You’re caught, now what?

What had he said—What was it about the last time he caught him?

…There’s no way.

Wèi Wúxiàn said, “This time doesn’t count. You came over on your own…”

Before he finished speaking, he watched Lán Wàngjī’s face sink. His entire face turned frosty and he looked extremely unhappy.

Wèi Wúxiàn thought, “There’s no way. After Lán Zhàn gets drunk, not only does he like to play hide and seek, he also likes for people to lick him?”

Yes, WWX. I'm sure LWJ likes being licked by just anyone.

He was about to remove his arms from around Lán Wàngjī’s neck when Lán Wàngjī raised a hand and pushed down. He pressed down so hard and wouldn’t let him take his arms down.

Seeing him pressing down on his arms with only one hand, he thought things over for a moment, then leaned in. He tentatively brought their cheeks closer together, lips seeming to barely touch, as if he were going to brush kisses along the back of Lán Wàngjī’s, and the tip of his tongue lightly swept along that cool, jade-like skin.

Very, very lightly.

Lán Wàngjī’s hand pulled back like lightning. He removed Wèi Wúxiàn’s arms and jumped back from him while holding his own licked hand, silently bowing his head and facing the wall without a word.

Wèi Wúxiàn pondered, “Is he afraid after all or does he like it? Or is he both afraid and likes it?”

Just as he was mulling it over, Lán Wàngjī turned back towards him and with a calm expression said, “Again.”

Wèi Wúxiàn, “Again? Do what again?”

Our clever hero sure is out of his depth here. He really, really doesn't get it. To be fair, here's a reminder that unlike the show, WWX and LWJ hadn't been close in the book so he really has no idea what LWJ thinks of him.

But at the same time, who plays around with someone you don't consider a close friend by playing gay chicken?

After a moment of silence, Wèi Wúxiàn went “again” as he was told. This time, he’d only gone two steps in pursuit when Lán Wàngjī himself bumped into him again.

Wèi Wúxiàn said, “You definitely did that on purpose.”

Lán Wàngjī wrapped his arms around his own neck again and, as if he couldn’t understand what was being said to him, waited for him to make good on his promise again.

Wèi Wúxiàn thought, “Am I going to let Lán Zhàn alone have this much fun playing? How could I do that? Anyway, what I do to him now, he won’t remember after he wakes up. I’ll play a grand game with him.”

He encircled Lán Wàngjī and the two of them sat together on the long bed. Wèi Wúxiàn said, “You like this, right? Don’t turn around, tell me, do you like it? If you like it, there’s no need to insist on having me chase you around for a while every time. I’ll let you have as much fun as you want this time.”

As he said this, he tugged Lán Wàngjī’s hand up, lowered his head, and kissed between his fair, slender fingers.

Lán Wàngjī had been about to pull his hand away, but Wèi Wúxiàn held on tightly and wouldn’t let him take it back.

Then, Wèi Wúxiàn pressed his lips to his well-defined knuckles. His breath was light and gentle as a feather as it drifted up his fingers and along the back of his hand. Here, another kiss.

No matter how much Lán Wàngjī shrank back, he couldn’t pull his hand away. All of a sudden, he closed his fingers and folded them into a fist.

Wèi Wúxiàn pulled up his sleeve a bit, revealing his snow white wrist, and kissed there too.

After the kiss, he didn’t raise his head, only lifting his eyes as he said, “Was that enough?”

Apparently WWX didn't need to bother asking, since he clearly hadn't had enough himself.

Lán Wàngjī kept his mouth shut and didn’t say anything. Wèi Wúxiàn took his time to sit up straight and said, “Say, did you burn paper money for me?”

No response. Wèi Wúxiàn huffed out a laugh, moved in close, and through his robes, kissed his chest, “If you don’t talk to me, I won’t give you anything. Tell me, how did you recognize me?”

Lán Wàngjī closed his eyes, lips quivering, as if he wanted to make a confession.

But contrary to expectations, in that moment, Wèi Wúxiàn was staring down at those soft, faintly red lips. As if he were possessed, he kissed those lips.

After the kiss, he lapped at them with the desire to keep going.

Both of them abruptly opened their eyes.

After a while, Lán Wàngjī suddenly raised his hand. Wèi Wúxiàn jolted back to his senses and in a flash broke out into a cold sweat. As if he was going to be hit hard enough to send his own organs flying, he scrambled to roll off the bed. When he turned around, he saw Lán Wàngjī smack his own forehead, and knocked himself out, lying down on the bed.

Within the private room, Lán Wàngjī was lying on the bed and Wèi Wúxiàn sat on the floor. A gust of cold wind blew in from the open window. The gust was chilly against Wèi Wúxiàn’s back and cleared his head a bit.

Poor, suffering LWJ. My man knocked himself out to escape the situation. But seriously, WWX constantly hoists himself by his own petard and plays himself more than anyone else. These two...

And yes, WWX does reflect on his actions. I'm sure far more articulate people could better-comment on the themes of consent in the book, but I'll just leave WWX's thoughts here.

Wèi Wúxiàn put the empty cup on the table and thought to himself, “What am I drinking for? I’ve had more than enough today.”

When he turned his head this time, he could just get past the privacy screen and from his side could see Lán Wàngjī’s peacefully lying on the bed. He thought, “…I really had too much today, way too much. Lán Zhàn is such a proper and decent person. Even if he’s drunk, even if probably won’t remember this after he wakes up, I still shouldn’t have acted out and played tricks on him like this…It was too disrespectful to him.”

But when he thought about how he “acted out” just now, Wèi Wúxiàn also couldn’t stop himself from raising his hand and lightly touching his lips.

#mdzs #ctk reads mdzs #mdzs translation #my translation #wangxian #in fact it's some spicy wangxian! #wwx ilu but you are lacking some serious self-awareness here

[tracer85s]

MDZS fics i treasure (3)

parts 1, 2

Bet Your Heart by Vamillepudding

[general, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 14k, completed]

wwx decides to seduce lxc during his stay in gusu. spoiler alert, he seduces the wrong brother. this one definitely made it into my favourite humour fics, it’s lighthearted with the usual mutual pining and some hurt/comfort with an ALMOST bed sharing (you’ll see what i mean). the line that got me cackling over this was “i’ve taken a vow of abstinence”, ugh this fic is just so cute

cloudy autumn heaps the sky by anatheme

[teen and up, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 23k, completed]

DRAGON LWJ AND FOX WWX. GEGE WWX. SCREAMS. oh my god i just read this today and i am in love. this one veers towards fantasy, but the world building isn’t as different as the one in mdzs, there’s just some little additions and they’re well integrated. their first meeting is on the cloud recesses rooftop and they still have a sword fight i’m crying. ugh just strangers to friends to lovers gege wwx and didi lwj, with wwx spoiling lwj, lots of bed sharing and hints of arranged marriage? this baby’s got it all. GO READ.

Covered in Bees by ScarlettStorm

[teen and up, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 8k, completed]

modern beekeeping wangxian au. yes you read that right. bees. THIS IS SO ADORABLE AND FLUFFY, i love meet-cute fics so much and this one’s a fresh take on it. it’s just wwx being cute with all his questions about the bees and lwj indulging him. lots of flirting with bee puns and facts, i really enjoyed this !!

How a Pediatrician Likes His Eggs by yeolinski

[mature, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 7k, completed]

modern wangxian and their hospital shenanigans. i absolutely adore this, it’s so fluffy and the meet-ugly is one of a kind: pediatrician lwj keeps parking his car in head of surgical team wwx’s spot for three weeks and wwx is over it and keys lwj’s car. my favourite part is lwj keeping wwx’s a** p****** (READ THE FIC TO FIGURE OUT THE ASTERISKS)

Lynchpin by @shanastoryteller

[not rated, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 103k, completed]

reader, i am going to marry this fic. this is definitely my favourite time travel fix it fic. IT IS AMAZING. this is written in jiang cheng’s pov and i find that it addresses a lot of our what-ifs: “what if jc knew wwx gave him his core?”, “what if jc and yanli were more assertive towards protecting wwx during the sunshot campaign?”, “what if wangxian realized their feelings earlier?” this fic is an honest to god GEM, it’s just jiang cheng fixing everything through the power of brotherly love and i am sobbing because guys, the three of them really did stay together. just do yourself a favour and read it, also, nie mingjue is everyone’s da-ge confirmed

Children of the River by Achromos

[mature, lan xichen/jiang wanyin, 83k, completed]

xicheng is one of my favourite side ships and this fic is such a slow burn, i highly recommend it ! xichen emerges from seclusion and finds out yunmeng jiang is no longer one of the four greatest sects so xichen decides to help jiang cheng to distract himself from his grief. the found family feels is so good in this one and i find that there’s not enough lan xichen healing fics so i was happy to discover this one

It’s easier to let me go (let me hold you) by Iamthedarkoverlord

[mature, lan xichen/jiang wanyin, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 24k, complete]

this one is so, so heavy. like make you cry heavy and also lots of hurt/comfort. this fic is jiang cheng focused and deals with suicidal thoughts, there is a *suicide attempt* so please be careful reading this. my thoughts? jiang cheng needs to be wrapped in blankets and hugged very, very tightly. the ending is also very hopeful but i guarantee that the other chapters will make you sob

no certainty of doors between us by betts

[teen and up, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 6k, completed]

wangxian are roommates, lwj thinks he despises wwx, keyword: thinks (he’s in love with him but we already know that). i’m such a sucker for roommates fic i will devour any fic with this trope oh and add in some clothes sharing, bed sharing, one-sided enemies to lovers (from lwj’s pov), and lots of hugging... well, i’m sold. also that one scene where lwj’s trying to ask wwx what’s wrong oh my god i love it so much i can relate so hard and when lwj buys chili oil for wwx *sigh* domesticity at its finest

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful by feenwitch

[explicit, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 21k, completed]

because it’s winter, i present to you, snowboarders wangxian !!! of course, it’s enemies to lovers i mean what did you expect from me? this centers around coaches wangxian getting together while herding the juniors around in the snow and you can’t forget the classic *drum roll* getting stuck together in a cabin and it’s so cold that they just have to huddle together for warmth, also olympic winner lwj ! i always find myself re-reading this one, it’s so fluffy

paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3

[explicit, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 53k, completed]

MODERN SINGLE DAD LWJ WITH ART TEACHER WWX? I AM SOLD. or in which dadji accidentally co-parents with a-yuan’s art teacher. the result is me melting, this is the softest thing ever, even the way they pine in this one is the softest. wwx paints lwj + a-yuan a bunny picture, lwj composes wangxian for wwx, there’s also some making out in an art gallery. if you’re looking for a comfort fic, this would be the perfect one

the recluse at the end of the moonlit path by b_ofdale

[teen and up, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 28k, completed]

what if wwx dies of old age after post-canon and gets reincarnated in the modern world? you get this fic. immortal lwj just waiting for his lover to return after all of these years... give me the tissues already damn. also photographer wwx hello? and lwj builds him a dark room? LWJ IS ALWAYS BESOTTED NO MATTER THE TIMELINE. 

#wangxian #mo dao zu shi #mdzs fic rec #fic rec #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan wangji/wei wuxian #jiang cheng #lan xichen #xicheng

[tangledinmdzs]

you belong to me, mdzs junior hc (cont!)

Lan Sizhui’s pt. 2

i intended to make this more light hearted than it is, but i hope that it is still enjoyable cheers to you all, i appreciate all of your support!

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚　˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚　˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚　˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚　˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

[Operation L. L. O. - Lans Love Once]

the timer

there’s a saying that his great uncle had talked about, once, a long time ago at a family gathering...

“Lans only love once,” 

Sizhui had learned that night, from his father’s golden eyes and his dad’s wide smile that that was lineage that would become his

and so...

the first time that Sizhui ever lies to you is on the morning after his 18th birthday

he didn’t really mean to

and he doesn’t know why

but he does

he never breathes a word about who his soulmate is to you, he doesn’t dare

how could he?

would you leave, then?

if you knew?

the mysterious identity of his soulmate becomes the dirtiest, darkest secret that Sizhui keeps to himself from you

it eats at his insides, like a parasite

and weighs in his chest like a rock

but every time he sees the spark of determination in your eyes ,

the deep set belief that you have in true love and the true hand of the universe,

the effort you put in to finding and reuniting him with someone that didn’t even exist

didn’t even belong to him...

you are serious about finding his soulmate though

even going so far as dubbing it “operation L. L. O.”

“What’s that?” Sizhui had questioned you when you had presented a very unnecessary thought out and hand written plan to him

“Lan’s Love Once! Isn’t that how your parents met? Isn’t that how you all are destined to love?” you say excitedly, like a trivia nugget in a show

Sizhui’s heart weighs heavy in his chest

he let’s you play detective well into your first year at college, until one day in the spring of the same year, he tells you that he will take over finding his “soulmate” himself,

“If they’re someone that’s meant to be with me, I’ll find them” Sizhui tells you in the face of your worried eyes

you’re afraid that he would give up hope

but what you don’t know is that he had lost whatever hope there was long ago

“We have to work together to find them. They belong to you A-Yuan” you insist, earnestly tugging onto his arm

the shake of his head had never felt so final

and from that day, the tides shift between you guys

Sizhui takes on a more withdrawn persona whenever you mention his soulmate

and you easily get annoyed and angered at the fact that he isn’t trying hard enough to find who he loves

it makes a little space, yawn in the middle of your friendship

which is jarring to Sizhui because you and him have always gotten along

and the moments that you wouldn’t weren’t like... like this.

and yes it wasn’t that bad, not as bad as it could have been if you knew, Sizhui reassures himself always

yes the space that’s created between you guys is small

but it is enough 

it is enough for someone to slip in, almost unnoticeably between you both

one day you suddenly meet someone new as your timer reaches the final year of it’s countdown

it feels like faith

from the storybook like way you guys met 

to the instant click of your personalities

you told Sizhui that you felt like your heart moved 

and Sizhui had never felt more...lost

but...

he supports you of course

because if there’s anything he’s learned about the universe was that it was wrong sometimes

and your happiness would always be his priority, whether destiny was shared or not

so he supports your romantic endeavors,

is the best wingman

and the most prepared planner of dates

all in all he is the best person you could ever ask for

the year passes by faster now that Sizhui watches your happiness from an outsider’s view instead of a creator

he is not the one responsible for your smiles

your laughters

and he’s not the one that you share many hugs or secrets with anymore

the times he’s seen your hand held in someone else’s are the confirmation that you were no longer his

but why use ‘were’

when you had never belonged to him in the first place

When January approaches once again, winter feels a lot colder 

the morning of his birthday is uneventful, despite the buzzing of good wishes from friends and a phone call with his dads

Sizhui knows that this will be his first celebration alone

and the reason for that was still raw and fresh in his brain

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜。°。°。°。

“You promised me you’d go on this trip with me, Y/N” Sizhui had heard as he stepped into your dorm room

both the heads talking turn in surprise to his entrance

Sizhui doesn’t forget the hard grip that your boyfriend held on your wrist when you finally yank your hand away

“Can’t we switch it to another day?” you’re pleading at this point, not wanting to make a big situation.

Sizhui gives you both your privacy, even though it’s a college dorm and that isn’t something that can actually exist

“What’s wrong with the 12th? It’s a Friday, we’ll have the whole weekend to ourselves”

At the date, Sizhui whips his head back and ends up meeting your eyes

it’s unintentional of course, but he knows you know what date that is

your boyfriend catches on really quick too

“Don’t tell me, you already have plans with him; don’t you?” such an accusatory voice makes you riled up but you don’t know what to say because it’s not like your boyfriend is wrong-

“And what of it if she does have plans with me?” Sizhui finds himself saying, drawing a eyebrow lift from your boyfriend and a little shocked gasp from you

your boyfriend huffs a superior little chuckle and looks Sizhui dead in the eye

“Oh what? You think that she’d choose you over me?” he teases and turns to you 

Sizhui looks at you too, looks straight into your eyes for the first time in a long time 

Choose me,  Sizhui wants to say, has always wanted to say

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜。°。°。°。

as he watched the little car you were in drive off campus into the cloudy snow white back drop, his skin is numb with the chill

of course you don’t choose him, Sizhui isn’t surprised

but he just didn’t realize that it would hurt this much

his first birthday alone feels longer than he is used to

Sizhui longs for night to come for a conclusion to all of this misery

because he can’t stay like this for much longer

but when night comes, the dark leaves a lot of room for his thoughts

so he spends well late into the night sitting on his couch with a small cake on his coffee table, the TV idle

he is woken out of his stupor, when a hard knock jolts him from mid-slumber

Sizhui sits up in confusion, staring at the TV show that had turned to a cartoon at such a late hour

he very nearly thinks he is delusional until he hears the hard knock again

Sizhui belatedly related that it is at his front door.

Sizhui doesn’t have an inkling of who could be there

and he certainly wasn’t expecting you

because you had drove off, long gone 

so when he opens the front door, he’s more than surprised at the nostalgia he feels

you stand as you are, hair messy and windblown, because why else would your eyes be that shiny for?

your cheeks are tinted red and the falling snow had collected in your messy hair in a similar fashion to how it was when you were 18

except at 22, you exchange your wide grin for a teary eyed smile, locking with him

Sizhui blinks at you and isn’t prepared when you jump into his arms, wrapping him tightly

even though he’s clad only in a light sweater and pajama bottoms

and your winter coat is getting snow all over him 

and the open front door is making his shiver

it feels right 

you break apart from him when you feel a particularly strong shiver from Sizhui 

“Y/N...”

he stares widely at the tears that roll down your face and is once again breathless when you push the sleeve of your coat up for him to see

00:00:01

“I’ve never had to choose anyone before...because it’s always been you” you say, sincerity lining every words

the timer ends

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜。°。°。°。 maybe the universe wasn’t wrong.

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。゜。°。°。°。 with your warm lips against his for the first time, Sizhui realizes that maybe the universe had a plan all along.

#mo dao zu shi #mo dao su zhi #mdzs #mdzs x reader #mdzs headcanons #mdzs fanfic #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs fic #mdzs lan sizhui #lan sizhui #lan yuan #mdzs modern au #mdzs reader insert #lan sizhui x reader #mdzs soulmate au #mdzs x y/n #the untamed #cql #mdzs donghua #mdzs manhua #mdzs live action #mdzs blog #mdzs lsz #mdzs juniors #junior quartet #mdzs college au #mdzs fic rec #tangledwriting

[chrisemrysfics]

Its totally before I saw again the extended first time scene in MDZS, and saw all over again all the things that make me actually appreciate the way its written, because, its meant to be awkward! Its two people first time! They, however, shows signs of being comfortable with each other (laughing, playing along once there’s confirmation its okay, etc).

There’s also a lot of subtle ways that they check in with each other if its okay, as well as the forgiving of the first (stolen) kiss. The check in is so, so important and subtly hint as to why they can have kinks like they do, because it shows they don’t just go once “yeah okay” and no more consent check, Lan Wangji, as the one “in position of control”, make sure to check in multiple times that the consent is still given!

Obviously, as I show the lines, some smut mention/line ahead!

From Exiled Rebels Scanlation, about Wei Wuxian realizing who stole his first kiss:

“…” Lan WangJi’s voice sounded muffled, “I, back then, knew I was wrong. Very wrong.”

Wei WuXian recalled how Lan WangJi broke a tree in half alone in the woods when he later found him, “That was why you were so mad?”

Wei WuXian thought he was mad about someone else. He had no idea that Lan WangJi was mad at himself—mad that he acted upon his urges, that he couldn’t control himself, that he took advantage of another in a way that was neither righteous nor abiding by his sect rules.

Seeing how low Lan WangJi’s head was buried, almost as if he was reflecting upon his mistakes again, Wei WuXian scratched his chin, “Alright, stop struggling so much. Well, I’m beyond happy that you kissed me so early. It was my first kiss, after all. Congratulations, HanGuang-Jun.”

Wei Wuxian immediate forgiving, to Lan Wangji admitting he was wrong, as well as Wei Wuxian understanding how Lan Wangji usually control himself, but had a lapse of control back then (which Wei Wuxian understands what it feels like!)

As he kissed the firm abdomen and ventured down, a few thin strands of hair slid off his shoulders and teased at the dangerous area along with his soft, thin breaths. Lan WangJi seemed like he couldn’t take it any longer. He reached to grab Wei WuXian’s shoulder, but Wei WuXian caught his wrist instead, “Don’t move, I told you already. I’ll do it.”

He pulled off his hair tie to refasten his somewhat disheveled hair before bending down again. Lan WangJi realized what he wanted to do. With a slightly unsettled expression, he lowered his voice, “No.”

Wei WuXian, “Yes.” He gently took Lan WangJi into his lips.

Making sure to not bite Lan WangJi with his teeth, he carefully wrapped him inside his mouth. As he tried to swallow as deeply as possible, he felt a bit strained with it rubbing against his throat. Lan WangJi noticed his discomfort at once and reached out to push him away, worried that he was forcing himself, “Enough.”

Wei WuXian moved his hand away and started to slowly suck on it.

Lan WangJi, “You…”

Note that Lan Wangji hadn’t realized at first what Wei Wuxian would do! This means “he couldn’t take it any longer” refers to him being, in fact, turned on, and is trying to stop Wei Wuxian before he looses control and does something... only for then to realize that Wei Wuxian is, in fact, leading him to do something on that nature. The “no” is likely because Lan Wangji is worried, as he shows it again later that he worries if Wei Wuxian is comfortable!

With the most sensitive part of his body held inside warm, moist lips and treated with such effort, it was terribly tormenting just for Lan WangJi to control himself from doing some awful act of violence.

This confirms earlier points, Lan Wangji is trying to control himself! Which is, funnily, the exact same thing he did while drunk, which suggest that either he wasn’t as drunk as he let on, or he was, but even then, what he cared about was making sure he didn’t do anything Wei Wuxian didn’t want to do (which Wei Wuxian very much indicated he wanted to, especially with his line about liking when Lan Wangji gets angry)

Wei WuXian had viewed quite the selection of pornography, but he hadn’t seen any on the topic of homosexuality. He never thought he had such interests or was curious about it, and thus he naturally thought that was all there was to the love-making between men—kissing, hugging, at most with hands or lips. As he was pressed onto the ground by Lan WangJi, being massaged finger by finger, he finally managed to realize that it wasn’t the case. On top of the slight pain, he found it somewhat surprising and perhaps funny as well.

But at the addition of the third finger, Wei WuXian couldn’t laugh any longer.

He was already feeling quite sore and uncomfortable, yet the three fingers were still quite a few sizes smaller than what he’d been swallowing. He interrupted, “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, uh, s-stop for a bit. Is it really alright like this? You sure you didn’t get it wrong? It’s here? I think it’s a bit…”

But it seemed like Lan WangJi was no longer able to listen to Wei WuXian’s words, curtly muffling Wei WuXian’s mouth with his own.

Sinking down, he thrust inside.Wei WuXian widened his eyes. His legs sprang up. The two lay flesh against flesh, their hearts and their breaths racing.

Lan WangJi’s voice was hoarse, “… Sorry… I could not hold back.”

Seeing his blood-shot eyes, clearly from holding himself back, Wei WuXian knew that it was all because of his teasing. He clenched his teeth, “Don’t hold back if you can’t… Then what should I do now?”

Honestly that’s peak inexperienced, first time experience right here. Lan Wangji knows what to do, and while he “can’t hold himself back”, he takes the time to prepare Wei Wuxian. As for Wei Wuxian, he quickly understand what is being done, why, and again, Lan Wangji apologize, Wei Wuxian realize its because he teased him, and express consent properly. The thing is: Wei Wuxian did understand a few moments ago! He simply asked “you’re sure its like this?” when he felt how it was with three fingers, so if Lan Wangji was uncertain, he would have stopped. Then, Wei Wuxian expressing consent cement he’s okay with this.

Lan WangJi, “… Does it hurt?”

Arms clinging to him, Wei WuXian couldn’t help from shivering, holding back tears, “Yes, it’s my first time—of course it hurts.”

With this, he felt Lan WangJi grow harder within his body.

One could easily imagine what it’d feel like when the soft, fragile insides were forcefully invaded by a hard, foreign object. But the moment he thought of how Lan WangJi reacted to just those simple words of his, Wei WuXian burst out with a laugh again.

As a man, he knew how uncomfortable Lan WangJi felt right now, stuck inside yet still constraining himself from forcing his way in. Wei WuXian felt his heart go soft. He took the initiative to draw his neck forwards, whispering by his ear, “Lan Zhan, my good Lan Zhan, Er-gege, I’ll tell you what to do. Kiss me right now. It won’t hurt if you kiss me…”

Again, this is peak first time experience, its actually great that they’re portraying having some laughter, and being a bit awkward about it! And again, Wei Wuxian takes note that Lan Wangji is really trying, he only pushed a bit more inside, and Wei Wuxian feels soft and offer what he feels can help (Lan Wangji told him to relax too, earlier, when he asked).

Lan WangJi began to thrust, while Wei WuXian shut his eyes tightly, gasping to fix his breaths to Lan WangJi’s motions. When he was just getting used to the overwhelming object, Wei WuXian moved his hips involuntarily and a sudden bout of pleasure ripple from down below, crawling across his whole body through his spine.

Wei WuXian immediately discovered how to enjoy such a position. He buried his hands inside Lan WangJi’s sweat-drenched hair, lifting the forehead ribbon as he grinned, his voice velvet,  “… Does it feel good? Inside me?”

This comes after a brief moment where Wei Wuxian noticed the brand and asked about it, so there’s also a lovely part where s/ex isn’t just about the act, but also intimacy (being close), and here we see Wei Wuxian finally finding how it feels good, and immediately teasing Lan Wangji, knowing now what it can do!

Here I found a translation for extended scene here!

We see Wei Wuxian tease restlessly Lan Wangji, who gets more into it, and when Wei Wuxian start to whine as if its too much, this happen:

Drops of sweat dripped down from the ends of Lan Wangji’s hair. This person habitually impassive to the point of coldness betrayed at that moment a discomfit expression as if he was on the brink of falling apart, “Are you really begging or are you… purposely… Your hips! Stop writhing!”

Wei Wuxian raised his head and yelled at the top of his voice, “Someone! Help! Hanguang-Jun is… ah! Hanguang-Jun… I can’t anymore…”

As Lan Wangji kissed away the tears he had wrung from Wei Wuxian, he uttered through gritted teeth, “… Wei Ying, I am… speaking seriously, do not do that again. I… I will truly… lose control. I fear I… Sorry.”

Even at such a time, with a flush spread across his face, he did not forget to apologise, his brows were slightly knitted and his countenance remorseful. Hearing this, Wei Wuxian’s heart softened and ached from the havoc he had wreaked, he said gently, “Why are you saying sorry? Even if it hurts, I’m still glad because it’s you doing it… aah…”

The two of them were drenched all over in glistening sweat. Wei Wuxian had always forgotten the taste of pain as soon as his injuries had healed. Despite having just suffered the consequences of his actions, he soon opened his mouth again to pant some more nonsense, “Hey, Lan Zhan… I just remembered, you are done for. We’re still missing the last of the three bows, we’re not married yet. Do you know what is called doing this kind of thing outside marriage? If your uncle knew… ah… he’d drown you in a pond.”

Lan Wangji’s tone was almost ferocious, “… I was done for long ago!”

Lan Wangji, who has seen Wei Wuxian tease him, but also hears him seemingly complain, first ask “are you serious or is it teasing”, and when Wei Wuxian continues, which would indicate that he means he’s just teasing, Lan Wangji wants to make sure so he speaks more clearly, and understanding, Wei Wuxian stop teasing for a bit to reassure him, then start again, this time they both understand he’s teasing!

Also, this section is why its actually possible the whole dream of noncon might be post canon, rather than a dream teen Lan Wangji had!

Wei Wuxian became aware that a warm liquid was trickling down from the part of his lower body where they were connected together but he kept rambling a steady torrent of obscenities in Lan Wangji’s ear, “Your strength is so great that I would have had no way to resist. If I shouted, you could have silenced me and no one would have heard my muffled cries. Your Sect’s Library Pavilion isn’t bad either, we could have spread some books on the floor and rolled around on them. We could have laid out some erotic pictures and compared positions, any position would have been fine. I would bully you during the day and you would bully me at night. You’d fuck my brains out as soon as the door closed… Ge! Ge! Er-gege! Spare me! Mercy, please spare me. Fine, fine, I’ll stop talking, you’re amazing, you’re the best. I can’t bear it anymore, I really can’t, don’t be like this…”

And finally:

The veins lining Lan Wangji’s forehead slightly stood out. He forced his words out, articulating clearly each of them, “… If you truly wish to stop… then hold your tongue and stop talking…”

Wei Wuxian said, “But I have a tongue so I can’t help using it. Lan Zhan, what I’ve said before about me wanting to go to bed with you everyday, can you pretend you never heard it?”

Lan Wangji replied, “I cannot.”

Wei Wuxian’s heart shattered at this, “How can you be like this? You’ve never refused me anything before.”

Lan Wangji smiled faintly, “I cannot.”

At the sight of this smile, Wei Wuxian’s eyes lit up, he felt for an instant as if he had ascended and he lost track of his surroundings.

However, the next moment, a stream of tears was forced out of the corners of Wei Wuxian’s eyes by the fierce movements that were at odds with this smile like the pure light reflected by the snow.

Hands clutching the grass, he shouted himself hoarse, “Then four days, let’s make it once every four days, all right? If four days won’t do then three is also fine!”

Finally, Lan Wangji concluded in a powerfully resolute voice, “Everyday means everyday.”

Lan Wangji, once more, take the time to confirm this is really okay, and Wei Wuxian, by speaking more, in this tease-begging manner, confirms. If he was serious, he would have done as before! He would have softened, or clearly said to stop, earlier he clearly stated “you don’t have to be sorry”

And the last few lines is Lan Wangji returning the teasing Wei Wuxian has done~!

#mdzs #wangxian #(honestly i like this because it really shows a first time doesnt have to be perfect) #(as long as both party trust each other and can communicate in their own manner) #(as well as feel comfortable together) #(and LWJ checking in multiple times not just once!!) #(thats how you actively make sure your partner still consent) #(its not just one time!!)

[bipirate]

hey! i really love ur blog, u seem like a lovely and clever person, and i hope u have a really good day. i saw a recent ask u answered and i just wanted to say that honestly my entire opinion on the cql v mdzs/mxtx debate is that while mxtx is a very good author, who has some very tightly plotted and fairly well written stories (apparently the original chinese versions of her works have a very good writing style), good enough to show through translations, her writing suffers from the fact that not only can she not write romance (i've read translations of both tgcf and sv, but only heard about mdzs, and both times the romance was the weakest part of the books, even though she is Technically writing romance novels), but the translations aren't perfect, and, in the case of mdzs, fairly biased towards the tropes of yaoi and the translators preferences as opposed to providing as accurate translations as possible, and ALSO, everyone's going to be biased towards whatever they saw first (yknow, 'original dnd is better than 5e, pokemon red is better than pokemon x, latin is better than italian', shit like that), and that nuance honestly flies over like. a Lot of people's heads when they argue about this and so half the time it's just like. ok. scroll. anyway i hope u have a nice day!

I think you absolutely have a point and it's also definitely something i've talked about on my blog before. obviously ive read the english version of mdzs that was translated by a group of fujoshis and i'm willing to bet that some of their translations aren't entirely accurate just so they can further their own fetishistic agenda. in this case it can be likely that i might sometimes judge the novel for things that aren't entirely fair, and i do try my best to stay away from things i absolutely shouldnt be commenting about (such as mxtx's writing style or anything to do with chinese culture), but i guess the reason why i generally don't feel very bad about that is because she did absolutely write about and romanticise pretty horrible things (sexual assault + rape & harmful stereotypes of gay men for example). so when i say the novel sucks and mxtx's writing sucks, i just mean that her passing off a non-consensual kiss, sex with one of the main characters being blackout drunk and the entirety of the incense burner extras as sexy or romantic is enough to ruin the whole book for me.

like... sometimes, there’s room for nuance. but i’m not gonna get mad at someone for ignoring that nuance when the book in question contains really harmful stuff

#ask #anon #thank you for this ask though i super appreciate it. we can discuss things in a mature way in this house :) #rape mention

[merinnan]

Fic Tag Game

Grabbed from @hils79, because it looked like fun.

Name: Merinnan, which I’ve gone by for... fifteen years now, I think? Prior to that, I mostly used Calicia (and sometimes Zoi).

Fandoms: Like Hils, I’m only going to list the fandoms I’ve actually written fic for.

Star Trek: My very first fandom, and the one I’ve written the most fics for (so far - I suspect that DMBJ will overtake it. It certainly already has in terms of word count). I was (and am still) primarily a DS9 fan, and was a huge Kira/Dukat and Garak/Bashir shipper back in the day. Most of my Trekfics are DS9 fics, but I also dabbled a little bit in TOS and TNG, and had one or two crackfic crossovers that involved Voyager characters. Discovery has tempted me with a few fic ideas, but I haven’t written anything for it yet.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon: aka, the show that first had me seriously questioning my sexuality. Look, Haruka and Michiru are #goals, don’t judge me. This is also where my Zoi name came from, after the first season villain Zoisite, whom I cosplayed several times. Unsurprisingly, my main ships are HaruMichi and KunZoi. Despite this fact, neither of my published Sailormoon fics are HaruMichi.

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040: A short-lived fandom, but one I still liked enough to write a fic for and get the OST CD.

World of Warcraft: I wouldn’t say I’m really part of the fandom, per se, but I’ve been playing since the dying days of Burning Crusade, am a huge lore nerd, and started writing a crossover fic that is currently on indefinite hiatus. I do plan to come back and finish it, but first RL got in the way, and now I have to try and remember where I’d actually been planning to go with it.

A Court of Thorns and Roses: That crossover fic I just mentioned? Yeah, this is what it’s a crossover with. ACoTaR fandom went sleepy for awhile, but it’s back up and kicking now that A Court of Silver Flames is out - if any of you are still following me, it’s great to see everyone active again! To the surprise of no-one who knows me, I’m a big Nessian shipper.

Mo Dao Zu Shi / Chen Qing Ling / The Untamed: I came to this fandom via ACoTaR, actually, after a certain person (hi, @rhysand-vs-fenrys!) wouldn’t stop gushing about it :-) This is the fandom that really and seriously got me back into regular fic writing again after 15-ish years. I’m a multishipper here, and have written / am writing WangXian, NieLan, XiCheng, XuanLi, and XiSang.

Guardian / Zhen Hun: MDZS fandom led me to Guardian, which, along with DMBJ, has devoured my life in a way that hasn’t happened since my Star Trek days, and I love it! WeiLan is my major ship, but I’m also quite fond of the DaMian life raft.

Zhu Yilong: Yes, I’m going to list a person as a fandom. Zhu Yilong is one of the stars of Guardian, and is both incredibly pretty and an incredibly talented actor. So much so that I have suffered through some truly terrible dramas just to watch him in them. I do not write Z1L-fic, since RPF of living people is a personal squick of mine, but I am working on a massive crossover fic of most of his characters.

Mo Du: Guardian led me along to more of Priest’s works, such as Mo Du, which is now officially my favourite book, and I adore the main WenZhou ship. The Mo Du fandom right now is pretty tiny, and I’m still working on my first fic for it, but I hope that it will grow with the donghua due out this year, and the drama having just started filming.

Daomu Biji / The Lost Tomb: I initially came into this fandom because of Zhu Yilong, who played Wu Xie in the Reboot / Reunion / Chongqi drama, and then I got sucked into the fandom pit of all of the books and dramas and spinoffs, and it’s wonderful and fantastic. I have written so much for it, and have so much more planned. PingXie and PingXieSang are my main ships here, but I’m also a HeiHua fan, and very much enjoying the RiSang pool noodle that @kholran created.

Tropes: Hurt/Comfort and crack are my major ones.

Fic I spent most time on: A toss-up between Endings and Beginnings and Reunion, both DS9 fics. Endings and Beginnings is an alternate ending to the show, while Reunion is a Gul Dukat-centric fic set around, oh, season 5ish? Both were written for and initially published in print fanzines, so in addition to time spent writing, there was a lot of back and forth for editing, etc.

Favourite fic(s) you’ve written: Look, I honestly couldn’t say. I like most of the fics I’ve written, and there are several that I’m really proud of and really like.

Fic I spent least time on: Silent Graves, a super angsty DMBJ/Lost Tomb Xiaoge fic. I think I wrote it in like 15 minutes.

Longest fic: Cat’s Paw, a DMBJ/Lost Tomb PingXieSang canon rewrite fic I co-wrote with @xantissa, at  247 826 words. For fics written by just me, not with a co-writer, then that would be Nevermore, my WIP MDZS/CQL XiCheng Pacific Rim AU, at 22 276 words and counting.

Shortest fic: Every entry in my DS9 Drabbles series, with each one at exactly 100 words. Although if you count them as a quintdrabble, then Indiscretion (a DS9 missing scene vignette about Gul Dukat, set during the episode of the same name) at 169 words.

Most hits/kudos/comments/bookmarks/subscriptions: The answer to all of these is either Cat’s Paw or Nevermore, so I’m going to give the next highest.

Hits:  Those who fear darkness have never seen what light can do, a DMBJ/Lost Tomb PingXie supernatural AU fic co-written with xantissa.

Since this fic also takes the highest kudos, bookmarks, and subscriptions after Cat’s Paw/Nevermore, I’ll skip to the next fic along on each of those.

Kudos: Stars fall like diamonds, a DMBJ/Lost Tomb PingXie missing scene fic from Reboot/Reunion/Chongqi.

Bookmarks: A Knight in Bloody Armour, another DMBJ/Lost Tomb PingXieSang supernatural AU fic (but a different supernatural AU) co-written with xantissa.

Comments: Ears and Other Related Calamities, yet another DMBJ/Lost Tomb PingXieSang supernatural AU fic (of a different again supernatural AU) co-written with xantissa.

Subscriptions: The Rescue Job, a Guardian WeiLan Leverage AU, currently at one chapter complete and posted out of a planned five chapters.

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: We have plans for a prequel and a sequel to A Knight in Bloody Armour, and a spinoff fic for The Zhang Identity (a DMBJ/Lost Tomb PingXie AU that is complete but not yet posted. It will be posted in April as part of the Small Fandoms Big Bang).

Share a bit of a WIP: This is from an as-yet-unnamed post-canon fix-it fic for the Guardian drama:

It was hurting again. Zhao Yunlan curled up into a tight ball under the hospital blankets, trying to ignore it enough to try to get back to sleep. He knew it wouldn't work, because he couldn't remember a time when it ever did, but it was always worth a shot, right? He squeezed his eyes shut and held himself tightly for a few...moments? Minutes?...before grabbing his stuffed cat and clutching it while he forced himself to breathe deep, slow breaths the way the doctors back in Spring City had taught him.

Eventually, the pain died back down to its usual dull ache, the one that was bearable and let him play, and watch TV, and do school lessons with his mother. One day, she said, they'd find a doctor who knew what was wrong, why he hurt all the time, and the doctor would give him medicine that would keep the worst pain away so that he could go to an actual school and meet more kids than the ones who lived in their apartment block or who frequented the same playground that he liked to go to.

Zhao Yunlan tried closing his eyes again, seeing if he could go back to sleep, but he was far too awake now. He sighed, sitting up in bed and looking around the room. Again. It was just like the hospital rooms in Spring City, and in Kiyota City. He figured that if the doctors here in Tomorrow Mountains couldn't help, his parents would take him to yet another city, and the hospital rooms there would probably look the same, too.

Then, over the faint beeping of hospital equipment, and the quiet murmurs further down the corridor of nurses at the nurse station or seeing to other patients, he heard a soft sniffling sound, like someone was trying not to cry too loudly. He picked up his stuffed cat and looked at it.

"What do you think, Dead Cat?" he asked it. "Should we go and find them?"

Dead Cat didn't answer, of course, but that didn't stop Zhao Yunlan from assuming that it agreed with him, and slipping out of bed. His feet touched the cold tile floor with barely a sound, and, still holding Dead Cat tightly, Zhao Yunlan padded over to the door. He looked up and down the corridor, then left his room to track down the sniffling noise.

He wasn't surprised that it came from the next room. He was surprised that it came from another kid, a boy who looked to be about his age, huddled in bed and wiping his eyes.

"Hi," Zhao Yunlan whispered. The other boy looked up in surprise, then stopped to clutch his chest as he began to cough. Once he'd finished coughing, Zhao Yunlan and Dead Cat were perched on the end of his bed.

"I'm Zhao Yunlan, and this is Dead Cat." He held up Dead Cat, moving one of the paws to wave hello. "What's your name?"

The boy wiped his eyes again. "Shen Ye."

I tag: ALL OF YOU! Are you a writer who hasn’t done this yet? Consider yourself tagged if you want to be.

#fanfic meme #dmbj #daomu biji #guardian #mo du #star trek #ds9 #bishoujo senshi sailor moon #sailor moon #mdzs #cql #acotar #bubblegum crisis #world of warcraft #zhu yilong

[chapitre7]

bloodstained

The Untamed [陈情令] | Mo Dao Zu Shi [魔道祖师] fanfiction

Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian (Wangxian)

Vampire AU

For the MDZS/The Untamed Kink Meme

My personal thank you to @bookwyrmling, @syolen and @starfieldcanvas for the beta work and help putting this all together ❤

Read on AO3

Warning: Explicit sexual content and themes written for a mature audience

Never trust strangers blindly, his uncle would always say. Never show who you really are.

Lan Wangji always remembered uncle's words, the earliest he had memory of. Every year in school, he would keep his peers at the corners of his eyes, and his elbows next to his body. Not so much closed off as cautious, as aware. He would watch his classmates bathed in the sunburned light of late afternoon, knowing that as soon as the sun went down, it would be the others’ time to come out and play. Beings not always shaped like monsters from books to scare children, but friend-shaped, speaking in voices that called him by his name, that sometimes asked for his notes.

He remembered uncle’s words and walked home with his elbows close to his body, his jacket closed all the way up, and his eyes high and alert. As a student, Lan Wangji was always home before dark. And after dinner, after homework, he would take out his uncle’s books and he would read about the world of the night and the creatures that inhabited it. On weekends, after practicing the guqin, the erhu and the violin, he would practice with a secular sword, blade stainless and sharp as if it had been forged yesterday, but ever brilliant under the moonlight. His feet would move exactly where he wanted them to move, and he replayed his uncle’s teachings even when uncle was away, too busy to guide his training.

Never ignore a life in need. Never stray from the family path.

He grew up, remembering the words. He went through college, learning both the history of the human world and of the world unseen. He studied and he trained and he was dedicated and steadfast. A jewel in the family of Lan, an esteemed guide to the ancient hunter families. A light in the darkness, working among used books for the common folk, but with a priceless library just down the stairs that most of his customers would never see.

He remembers the words, the teachings, remembers it all. Remembers even as he stares at Wei Wuxian, sitting on the ground, hands laying down a man’s corpse. Remembers everything, even as he stares at Wei Wuxian’s tongue, sees it lick a speck of blood off the corner of his mouth.

Wei Wuxian. The professional in charge of the apothecary adjoined to the Wen clinic, only a few blocks away from Lan Wangji’s used bookstore in Tanzhou. You’d never catch him there during the day; a well-mannered, sickly-looking, oddly inexpressive man named Wen Ning would sell you all manner of Wei Wuxian’s creations if you stumbled upon the shop before dusk. But Lan Wangji had caught glimpses of him, many a time, when the sun was but a flesh wound in the dusking sky, and the moon already shone bright upon her throne above the clouds. All long legs, long neck, long hair. His smiles were all teeth, easily given if your gazes met. The lights by the shop’s front were always broken, always weak and flickering, but his eyes reflected red flames with no outside source. A candle lit from within. He was always gone, back inside the shop by the time Lan Wangji caught himself enough to check if the man had a shadow.

They said he was kind and welcoming, but his hands were cold. They said his food was red with the smell of spices and something else. They said he had a treatment for everything, barring the chronic and the terminal, and even then, in those impossible cases, he could soothe your pain. They said the lost causes that left his shop met their end in their sleep, with a smile on their lips.

Lan Wangji had never entered his apothecary. He had watched, and he had listened to the rumors, and he had held his cloud-patterned coat tightly around himself. If there was no proof, the rules stated that the hunters couldn’t act. And there had never been proof, he had never been caught with his hand in the till. Not before, not ever, not until—

“Ah, little Lan,” Wei Wuxian says, tilting his head to the side, still kneeling on the floor of the subway station. The man he had been touching lies unmoving and unbleeding. His appearance matches that of a serial rapist in the area, and Lan Wangji had only been drawn to the corner where he found Wei Wuxian by a woman that had been running away from the scene, as fast as she could. There’s little light where they are, the walls are old and cracked and stained, but Wei Wuxian’s eyes reflect the lamps shining down the stairs, reflect the headlights of the train. Reflect yellow, reflect red. “We meet at last.”

There had been no concrete accounts of vampires in Tanzhou, or indeed anywhere in China, in hundreds of years. There had only been whispers and rumors and unfounded suspicions. The records only ever spoke of one name. Watching Wei Wuxian get to his feet, stand to his full height, flip his long, unbound hair over his shoulder, Lan Wangji recalls, maybe mouths, maybe gasps it. The Patriarch.

“You knew it, didn’t you?”

Wei Wuxian’s steps are loud in the deserted night. All of the immediate past and future vanishes from Lan Wangji’s mind. What had led him to the man, his conversation with his brother over tea not an hour before, the reading plans he had been making in his head for when he got home. Hunters, missions, victims, deaths. There’s a corpse lying near them, yet there’s nothing but the present, the now, the tunnel vision of Wei Wuxian approaching him. “Of course you did, you’re the Lightbearer of Gusu Lan, is there anything you don’t know?”

Lan Wangji didn’t know Wei Wuxian knew about him; he had only been greeted with friendly waves before. He didn’t know he could freeze before a monster, something more than simple hesitation. He didn’t know much about confrontation, had always been trusted to be the lighthouse in the fog, to have the answers, to defend rather than attack, although he had always wanted, had always craved, had always desired...

(What?)

Wei Wuxian stands before him. He keeps his hands — his bloodstained hands, long fingers with long nails — to his sides. He ducks his head and leans towards Lan Wangji, not touching, but lingering, just... smelling. Perhaps assessing. Lan Wangji catalogs everything about him, the line of his nose, his tongue wetting his lips, the red fabric lining the inside of his long black coat.

“Say, Lan Wangji,” Wei Wuxian says, and Lan Wangji's attention snaps back to the man’s face, only slightly dazed. He wants to think Wei Wuxian put him under a charm spell, but his ears burn hot with the truth. “The blood from trash tastes really foul. If you give me some of yours, could you pretend you never saw me?”

The vampire licks his lips again and grins. Lan Wangji can’t look away from his canines, sharp and white and beautiful. There’s no trace of blood in his mouth, nor the stench of death in his breath, just something so sweet Lan Wangji can almost taste it. Wei Wuxian can’t touch him, all of the protection spells woven on the inside of Lan Wangji’s blue coat keeps him away, but it’s less like shelter and more like a cage, and Lan Wangji wants to open the door—

“Oh.”

He doesn’t know what he did, or what he looked like. In the next second, Wei Wuxian’s grin falls. The precarious lights in the station flicker, on and off, more off than on, and Wei Wuxian is cast in sharp shadows, predatory. He takes one step, another, and then he’s coming faster, closer, and Lan Wangji backs away until his back hits a pillar.

The lights flicker on, and his vision is all Wei Wuxian upon him, but still not touching. Lan Wangji doesn’t make any sudden movements, or any movements at all, and doesn’t summon his spiritual weapon. Wei Wuxian regards him with catlike focus, unwavering. Lan Wangji holds his gaze to hold his ground. He’s not a bird. He’s not prey.

“Did you know there used to be a flower spirit in Tanzhou?” Wei Wuxian asks, leaning closer, but still at a distance, as if Lan Wangji himself is his favorite fragrant flower. “And she loved poems, so every year she’d wait for someone to charm her with well-recited verses, and then she’d give them a flower that never wilted.”

Wei Wuxian cocks his head to the side, his eyes catching light from someplace else, someplace that is not this decrepit station. Someplace ancient, where the sky is clear enough to see the stars. Lan Wangji swallows.

“Little Lan,” the vampire says, his breath playing on Lan Wangji’s skin. Lan Wangji doesn’t move away; never run away, his uncle had taught him, even though his middle, his very core, trembles. Not in fear of Wei Wuxian. He could try to overpower him, and would suffer no shame in defeat. But he doesn’t want to. He wants...

“I have been waiting all this time for your poem,” Wei Wuxian says, never touching, his fingers and nose and mouth dancing centimeters away from Lan Wangji’s face, his neck. “Don’t you want my flower?”

Dangerous fingers move lower, to the collar of Lan Wangji’s jacket. Wei Wuxian’s eyes follow the movement before locking back on Lan Wangji’s. Time moves around them, seconds, but Wei Wuxian is supernaturally still, having no need to breathe or blink.

He’s even more beautiful up close. Lan Wangji had thought about his proportions, about the swing of his hips, the spring in his step, and the curl of his fingers after he waved, as if he wanted to draw Lan Wangji in. All the rest was imagination, an embarrassing wet dream from a man who had thought for too long about the human contact he had read about in books.

Wei Wuxian is very real. Blinking for his benefit, to punctuate the inexorable passing of time.

Lan Wangji lifts his hands. Wei Wuxian’s eyes follow them, the line drawn by Lan Wangji’s fingers over the buttons of his coat, opening one by one, shedding the material and its protection along with it. The sound of his coat falling to the ground is loud in the silence, but not as loud as the guttural noise Wei Wuxian makes as he pushes forward and Lan Wangji’s head hits the pillar with a painful thud, his wrists pinned above it by Wei Wuxian’s hands.

The vampire’s body is like fire. Lan Wangji knows it’s because he fed tonight, but the heat radiating from his proximity, from his hands around Lan Wangji’s wrists, prickles his skin with goosebumps. One of Wei Wuxian's legs moves between Lan Wangji’s, and he should put up more of a fight over parting them, but he doesn’t. Tension has him frozen, or maybe it’s something else, something more primal, something like—

“Lan Wangji,” Wei Wuxian whispers next to his ear, breath hot, dragging every vowel. “My mouth tastes horrible from before. Won’t you cleanse my palate, hmm?”

His nose touches Lan Wangji’s neck, the tip cold, and Lan Wangji visibly shivers. He can feel Wei Wuxian’s smile against his skin, yet there’s no bite, his mouth is closed, almost a lover’s game. Lan Wangji is not a man for games. Not with his senses going haywire, not when he finally recognizes that this vibration, this need, the culmination of his thoughts and dreams is hunger.

Lan Wangji tries to speak, but only a low sound comes from his throat. He swallows, lightly pushes against the hands that hold him down. He opens the door to his cage, not merely ajar but wide open, and invites the monster in with a clear “Yes.”

Wei Wuxian bites him with no flourish and no warning. Lan Wangji jerks in the action, hits his head against concrete again. There’s no pain this time, nothing that could overcome the pleasure of Wei Wuxian feeding on his blood.

One of his hands — for both are now freed, lost in the air — finds itself in Wei Wuxian’s hair, tugs at it mindlessly. Wei Wuxian groans, pushes flusher against him, rubs his thigh against Lan Wangji’s clothed, swelling cock. One of Wei Wuxian's own arms has reached around Lan Wangji’s back, his hand coming to touch Lan Wangji's shoulder, fingers digging into his skin, keeping him in a close, possessive half-embrace. The other hand pulls Lan Wangji’s shirt from the safety of his trousers, snakes up his torso, and Wei Wuxian lets out another groan at the topography of Lan Wangji’s body.

His teeth and mouth release Lan Wangji’s neck with a tiny pop. If he wasn’t being held up by the vampire, Lan Wangji might have fallen, graceless.

“You taste so good, Lan Wangji,” Wei Wuxian says, sounding like a whining child. “Did you know how good you taste? Is that why you kept tempting me with your pressed clothes, your perfect posture, staring at me like you knew all my secrets?”

He licks at the twin punctures on Lan Wangji’s neck, and it’s only when his chest presses against Lan Wangji’s that the man notices his own erratic breathing. His mind is foggy, comprehending things at a much slower pace. Lan Wangji is a lightweight of a drinker and his experiences with alcohol are merely blackouts in his brother’s presence, but he thinks this might be something like being drunk.

Wei Wuxian looks down at him, at the state of him, licking his lips as his hand under Lan Wangji's shirt continues its exploration. Finds a nipple, flicks at it with his thumb, but otherwise pays it not much attention. Lan Wangji lets out a choked sound.

“You’re wearing all blue for me today, so much better than that mourning white, hmm? You’re like a cute little bird.”

Lan Wangji pulls at Wei Wuxian’s hair again, remembering he still holds it, and Wei Wuxian gasps, laughs an open-mouthed laugh that draws attention to his sharp canines. Lan Wangji thinks he shouldn’t be blushing, not at the condescending praise, but he is. There’s no grace in arousal, just every sense loud and all-consuming.

(Maybe it’s an aftereffect of being bitten. He wants it again and again and again.)

“You have bite in you, don’t you? But you are so pretty and good. Wrapped up like a gift in blue, begging me to take you.”

His hand travels lower, lower down Lan Wangji’s front, fingers working his trousers open. Lan Wangji seems to remember his free hand, and takes hold of Wei Wuxian’s wrist before those fingers find his neediest place.

“I...”

What does he want to say? No? Ridiculous. He’s almost sprawled on the man’s lap, and his virtues were shed along with his coat.

Wait? He doesn’t want to. He wants Wei Wuxian’s teeth on his neck and Wei Wuxian’s hands on his skin, digging deeper and deeper until he forgets his own name.

Not here? Someplace else, darker, where Wei Wuxian can eat him whole—

Wei Wuxian tuts at him, leaning close, so close; he’s a blurred image, a trace of black hair and flushed lips. He doesn’t quite kiss Lan Wangji, but he licks Lan Wangji's lips, nips at them, threatens to bite but doesn’t. Lan Wangji’s hold on his wrist weakens.

“I hear you,” Wei Wuxian whispers, breath mingling with his. Can he? Lan Wangji’s knowledge is hidden behind his cloud of want. Wei Wuxian leans away from Lan Wangji's mouth to whisper against his ear, “Let me take care of you, my little Lan Zhan.”

Lan Wangji’s hand moves from his wrist, up his arm, and seems to pull him impossibly closer. It’s all the vampire needs to push his hand past the waistband of Lan Wangji’s trousers, inside his underwear, to touch him at the same time as he bites his neck again.

There’s no strength left in Lan Wangji's legs to hold him upright. He slumps down the pillar and all but falls in Wei Wuxian’s hold. There are only flashes of red behind his eyelids, and pleasure shoots through his veins, alight. He doesn’t know if he breathes, only that he rides the pumping of Wei Wuxian’s fingers around his cock, though his movements are restrained by the vampire’s firm hold on his upper body. A hum vibrates against his skin as Wei Wuxian’s fingers show attention to the head, slowing his movements, appreciatively indulging in the wet mess of Lan Wangji's pre-come. He’s not going to last, not with his head so light, not with the intoxicating pressure of Wei Wuxian’s teeth on his neck, not with the tantalizing movements of his hips against Lan Wangji, ah—

It’s a whiteout. He doesn’t know how long it lasts, nor does he take notice of the trembling of his body against the heat of his still-clothed companion. He breathes through his open mouth, the sound of his exhalations loud in the chamber of his head. His limbs feel lost in a tide. He lets his head fall forward, feeling lulled with the light scraping of fingernails against his scalp, and he breathes. He feels himself being pulled away from the pillar, but he doesn’t fall. He breathes Wei Wuxian in, and out.

By the time he opens his eyes again, he’s not at the subway station anymore. He’s sitting on the sidewalk of his own block, only a few steps away from his home. He can see the apothecary, its malfunctioning lettering, and the shadow that walks towards it. Black hair swishes from one side to the other, flipping over his shoulder as Wei Wuxian looks back at him. He can vaguely make out the glint in the vampire's eyes and the feline smirk on his lips. Then he’s turned away again, and he’s gone.

Lan Wangji should feel sated.

He swallows, mouth dry.

***

It takes only a few days until Lan Wangji sees him again. Or rather, he’s looked for glimpses of Wei Wuxian when he’s at the apothecary, finding excuses to walk by but no excuse to interact. He should have reported his encounter with Wei Wuxian to his uncle. He should have told him the real cause of death of the man at the station, since there had been no marks left on the body. He should have done something, as he was taught to do. He shook with his silence, stayed awake with it, but he never spoke. Once his sleep caught up with his restless mind, his dreams were bathed in red, hands drawing with blood on skin, and he grasped at them shamelessly, throwing himself to the mercy of the wolf. For days he woke up breathless, soaked in sweat, and as he took himself in his fist with aggravation and need, he could still feel the pressure on his neck.

So when Wei Wuxian walks into the bookshop while the sun still tinges the sky with the orange of late afternoon, Lan Wangji still isn’t entirely himself, or at least not the same person he’s known for years. His brain tries to match up the two realities: the man known as Wei Wuxian who was rumored, sometimes in jest, to be a vampire, and Lan Wangji’s personal knowledge of who he really was. Wei Wuxian is sporting vintage, round-framed sunglasses and a different coat from the one he wore the last time they met, but one that’s still black outside and blood red on the inside. He’s flashy in the way he walks — under the sun — but when he pushes his glasses down his nose to look at Lan Wangji, his eyes are an ordinary black. Not compelling, just... charming.

Lan Wangji finds no words to speak. This is not a problem for Wei Wuxian, who walks up to the counter behind which Lan Wangji spends most of his days, props his elbow on its surface, and leans forward. Whether he’s hiding in plain sight or enrapturing Lan Wangji in the dead of night, his sense of boundaries is still wholly defective.

“Lan Wangji,” he says in greeting, belatedly, or maybe just with a dramatic flair he had intended. He beams up at Lan Wangji, as if the very sight of him is a delight. Lan Wangji waits for the punchline. “You’re immune!”

“What,” Lan Wangji asks, but it’s flat, barely a question, and more like an annoyed noise.

“I can’t turn you!” Wei Wuxian says, resting his chin in the cup of his palms, peeking up at Lan Wangji like he’s something worth admiring. “I waited this whole time to see if me biting you—”

“You—”

“—would make you my servant, but it had no effect!”

Lan Wangji sweeps the shop with his eyes, trying to see if he missed anyone entering ever since Wei Wuxian waltzed in, but it’s just as deserted as it was a minute ago. He looks back down at Wei Wuxian, waiting for the continuation of his musings, but the man is quiet, seeming lost in thought, a pleased smile on his face. Lan Wangji sighs, barely making a sound.

“What does that mean?”

He has asked himself the same question for days, but couldn’t find the answer in his archives. The Patriarch, age unknown, is apparently the best source he gets.

The Patriarch leans back against one of his hands, the other pushing his glasses up to rest on his head.

“It means there’s something unnatural in your blood. Or maybe... Maybe someone really loved you.”

He leans back from the counter at the same time as the bell connected to the door chimes. A teenage girl walks in, and in the time it takes for Lan Wangji to greet her with a minimal bow, Wei Wuxian is gone into the maze of narrow aisles of Cloud Recesses — Used & Rare Books, only the end of his coat catching at the corner of Lan Wangji’s eyes.

Lan Wangji waits — one, two, five, ten whole seconds for the girl to call for him or ask for any assistance, but she continues her quiet exploration. Lan Wangji gets up, crosses the front aisles and climbs the small steps to the back of the store. He finds Wei Wuxian perched on one of his stepladders, a mystery novel in his hands, browsing through the pages and admiring the illustrations of a murder investigation.

“What do you mean?” Lan Wangji asks, voice low but clear in the quiet space.

“It means,” Wei Wuxian says, not looking up from his book, “that either your immunity is hereditary, or someone went through a great deal to keep you protected.”

Lan Wangji’s eyes linger on Wei Wuxian’s foot, moving lazily in the air as he keeps his legs crossed. Lan Wangji’s mind is far away, in a different time, when a woman would whisper, “Don’t you want to run away, darling? Won’t you run away with me?”, all between lullabies and giggles. She’d giggle even though nothing fun happened during those days.

“Or maybe both.”

Wei Wuxian’s voice is distant, almost an echo. Lan Wangji can’t remember anything about his mother and no one would ever tell him what he did not know. If she was remarkable, if she knew about the other world, if she was from there. There was nothing but void. Mother was kind, was all Xichen would say. Uncle would speak no words but say everything in frowns and glares and grunts. She is gone now, only a memory of a pale nightgown glowing in the night, hugging him to her chest, calling him beautiful, calling him precious, and, in between singing words he didn’t understand, asking him to run away with her.

Run away where?

“Ah, Lan Zhan, my Lan Zhan.”

When did Wei Wuxian get up? He’s close, so close that Lan Wangji flinches, would have stepped away if one of Wei Wuxian’s arms hadn’t moved around his middle, keeping him in place. He’d called him Lan Zhan again, and Lan Wangji can feel his ears burning. Today, his shirt, pants, and even his coat, hanging just behind the counter up front, all of them are in complementary shades of blue. The only white is the ribbon in his long black hair, a ribbon that Wei Wuxian twirls around his finger, all the black of him against the blue of Lan Wangji. His mind had been so full of blue and red, red and blue, the ghost of Wei Wuxian’s breath playing on his skin when he was alone. But it’s here now, real now, and Lan Wangji is rooted in place again, whether by something supernatural or by his own urges, he cannot say. Even though Wei Wuxian is cold, he’s still like the scent of the coming rain to those who have been tired of the heat.

“Someone went to all this trouble, but you don’t want to be protected, do you?”

He keeps a hand flat on Lan Wangji’s back, and the other, which had been playing with Lan Wangji’s ribbon, trails up to run down the length of his hair.

“You want to walk away from this place and into the filthiest corners of the night, don’t you? Find out what’s out there? Stand in the middle of the chaos?”

He crowds in, chest pressing against Lan Wangji’s, his cold lips playing, pecking, pulling lightly at Lan Wangji’s earlobe. And though he’s trained to defend himself, Lan Wangji can’t move.

“The darkness draws you in, doesn’t it, Lan Zhan? You want to immerse yourself in it and come out on the other side. You think yourself strong enough.”

When he traces Lan Wangji’s jawline with his fingertips, Lan Wangji leans into the touch, lets himself be drawn into the spell of Wei Wuxian’s gestures. Lan Wangji looks straight into those thousand-year-old eyes, black and red and shining under the weak yellow lights of the shop. Like a cat’s. The eyes of a predator in the dark.

“Isn’t it wonderful, then, Lan Zhan, that I cannot taint you?”

Wei Wuxian tilts his head to the side, and his lips tip up, closer, within reach. Lips that soak into blood and flesh. Lips that looked alive not too long ago, alive and red and beautiful. Lips that stretch into a wide, knowing smirk, showing a perfect row of teeth. His canines are simpler today, though still protuberant compared to the others. Lan Wangji wants them on his skin. He wants to run his tongue over them and let them hurt, until his own blood warms the mouth they're in. He wants to cast away his sleeping hours and dive into the long night. See what Wei Wuxian sees. Draw his blade, his blood pumping hot in his veins. He wants—

Wei Wuxian breaks contact. Steps away, brings his hands to his own back. Lan Wangji almost falters, almost falls, but he was taught better than that, so he does neither. Wei Wuxian grins, taps his sunglasses back on his nose, but still watches Lan Wangji over the rims. He seems to study the details of the bookseller just like he studied the illustrations of the book he held a moment ago.

“I’ll be waiting for you, my little blue bird.”

And he’s gone. Lan Wangji waits. The seconds stretch into a minute, and when he finally reaches the front of the shop again, it’s deserted. The sun is still up, painting the clouds from behind, brushstrokes rendering the sky in countless shades of orange and blue. Blue like Lan Wangji’s cloud-patterned coat, and his shirt, and his socks.

Lan Wangji sighs, runs a hand through his hair, brings his white ribbon down and looks at it in his hand. Imagines those blood-kissed hands touching it, wrapping it around long fingers, wrapping it around his neck and pulling—

When uncle shows up at five for the evening shift, Lan Wangji says his usual goodbyes and walks his usual path for grocery shopping, just up ahead, a few blocks away. He returns to his apartment above the bookshop, makes his dinner, eats, showers, meditates, and waits.

Waits until the moon is high and bright in the sky, and then he goes out, his uncle never noticing his absence.

***

There is a man who works at the apothecary. He greets distressed parents with a benevolent smile and the perfect cure for tummy aches, and lists all the benefits from his tea blends to the elderly, walking them to the door himself, offering freebies, tonics, and incense to help with sleep.

There is a man who talks animatedly with a youth named Wen Yuan who helps at the apothecary in the early evening while he studies, before the man shoos him off to his home in the second story of the Wen Clinic. Medic Wen Qing needles this man with words every time she stops by, grills him about how he’s always keeping the place a mess despite Wen Ning’s best efforts at organization, about how he should stop instructing Wen Yuan to perform chemistry experiments because now the boy’s room smells as bad as this man does. She points out that he’s always looking for trouble as she pointedly looks at Lan Wangji, resolute in her posture. This man dotes on Wen Ning, always reminding him to take his supplements to boost his immune system.

There is a man who serves Lan Wangji tea by his counter, who asks Lan Wangji about his day and his life and his passions, just little tidbits at a time, like Lan Wangji’s words are snacks he doesn’t want to run out of. When they’re alone, he asks about the missions Lan Wangji assigned to the region’s hunters, laughing and prodding at Lan Wangji’s reticence until he finally gives in and talks about them, not at length or in detail, but enough to keep the man entertained. And when the moon is full, this man takes Lan Wangji out into the night, and then he’s no longer a man.

Although Lan Wangji has worked in a support role for years, he’s known monsters. Wei Wuxian, maybe due to his age, maybe due to the nature of his powers, or maybe for no simple reason, is nothing like them. He’s highly intelligent, stitching sigils and talismans between the layers of his coats so he can walk out when the sun is weakest and torment Lan Wangji, pulling him into hugs the other has not yet learned to accept, making Wei Wuxian laugh. He’s always laughing, so bright, like a youth who doesn’t yet know of life’s struggles.

Wei Wuxian knows. When he leaves the apothecary behind, when he cloaks himself in night, it’s clear as footsteps in the silence. No mission Lan Wangji describes impresses him, no matter how impressed he makes himself sound. No suffering of victims fazes him, nor makes the smile drop off his face. He walks through streets, around corners, up walls, without ever breaking pace, because he knows every place, he’s seen it all, he’s lived it all. Lan Wangji can see it; maybe because Wei Wuxian lets him. Wei Wuxian guides him through the shadows, and by holding his hand, helps him come out on the other side, on some other street, some other place, the top of a building where the wind catches in his long hair.

“Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan,” he insists on calling him. Inwardly, Lan Wangji delights in it, in being pulled close, by a name, by his hand. “I want you to call me...”

It’s a secret, whispered against Lan Wangji’s lips. Wei Ying, he says, lips forming a smile that falters and brightens a couple of times, like the moon peeking through the clouds. Then he closes the gap, catches Lan Wangji in between breaths. His gaze is heavy, before Lan Wangji dares to close his eyes. His eyes crush Lan Wangji with the weight of centuries.

It’s nothing like a first kiss. It’s wet, Wei Wuxian’s tongue lapping at his lips before he covers them with his own, pulling, pulling at the tender flesh until it’s hot, until Lan Wangji’s mouth falls open and he wastes no time pushing through, making his mark on the uncharted territory of Lan Wangji’s insides. His hands, tongue, breath are a hot brand on Lan Wangji, all over, all under. The kiss is drawn out, their mouths parting only to join again with the tilt of a head, on and on until Lan Wangji’s chest hurts with the desperation to breathe.

There’s a sting on his tongue before Wei Wuxian — Wei Ying — lets him go. He can taste the blood in his mouth, and his partner looks pleased with himself, a satiated cat. Wei Wuxian licks his lips, his thumbs drawing circles on Lan Wangji’s sides. What had Lan Wangji’s hands been doing all this time? Had they been holding on tight, like his core demanded?

Tonight, Wei Wuxian seems to say, without speaking the words. Tonight, he promises, with another peck, another lick, another smile against his mouth. Tonight, he vows, his body a flame, alive, and Lan Wangji can’t fathom the sacrifice made so he could have this. How many have had to die so Wei Wuxian could stay. He wants to think them righteous deaths. He doesn’t want to think. He wants to leap.

Without really breaking contact, Wei Wuxian takes off his jacket, turns it inside out, and throws it over Lan Wangji’s head.

It’s a reflex to close his eyes. He lets his breath falter, blinks into the darkness, and when he opens his eyes again, they’re somewhere else. The room — a bedroom — is drenched in the smell of night jasmine, the pot resting close to the window, a bouquet of tiny flowers escaping the frame, as if eager to jump into the night, into the moon. It is the most endearing part of the room, the rest turned over in a mess of bed sheets, clothes, and papers covered in annotations and diagrams. Surprisingly, there’s a skylight in the middle of the room, through which the moonlight showers down, illuminating the dust and the spiderwebs. There’s so much to look at that Lan Wangji almost loses track of what’s going on, until Wei Wuxian touches him, grounds him back to his presence.

Wei Wuxian’s coat is resting on Lan Wangji’s shoulders, the red turned out. Although Lan Wangji is slightly taller, although they’re standing to the side and not under the skylight, the moon reflects in Wei Wuxian’s eyes, and Lan Wangji steps back and stumbles onto the bed, now at the mercy of the beast.

The vampire is on his lap, straddling him, before he knows what to expect. He takes hold of Lan Wangji's face, not quite gently, but not unkindly. There’s nothing kind about the kiss he gives him next, demanding, suffocating, his tongue brushing against Lan Wangji's, against the roof of his mouth. Lan Wangji isn’t quite sitting upright; he has a hand keeping him from falling into the mattress, the other grasping at Wei Wuxian’s waist, but it’s a flimsy balance, the gravity of Wei Wuxian slowly robbing him of his strength. When Wei Wuxian starts moving on his lap, a languid, rhythmic motion, his mouth lets go of Lan Wangji’s for open-mouthed kisses, allowing him to breathe. Those smirking lips travel down, down his jawline, to the spot below his ear, and suck, noisily.

Lan Wangji feels himself slipping. Wei Wuxian’s pearly white teeth graze his neck in the exact same spot as the first time. Wei Wuxian’s hips grind down on Lan Wangji’s groin, and then comes the sudden sharp pain of the bite — Lan Wangji falls, faces the flaring dark behind his eyelids.

Wei Wuxian keeps him from falling, an arm around him, one hand on his back, the other braced on the mattress. He’s still swaying to a nameless song against Lan Wangji’s lap, albeit quieter now, slower, like a soft evening breeze over a warm sea at the height of summer. Lan Wangji is already gone, erect and straining in the confinements of his pants, and if he focuses, if he pushes against the fog of exhilaration brought on by Wei Wuxian’s vampire kiss, he can feel the press of Wei Wuxian’s own erection against his stomach.

He doesn’t know how long it lasts. At one point, the biting turns into laps of tongue, then kisses, and then he’s opening his eyes to Wei Wuxian’s moonlit room again. He’s on his back now, having been so carefully eased down that he never noticed, and Wei Wuxian is still on him, licking his lips, running a hand down his clothed torso.

“Lan Zhan ah,” he says, eyes burning golden, burning fire. He leans down, kisses Lan Wangji again, but oh, he tastes different now — it’s blood, it’s Lan Wangji’s blood. There’s a ritual here, there’s a turn here and Lan Wangji couldn’t care less, he arches into it, inhales through it. Wei Wuxian breaks away, blinks slowly and says, “Open up to me, my blue bird.”

His hands slither under Lan Wangji’s shirt and move up. Lan Wangji obediently reaches to remove his jacket, then his shirt, throwing both of them off with uncharacteristic carelessness. Wei Wuxian’s coat is still under him, still smelling of Wei Wuxian, lulling him, causing his eyelids to droop, and he has to force them open to look at the other man. Wei Wuxian kisses and licks his chest, humming at the lines of his body, hand trailing down what his mouth can’t. As if he wants to touch all of Lan Wangji, all at once. As his mouth works on one of Lan Wangji’s nipples with distant interest, his hand is intent on unbuttoning Lan Wangji's trousers, on sliding down his zipper, and reaching inside his underwear to grab him in a now-warm hand, an echo of the first time.

“Do you think about me, Lan Wangji?” he says, pumping Lan Wangji with cruel slowness, leaning over him like a lion playing with its prey. “Did you think about me before that night? And since then — how often?”

Lan Wangji wants to touch him, wants to answer him, but if his words were scarce before, they run from him now, hide behind his overflowing desire. His hands still lie uselessly by his head, where they’ve been ever since he removed his shirt. Wei Wuxian doesn’t seem to mind; in fact, whatever Lan Wangji is showing, whatever sounds he’s making, only make the glow in Wei Wuxian's eyes brighter and his smirk wider. He teases Lan Wangji’s tip with his thumb at the same time as he licks his neck, pumps tighter as he sucks on his flesh, drawing a bruise but not opening a wound.

“I think of you.”

Maybe Lan Wangji says it. Maybe they both do.

Whether it’s from anticipation or abandon, Lan Wangji can’t discern, can’t think, he just tips over the edge, spilling over Wei Wuxian’s hand and onto his own stomach. Wei Wuxian hadn’t even needed to bite him again.

He’s still panting when he registers Wei Wuxian licking Lan Wangji’s come off his hand like it’s a delicacy. The vampire kisses his way down Lan Wangji’s body, and Lan Wangji’s dazed eyes trace every movement. There’s a performative air to the way Wei Wuxian sticks his tongue out and noisily licks Lan Wangji clean; it should be insulting, how close to laughter Wei Wuxian is, like Lan Wangji is a cute plaything, but it’s not. Lan Wangji wishes he could claim he knows it because he can read him, but he just feels too good to put the proper thoughts into their right places. If Wei Wuxian is enjoying himself, it’s enough.

Wei Wuxian pulls down Lan Wangji’s pants and underwear, and Lan Wangji barely has a mind to help him in the task. The vampire presses kisses to the inside of his thigh, licking off his perspiration, going from one thigh to the other, until finally his mouth closes around the tip of Lan Wangji’s limp, sensitive cock. He shudders, lets Wei Wuxian open his legs, lets the beast do as it wants. Wei Wuxian’s hands, sometimes cold, sometimes pale, burn against his thighs tonight, as if breaking through his flesh and clutching at his bones. Wei Wuxian licks him clean there as well, long stripes up and down his cock, and the muscles in Lan Wangji’s thighs contract at the touch, too much. He’s not given a second to come back to himself, to breathe. Once Wei Wuxian deems him clean enough, Wei Wuxian crawls up, noses at the dark curls of Lan Wangji’s pubic hair, the cold tip of his nose tickling the skin of Lan Wangji’s stomach. Quick, innocent kisses along his lower abdomen are a sweet distraction, leaving Lan Wangji wholly unprepared for the bite that follows.

Lan Wangji’s hips jump from the mattress, but Wei Wuxian’s hands, supernaturally strong, push him back down. The vampire hums, fingers like claws against Lan Wangji’s hips, leaving imprints that Lan Wangji hopes will last for days. He throws his head back, consumed by his wants. The sounds coming from Wei Wuxian’s throat, the touch of his hair against Lan Wangji’s crotch and legs, and the warmth of his hand moving to grip Lan Wangji’s thigh, all form a song that sets fire to Lan Wangji’s desire, bringing him up to a dizzying half-mast. Does he breathe, does he speak? Is he anything more than the end signals of his skin, of his lust?

Wei Wuxian opens his jaw with agonizing slowness. He breathes on the punctures, licks at them, makes them heal. He backs away until they’re not touching, until his presence is just like the warmth of a campfire. Devastatingly cold, Lan Wangji is forced to look at him.

Kneeling between Lan Wangji’s open legs, Wei Wuxian unbuttons his black shirt, throws it far back. He moves further away, off the bed, and unzips his tight pants, shimmying out of them and his underwear and kicking everything away. The room is already a mess and they’ve only made it messier, but Wei Wuxian is a vision in the dim light. Dark lips and flushed skin, body toned and cock erect, he would almost look like a man, if it weren’t for his eyes. Shining, never straying from Lan Wangji’s, even as he moves to the nightstand. Lan Wangji can only look, can only follow. His body doesn’t have time to cool off. Wei Wuxian returns, climbs on him again, covers him, aligns to kiss him on the mouth.

It’s the slowest they’ve kissed, the slowest Lan Wangji has ever been kissed. He wraps his arms around the vampire, discovering that he still can control his body after all, and pulls Wei Wuxian down, pulls until they’re almost melded into one. When Wei Wuxian moves to create friction between their cocks, Lan Wangji hears himself make a sound, but all he can think is Wei Ying, Wei Ying, ah, you...

You.

Wei Wuxian licks his lips. He suffocates Lan Wangji with his scent, burning millennia-old fingerprints on his skin. Lan Wangji has wanted men before, has touched himself to completion before, has fantasized about a lasting connection with someone before. But tonight, the shadows of a world that was only ever just glimpses through a gap in a doorway live in his lungs. Lives in the blood that Wei Wuxian feeds him in his kisses.

You.

Wei Wuxian breaks the kiss, touches his cheek adoringly, reverently.

“Lan Zhan ah. Where have you been all these lifetimes?”

Where has he been? When has he lived?

Wei Wuxian bites Lan Wanji’s neck on the side yet untouched, without drawing blood. Lost in the sensation of Wei Wuxian’s mouth closing around his pulse, Lan Wangji doesn’t pay attention to the vampire’s hands until one of them touches the inside of his knee, pushes up, and one slicked finger touches his rim.

Lan Wangji trembles at the contact, but Wei Wuxian hushes him, places deceptively kind kisses on his lips, lets him breathe away his tension to melt into the intrusion. Wei Wuxian is patient and reassuring, the perfect lover, and it could be a role, it could be more performance, but it works, so Lan Wangji doesn’t care.

“Look at you,” Wei Wuxian says, voice deep, like the humming strings of a cello. “Noblewomen have been in this exact position, kings, but none can compare to you, none are as beautiful as you, Lan Zhan.” Lan Wangji preens, opens up like a flower when Wei Wuxian’s finger curls inside of him, when Wei Wuxian’s hand envelops his cock to work it perfectly erect again, and Wei Wuxian calls it so nicely curved, so thick, so beautiful, the words falling from the vampire’s lips sounding like polished prose.

“Turn around for me,” Wei Wuxian says. Hours seem to have passed since he last spoke, but it was only seconds. Wei Wuxian pulls away and an embarrassing sound comes from Lan Wangji’s throat.

Lan Wangji does as instructed, even if his limbs aren’t the same as they were when the night started, a tingling sensation blooming at the tip of his fingers and toes, and everywhere that Wei Wuxian touches burns like a fever. The coat that Lan Wangji had been lying on is tossed aside like the rest of their clothes, and Lan Wangji mourns its loss in a detached, dream-like way. But when Wei Wuxian guides him to his knees, his ass high in the air, and holds him there with a hand, the other finding its way back inside him, Lan Wangji wants for nothing. Wei Wuxian is an all-encompassing presence behind him, over him, his hair cascading down Lan Wangji’s back. Letting his forehead fall against his sheets, Lan Wangji breathes nothing but Wei Wuxian. He breathes in and out, Wei Wuxian’s fingers move in and out, turning, searching for a spot inside of him that makes him surrender. The voice that comes out of Lan Wangji sounds nothing like him. No words, just needs, just human.

Wei Wuxian bites his neck again, the expanse of the vampire’s chest covering Lan Wangji’s back. The hand against Lan Wangji’s hip moves to his cock, and the fingers inside of him— ah, when did they move? When did the gentle but meticulous stretching stop and Wei Wuxian start sliding in, so much bigger than his slim fingers had foreshadowed? Lan Wangji doesn’t clench up for long, unable to focus on the intrusion; Wei Wuxian’s mouth is closed tight on him, sucking, drinking, making him light-headed, making him cold and hot all at once. His cock is feeling a different kind of pain in Wei Wuxian’s hold, until Wei Wuxian stops pumping and grips, as though sensing that Lan Wangji might come too soon, and Lan Wangji is both tormented and grateful. He doesn’t know if he can take much more once his orgasm has come and gone, so he lets himself be taken and led in an almost painful dance.

Wei Wuxian’s mouth parts with Lan Wangji’s skin, and it’s only then that Lan Wangji can feel him bottom out, the vampire’s hips flush against his backside. Lan Wangji breathes — in, out, in, out, his panting loud in the quiet room. Wei Wuxian doesn’t make a sound: he has no need to catch his breath.

“Is this what you wanted?” Wei Wuxian whispers in his ear.

Is it? To feel Wei Wuxian’s hand, dirty because it was touching him, reach across the sheets and take hold of his own hand, fingers interlacing? To feel the curve of his cock inside, to know him as much as he knows Lan Wangji, on this night, surrounded by a mist of night jasmines? Is it this, the intimacy, the danger, Wei Wuxian’s teeth breaking his skin, his cock breaching past the last of Lan Wangji’s defenses, while a sentient darkness caresses them?

“Yes,” Lan Wangji answers, not because he has to; Wei Wuxian, with his predatory grin, already knows. Lan Wangji answers because he wants to.

Wei Wuxian starts to move. Pulling out only halfway, slowly, like the introduction to a song, and then he pounds back, the sound of their flesh colliding loud to Lan Wangji’s ears, their shadows mirroring their sensual dance on the wall. He does this once, twice, Lan Wangji can’t keep count. Once Lan Wangji has adjusted to his girth, he picks up the pace, slamming into Lan Wangji as deep as he can, as if, having once dug out his place inside the man, he can’t bear not to fill it.

“Lan Zhan ah, do you feel how wet you are, how you suck me in?” Wei Wuxian breathes against his ear, voice shaking with laughter, but never fully laughing. “Do you like it, when I take you like this? Or do you like it when I suck you better, Lan Zhan? Tell me, tell me everything, Lan Zhan,” he says, repeating the name that is a secret between them like a spell, driving Lan Wangji to the edge like the pulling tide.

When Lan Wangji feels close to orgasm, Wei Wuxian pulls fully out, and, with a single movement, manhandles Lan Wangji onto his back. All Lan Wangji sees as one of his legs is pulled up over one of the vampire’s shoulders is red. The space inside of him, every inch of his skin, his blood in his veins, all scream Wei Wuxian’s name. The vampire covers him, pushes his cock inside of him and possesses his neck, one last time.

Lan Wangji swears his mouth tastes sweet. With the night jasmines, with Wei Wuxian’s flavor. Like the tea they drank earlier, or what blood tastes like for Wei Wuxian. He breathes through his open mouth, taking it all in, his body going taut against the pressure and the humming on his neck, his hole still pulling Wei Wuxian inside. There’s barely any room for Wei Wuxian to move in and out of him, but he’s already on the edge, and with a single brush of Wei Wuxian’s hand against his cock, a single pull, he’s falling, lost at sea.

The colors are bright behind his eyelids, and the world around him is vague, a half-awake dream. He feels Wei Wuxian’s teeth let go, and a small, sad sound come out of him, making Wei Wuxian chuckle. His body is still moving with Wei Wuxian’s thrusts, but he doesn’t see the vampire come, doesn’t feel it until Wei Wuxian pulls away and his essence drips out of Lan Wangji. Without Wei Wuxian covering him, without being connected to him, Lan Wangji shivers. One of his hands searches, even if his eyes are still closed, fingertips running across the ghost of Wei Wuxian’s warmth, where the vampire’s hands had been. He wants. Even now, he wants.

Wei Wuxian returns. At his touch, Lan Wangji forces his eyes open, to gaze at this ageless man as he cleans Lan Wangji up, as he pulls the covers from under Lan Wangji’s body and up over him. Now, with the seconds ticking by again, Lan Wangji’s head is empty in a way that is both blissful and concerning. Wei Wuxian is barely visible, covered in shadows. He touches the frown between Lan Wangi’s eyebrows, rubs against it until it’s gone.

“Why are you so cute, Lan Zhan?”

No one has called him “cute” in years. He leans into Wei Wuxian’s touch, and Wei Wuxian chuckles again, the sound imprinted in Lan Wangji’s mind now, to play in his dreams.

“Be careful, Lan Zhan. Don’t you know vampires are very possessive? I may never let you go.”

“Then don’t.”

He says it without thinking, his body weightless. Tomorrow he will ache in places he’s never ached before, and he’ll need to rebuild all of the energy that Wei Wuxian drank out of him. Tomorrow, when the sun rises, a new day begins, in this place he’s never seen, where Wei Wuxian, Wei Ying, The Patriarch, lives. He doesn’t know where it is. He doesn’t know what tomorrow will bring.

Tonight, he tucks his nose against Wei Wuxian’s throat, and he holds on to Wei Wuxian’s body, and he means every word he says. He breathes the perfume of the night flowers, and it’s like he’s been missing it all along. This darkness.

Lan Wangji sleeps, right where chaos lives.

***

The time Lan Wangji spends with Wei Wuxian stretches out. A single night spanning like days, the feeling of being scooped up in someone’s arms rewriting the nights when he slept alone, lonely, thinking of the lives he could be living. These nights, in turn, feel like years of a different life, lived in his uncle’s blindspot. In his uncle’s eyes, Lan Wangji never looks any different when morning comes, when the shadows let him travel back to the place he’s used to calling home.

Home is a broader term to Lan Wangji now. It’s not just the place he knows, the place where he’s comfortable in monotonous minutes, in the practice of his duty. Now, it’s also the dark alleys where he finds monsters that think they’re safe from being caught. He slashes through them with his glowing blade, while Wei Wuxian, perched atop a building, showers him with compliments.

Lan Wangji’s blood is hot under his skin, even on the colder nights. He shakes, as if consumed by a fever, in his place in the vampire’s lap, and Wei Wuxian holds Lan Wangji so tight that Lan Wangji thinks he can never fall again. Even if Wei Wuxian decided to fuck him out in the open, on the edge of a window, under the blue moon, like a ritual, like a pledge, long fingers would hold firm on Lan Wangji’s lower back, guiding the movements of his hips, and in the vampire’s supernatural embrace Lan Wangji would not fall.

Lan Wangji is immune, Wei Wuxian had said. And smart, and serious, and competent, and loyal, superlatives showered on him night after night. Wei Wuxian is mesmerized by him. Lan Wangji doesn’t want to stray a moment from his lover’s gaze, from the beast’s line of sight.

It’s Sandu Shengshou who tips over the hourglass of their time together, changing the course of Lan Wangji’s life back to what it was, or a semblance of it. Looking at his life now forces a painful comparison to the world where Lan Wangji didn’t know all the things he wanted, missed, and longed for. It hurts so much more now, to know and not have them.

You never get a warning for when things are about to change. One night, Lan Wangji had been walking back home from visiting his older brother; when he exited the subway train, a woman ran past him, up the stairs into the city, and he followed the echo of her sobs to find a vampire. Tonight, he’s fighting a painted-skin ghost with little success. Wei Wuxian intervenes, grabs the monster with claw-shaped hands, throws it to the ground, and from his shadow come the wisps of shadows from the beginning of time, from everywhere, to feed on the monster’s resentment. Wei Wuxian raises his head towards the moon, ecstasy on his lips, on his jaw, in his laugh, eating up the darkness. Lan Wangji grips his sword tighter, unable to look away — and it happens.

Zidian is just as old as Bichen, a relic from ages past, just as powerful now as it was when it was first made. Perhaps it’s older than Wei Wuxian himself, and as such, capable of slicing the vampire’s head clean off in a single sweep. Lan Wangji, from the very first moment he laid eyes on Wei Wuxian, knew his hand would never be firm enough to wield Bichen to eliminate the vampire. But Sandu Shengshou has no appreciation for relics and his blood doesn’t sing Wei Wuxian’s name, so with a flick of the wrist that Lan Wangji fails to see, he attacks Wei Wuxian. The vampire narrowly manages to jump off the painted-skin ghost and land on the wall of the narrow alleyway.

Like Lan Wangji, Sandu Shengshou is not known to be a man of many words. But unlike Lan Wangji, he’s known for his powerful voice in battle, a roar as crackling as the sound of his spiritual whip, and he’s admired for having a hand that never holds back. Like every hunter, Sandu Shengshou’s story is one of loss, but his hate for monsters and ghosts is unrivaled.

With fluid steps and turns, he strikes against Wei Wuxian again. The vampire leaps, twirls in the air, and dives into Lan Wangji’s shadow, disappearing by Lan Wangji’s frozen feet.

“No, you don’t!” Sandu Shengshou barks, throws the tip of Zidian into the pit where Wei Wuxian disappeared to, but when it emerges, there’s only a strip of fabric attached to the whip. The portal disappears, becoming nothing but regular shadow, and with a growl and a snap of Zidian, Sandu Shengshou turns to Lan Wangji.

“I trust you’ll report this to the Lan Council.”

He storms away, lightning bolts in his steps. Lan Wangji stays there, one, two, three, ten seconds, before he falls to his knees like a puppet whose strings were cut by the world’s sharpest weapon.

With Sandu Shengshou as a witness, Lan Wangji can’t fail to report it, not this time.

All of the hunter families get in an uproar at the implications of such a powerful being wandering unrestrained for so long. How many lives has it taken? How many years of bloodshed has it caused? The Patriarch becomes the name on everybody’s tongue, becomes the top target of hunters who come to Lan Wangji’s bookshop. Are there any leads? Should they organize a nationwide hunt?

Lan Wangji is left cold. His steps go back to being controlled, few throughout the day. His breath has no reason to go off-rhythm, just like his heart. He searches the monochrome nights of new moons, asks the ghosts about the one who’s outlived them all, but finds no sign that Wei Wuxian has appeared in town since their last encounter.

The apothecary is run exclusively by the Wen siblings and their young cousin now; when Lan Wangji walks past their windows, their tea isn’t as fragrant as it once was. The smell of night jasmines fades into a memory. Some nights, he takes himself in hand, his own fingers pressing against his tongue, and pretends Wei Wuxian fills him, all the parts of him, even the cracks where his real self slips through. He comes and he’s still cold.

Does cold also run through Wei Wuxian’s veins, wherever he is? Does he long for Lan Wangji’s embrace like Lan Wangji longs for his kisses? Were those nights, countless and endless to Lan Wangji, nothing but a few drops in the vast ocean of the immortal's lifetime? Was any of it real, or had Lan Wangji been one of the vampire's thralls from that very first night?

Days pass. Nights, flavorless meals. The Patriarch becomes too bitter a name on hunters’ tongues after their failures. Some of the Jin hunters claim they find his victims, but Lan Wangji knows they can’t prove it. Wei Wuxian never leaves a mark. Not physical. Nothing like the ones Lan Wangji carries.

He ends his shift, bows to his uncle, makes his dinner. He reads, he meditates. He sits by his window, looks up at the full moon, and lets time slow to a halt. He holds on to a strip of red fabric and remembers all the times he held onto Wei Wuxian’s coat, all the times Wei Wuxian was within reach. Lan Wangji remembers being covered in darkness, traveling through it, and arriving at a place he’s come to call home.

Lan Wangji doesn’t see the hand come out of his shadow. Doesn’t feel a presence emerge, little by little – a head, a toned torso, lean legs. It’s only when Wei Wuxian drapes himself over Lan Wangji’s back, wraps his arms around Lan Wangji’s neck and nuzzles him that Lan Wangji jerks in place, shivers, turns his head. Wei Wuxian is too close, Lan Wangji can’t see him properly, but when Lan Wangji closes his hands around the vampire’s arms, he’s solid, real. Lan Wangji exhales, a shaky thing, and his heart beats the song of reunited lovers, an ancient, timeless tune.

“Did you think I’d let you go, my little blue bird?”

Wei Wuxian’s words tickle Lan Wangji’s ear, make him shiver with a name that belongs only to the two of them.

“Lan Zhan.”

Lan Wangji is wearing blue tonight. There hasn’t been a single day where he hasn’t worn it, like a signal flare in the sky. Come back. Come back to me.

“Do you want me to surrender?” Wei Wuxian asks, his mouth moving against the skin below Lan Wangji’s ear. It’s a delicious sensation. Lan Wangji can’t keep his eyes open, thirsty for every word and touch and second. “Do you want me to give in to your clan, Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji opens his eyes. Thinks of all the years he’s lived for his clan, for his duty, for righteousness. Every hunter has a story of loss, every family was almost wiped out from existence at least once. There’s blood on every single one of their backs, and the blood of countless monsters on their hands. Wei Wuxian feeds on humans and monsters alike. He’s as old as time, and he commands Lan Wangji with his fingertips, with his very eyes. He’s dangerous.

The Wens suffered his loss for months. There’s a story there, too. Lan Wangji wants to know. He wants everything.

He stands from his chair next to the window, stands in front of Wei Wuxian. The vampire looks pale. Probably hasn’t fed in a while. But his eyes are still shining golden under the moonlight, and he’s smiling. It’s a soft thing, that smile, weak in a way Lan Wangji has never seen on Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji touches Wei Wuxian’s bottom lip with his thumb, tracing the chapped skin from one side to the other before caressing Wei Wuxian’s cheek.

His other hand moves behind Wei Wuxian’s head and pulls gently. He tilts his own head to the side and guides Wei Wuxian to his neck.

“Wei Ying,” he says, before kissing Wei Wuxian’s temple. He says nothing else. His voice is firm; his breath, calm. For a moment, Wei Wuxian does nothing, doesn’t even hold him, but Lan Wangji isn’t afraid. Are there even words to verbalize everything between them?

All at once, Wei Wuxian circles his arms around Lan Wangji, tight, just short of crushing. He sinks his teeth into the neck so willingly offered and sucks, drawing a pleased gasp from Lan Wangji. The vampire takes a step back and Lan Wangji follows. Another step and they’re falling through the shadows, through the dimensions. Lan Wangji closes his eyes. The smell of the jasmines is like coming home, in an ugly shack in Yiling.

When Wei Wuxian’s teeth leave Lan Wangji this time, he doesn’t lick the wound, doesn’t close it. He lets it bleed, lets it scar, and kisses Lan Wangji. He’s warm now, healthier. There’s blood on his tongue and Lan Wangji savours it. Like Wei Wuxian’s words have become a part of Lan Wangji, of his life, of how he sees the world, Lan Wangji’s blood becomes part of Wei Wuxian — it becomes his lifeforce.

Wei Wuxian once said somebody must have loved Lan Wangji very much, or that different blood ran in Lan Wangji’s veins. Something darker, something from the other side. His parents had their story or tragedy; Lan Wangji might never know his own truth for sure. He feels all that he needs in Wei Wuxian’s embrace: sheltered, appreciated, cared for. And tonight, more than any other night, he dares to say he feels loved.

The vampire kisses the breath out of him, tears his clothes open, and devours him. Lan Wangji clings back, just as fiercely, just as bruising, and bites the vampire’s neck.

Under the gaze of the full moon, Lan Wangji dares.

#The Untamed #Mo Dao Zu Shi #fanfiction #Wangxian #Lan Wangji #Wei Wuxian #alternate universe: supernatural elements #Alternate Universe: Vampires

[adventures-in-asexuality]

1, 2, 3, 18, 26

Fanfic asks!

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

God, I mean - on what scale? Out of everything I’ve read - maybe three? I’ve read a lot of writing better than mine and a lot of writing worse than mine - but that’s always going to be the case, and the more I read by better writers the better my writing will be, so - I feel like you’re always going to end up middle of the scale here.

2. Why do you write fanfiction? 

Philosophically? I suppose because I have some thoughts and questions and things to say, and fanfiction is a mode of communicating these that suits me quite well. But that’s the same for any kind of creation, I think.

Rather than original fiction? Honestly, a lot of it is the community aspect here - I can write and know that other people will read my writing; I can beta other people’s work and they beta mine; I can contribute to the massive, sprawling conversations that make up fandoms. You know how long I’ve spent writing original stuff, off and on, and never really sticking with it, partly because that communal, conversational atmosphere is, it turns out, pretty important to me. It’s been not quite two years of fanfic, and my skills have expanded so far beyond anything I expected or anywhere I’d previously gotten. (And even into professional stuff, which is useful - I’ve been writing scripts for training videos, and got 3k+ of scripts written over a couple of afternoons recently, which would’ve been unthinkable a couple of years ago.)

Why the specific fandoms or pairings or ideas? I’m very much of the mindset of writing fanfic to explore things that aren’t in the original canon - I’m not concise enough for missing scene fanfic (though good missing scene fanfic is very good!), but I think fandoms like JJBA or TGCF have so much space around the margins in which a thousand other stories could flourish, and - well, why not write whichever of those stories gets its teeth into me? (I feel like the Locked Tomb trilogy, conversely, is so tightly wound together that I couldn’t really poke at it until Alecto comes out, because there are so many questions I either want to know the answer to, or want to know that there is no answer before messing with them.)

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works? 

You’re just out here trying to make me write a cover letter, hm?

I feel like, to a large extent, this is something that readers could better answer; my reading of my work is always coloured by everything I intended, whether or not it actually made it into the piece in a way that other people would recognise. (But then again everyone will read something differently, etc etc etc, you can cite this better me.)

I guess... what feels like a Rowan Fic to me is something that’s got plenty of pain and despair, but that’s still funny; something that plumbs the horror of... whatever the piece is about, and then takes a moment at the worst possible point to make a pun about it. (nowhere to go always feels like a particular example of this to me - so much of the emotional backdrop of it is about the desperate and doomed struggle for the freedom you once feel yourself to have had and the terror of relying on other people whom you know will let you down, but it’s also about Denominational Opinions Hour and bad jokes and last-gasp clutches for any joy we can wring out of life before it leaves us.)

I’d like to say that gentleness and hope also fit in there somewhere, even if there’s nothing to hope for beyond the present moment - but that’s probably more aspirational than anything else.

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written? 

GOOD NEWS, I’M CURRENTLY WRITING BEEFLEAF FAKE DATING.

If it’s got to be something I’ve written and published - probably this love; Sugawara no Michizane AU is not a recognised tag for a reason, and mixing ghosts up so tightly with Stands is definitely a choice that was made (although Araki also made it; don’t think I haven’t thought about that for hours on end!), but, well. It came out better than I thought it might.

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try? 

Hm - mostly, I think, specific aspects of relationship- or sex-based stuff, for different reasons. I’d really like to write more about queerplatonic or otherwise non-normative but still significant partnerships, but I do worry about how people will take that (and also how to tag it, as I’ve complained before). I’ll almost certainly end up doing so anyway - and a fair few of the relationships I have written skew, well, less than normative romantic, just because it’s me writing them - but I’ve never dug into that as much as I’d like to.

On the other end of the spectrum, I’m really wary of writing much physical touch stuff; I have no real desire to write sex, but I do end up walking back from or rewriting touches or interludes that could be read as something even vaguely approaching sexual because I’m not sure how other people would read it, and whether I want to risk their interpretations. (Mostly this irritates me when I think of a really good joke, and on rereading it I’m like ‘yeah but do I want strangers to read this? am I comfortable with their assumptions?’)

Honourable mention to horrible ex-Christianity fic, which I’m less afraid of writing and more haven’t yet found the place for - but I’m sure that once I do find a home for it, I will be afraid; it’s going to be a lot of messy feelings. (I’m still so mad that a Saturday Night Live MDZS AU has one of the best ex-Christian phrases I’ve ever seen. >:[[[[)

#thank you for the ask! #even if it took me forever to answer #fanfic asks #lexgriffiths

[pawsnread]

Little Ways to Love

Summary: On a snowy night in Gusu, Lan Zhan expresses his love for Wei Ying in the little ways.

Written for the Untamed Fest day 31 prompt. It was a You Pick prompt so I combined previous prompts (scene, location, food/drink, touch, emotion, trust) together for Wei Wuxian’s birthday. 

Also posted for the MDZS Network’s celebration for Wei Wuxian’s birthday, Promises/Love prompt.

Posted to AO3.

All of Wei Ying’s youth was tied up with Yunmeng, where the summers were humid and the winters were mild. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen snow in Lotus Pier. It was a rare occurrence and never lasted long. Whenever the flakes came, they were fat and drifted through the air slowly, but the moment they touched the warm ground they melted instantly. Wei Ying could count on one hand the number of times had seen snow in his youth.

It snowed frequently in Gusu, covering the mountainside in a thick layer of powdery white. Each time it snowed, he was like a child, his body a buzz of excitement as he watched the flakes dance in the chilled air. Although the white flurries fascinated him, Wei Ying couldn’t get used to the cold. 

The winter season was just beginning to settle over the mountain with thick frost in the mornings and a chill air all day long. It was still early in the season, but already snow could be smelled in the air. He had been getting ready for an evening of relaxing indoors, in the process of shedding his thicker outer robes when Wei Ying caught the first few snowflakes out of the corner of his eye. A slow smile stretched across his face as more snow drifted down. Clad in nothing but a thin red inner robe, Wei Ying stepped closer to the doors before sinking to his knees on the polished wood floors. Although he was chilled to the bone, Wei Ying was too fascinated with the falling snow to draw on warmer clothes. He watched the snow, eyes glimmering in child-like delight as he wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin atop them, attempting to ignore his shivering as he hugged himself to keep warm.

He sat there for who knows how long, long enough that the snow was thick enough to cover the ground in a gleaming layer of powder and he felt himself growing sleepy. Wei Ying’s body jumped in surprise as something heavy, soft, and warm was placed onto his shoulders. He glanced up to find Lan Zhan clad in a plain white robe, his hands gripping the edges of a fur-lined quilt. His brow was bare of its headband and his hair was loose about his shoulders. He hadn’t seen Lan Zhan wander up the path to the house they shared, nor had he heard him entering and moving about. All the same, Wei Ying was delighted he was here. 

A smile lifted the corners of his lips before Wei Ying reached out, his hand fastening around Lan Zhan’s wrist before pulling him down until he was seated next to Wei Ying. Once he was settled, Wei Ying wrapped the quilt around them both and gave Lan Zhan a knowing look;  at the consenting nod, he clamored into Lan Zhan’s lap. 

“You are a child,” Lan Zhan murmured even as his arms wrapped around Wei Ying’s waist.

“And you are indulging me,” Wei Ying replied as he rested his head on Lan Zhan’s shoulder. A small sigh escaped him at the gentle kiss pressed to his brow. He gave a sniff, catching the scent of sweet wine and spicy oil. Wei Ying peered past Lan Zhan’s shoulder, his eyes widening at the tray containing two bowls of zhou - one with a generous amount of spicy oil - a white bottle of Emperor’s Smile, and a small pot of tea. “You really are indulging me, Lan Zhan.”

Lan Zhan nodded as he drew the tray closer. With one arm still wrapped around Wei Ying, he single handedly poured the wine before holding out the cup. “You should be indulged,” he murmured, “on the day you were born.”

His fingers froze just before they touched the cup as Wei Ying’s eyes widened. “Is that today?” He gave a sheepish grin at Lan Zhan’s admonishing look in regards to his sometimes poor memory. “You know I don’t remember details like that,” Wei Ying said before downing the cup of wine, savoring the sweet alcohol. Lan Zhan merely shook his head before handing him a bowl of zhou, the glutinous rice topped with generous amounts of green scallion, roasted peanuts, ginger, and sliced bamboo shoots. Wei Ying stirred his portion slowly, watching as the spicy oil turned the mixture a reddish tint, the hot porridge warming his hands.

They sat wrapped together in the quilt, consuming their food and drink slowly as they watched the snow fall in the night. A cold breeze blew, causing Wei Ying to shiver as his exposed skin pebbled at the cold. Silently, Lan Zhan drew him closer, wrapping the quilt more tightly around them.

“Yunmeng never gets this cold,” Wei Ying murmured. “There were sometimes a few days that were chilled, but never like this and never for long.”

“Yiling?” Lan Zhan asked quietly. He took Wei Ying’s empty bowl and set it aside before he began rubbing warm circles along Wei Ying’s back as they talked.

“I don’t remember the Yiling from when I was a child, other than hunger and the dogs. But the Burial Mounds…there were cold nights, but we had other things to worry about. Cold was the last thing I was concerned with. Besides, the Demon Subdue Cave kept out most of the chill.” He grew quiet as his memories drifted back to some of those dark nights, worried not for their safety but their survival. 

After some moments, Wei Ying drew his mind away from such dark thoughts. Glancing up through his lashes, he found Lan Zhan with his gaze fixed in the distance, watching the snow fall over Gusu. Moonlight broke through the cloud cover, casting a silver hue over his hair and lashes. It made Lan Zhan look like a mountain deity, beautiful and graceful but with a cold and deadly intent. Wei Ying’s hand seemed to move on its own, gliding up Lan Zhan’s shoulder until his fingertips glanced over the curve of his jaw.

For a fraction of a second, Lan Zhan leaned into his touch before turning to face him. His gaze was intent as he stared at Wei Ying, the moonlight reflecting in his eyes. With a slight up tilt to his chin, Wei Ying fit their lips together in a kiss. It was an unhurried caress, soft like the brush of rabbit’s fur against his cheek. A smile lifted the corner of Wei Ying’s lips as he felt a gentle nip at his lower lip before the kiss deepened, a pleased sound issuing from his throat. The hands at his back held him in place as the kiss lengthened, their breaths mingling.

When they separated, Wei Ying locked gazes with Lan Zhan for a moment before straightening his back. Though he remained in Lan Zhan’s lap, he stiffened his posture until he could look down at Lan Zhan; cradling his face in both hands, Wei Ying pressed a kiss to his brow, in the very spot his headband normally rested. A quiet sigh breezed across his throat followed by the touch of lips at the dip between his collarbones. Wei Ying remained still, his eyes falling closed, as another kiss was pressed to the pulse point at his neck, followed by another just below his ear. 

“Wei Ying.”

It was a wonder how Lan Zhan could say his name so simply and yet mean so much. Gazing into his face, Wei Ying smoothed away a stray lock of hair from Lan Zhan’s eyes before offering him a small smile.

“Sixteen years,” he murmured. “I can’t believe you waited for me for so long. How did I get so lucky, to have someone love me so much? Someone who remembers the little things, like the day I was born and my favorite wine.”

Instead of answering, Lan Zhan closed his eyes, pressing his brow to Wei Ying’s. One hand smoothed over red fabric, slipping from back to front before resting over his chest; beneath his palm, Lan Zhan could feel his heart beating steadily. He let out a slow breath at the pulse, something he never thought he’d get to hear or feel again. Lan Zhan remained motionless as he felt Wei Ying mimic his movements as a hand slipped down his neck and over his chest.

“I’m right here,” Wei Ying whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Lan Zhan nodded then leaned closer for another kiss. His kiss and his touch were gentle but his hold was steadfast and firm. His love and his fierce protectiveness touched Wei Ying, who smiled into the kiss as he drew Lan Zhan closer.

They spent most of the night tucked together under the quilt, watching the snow fall over Gusu while trading kisses, their love for each other evident in all the little ways. 

#untamedfest #wwx2019 #mdzsnetwork #the untamed fest #the untamed fest day 31 #day 31 prompt #fanfic #fan fic #fanfiction #the untamed fanfic #the untamed fic #wangxian #lan zhan x wei ying #wei wuxian birthday celebration #writing #it is the 31st somewhere in the world #posting early #because I will probably forget

[superborb]

Genderswap MDZS / Untamed recs list

I am unabashedly unashamed that genderswap is my all time favorite trope. I love it. I love when it's a ~commentary on society~, I love when it's an excuse for porn. I love when it's an always-a-different-sex AU, I love when it's a sudden change.

We'd roll and fall in green, 27k / 2 works, ongoing series, by x_los x_los has such a deft touch for immersing the reader into the world, and the two fics here really showcase that strength. The world feels so real, and wider than just the pair, even when you're looking from LWJ's POV (tightly focused on WWX of course). The second fic, when you get to the case-fic part of it... whoo I loved how creepy/scary it was and how, despite their experience, LWJ and WWX are still teenagers.

The life and times of a bad idea bear, 20k / 5 works, ongoing series, by houselesbian @marryacareerwomanbehappy This modern!AU series has a very scene by scene feeling. I really like how imperfect Jiang Cheng is, where his flaws are clear, but so are his feelings, and I especially loved the image of LWJ as hm, that kind of icy cold hot lesbian? This series is what definitely sold me on lesbian LWJ anyway!

my heart is kept as pure as ice in a jade vase/一片冰心在玉壶, 21k / abandoned?, by daledesu This one is more of an unconventional rec. It was originally written in Chinese, and this is the translation by the original author. As such, the trope choices are different than English fandom would make, so I find that and the chapter endnotes really interesting.

A Troublesome Charge, 70k / 4 works, ongoing series, by Moonsheen  Another unconventional one, since the genderswap happens after a reincarnation. I've recced this before, so I won't go on about it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this post-canon series and especially the NHS characterization here.

Coming Back to Yourself, 22k, by @acernor To finish this off (hehehe), a fic that's just porn. I... don't know what else to say. It's hot?

#mdzs #the untamed #mdzs fic rec #fic rec #genderswap #rule 63

[autailome]

fgep rambling after reading mdzs right before

i think going from reading mdzs to fgep is interesting bc the books are pretty different obviously but there are some similarities at the core of them? 

i do think mdzs is much more like...tightly written? which makes this more obvious! like its very smart and despite its length its almost like...concise with everything it sets out to do? and it achieves everything it sets out to do so well! because of this i think mdzs was very successful at adding nuance and moral ambiguity and like......... criticizing systems of power and power dynamics? even though i think it could have gone further there was a great meta about this somewhere but basically like....... mdzs had a lot to say about social dynamics and the perils of attempting social mobility and the way that society punishes people for crossing these boundaries, i think this was really successful mainly in the way that the narrative frames wei wuxian/jin guangyao/xue yang but also in a lot of other little ways but having the main antagonists of the book also be the people most materially like the main character (which the book very straightforwardly makes clear) definitely adds a lot of nuance

whereas with fgep (which may or may not actually be any longer im not sure...it feels longer though) i think because its a little more winding of a plot (and fully chronological) sometimes these things aren’t as evident but I think they’re definitely still lurking in the background? the villains are huns and while the narrative doesn’t really set out to compare the huns to lin wanyue like mdzs compares the villains to the main character i think the violence and cruelty on both sides is definitely clear, especially after that torture scene. i still have like 1/4 of the book left so i will see if this develops anymore i guess 

in terms of like.........all this crazy political shit going down, none of it really has anything to do with lin wanyue besides the way that she is framed as being opposite of these things, but i think li xian is not actually remotely different from other people in the palace? even if it appears otherwise because she’s being “selfless” (looking after her brother/protecting him) the seigniors are all doing the same sort of machinations in the name of family as well 

what im trying to say is that i think at first glance it seems like compared to something like mdzs fgep doesn’t go as far with its “grey morality” which definitely i thought when i first started reading? cause at first glance and in the first like third of the book it seems like there’s always a “good reason” behind everyone’s actions (xian-er looking after her brother, lin wanyue’s experiences/good intentions) but the further you read (and the more extreme their behavior gets) the less weight this idea holds lol

I really love that they aren’t perfect and do bad things, especially as female characters lol (that blood drinking scene...............................anyway)

i think the reason these books are so refreshing to read is bc of the difference between how these books deal w morality compared to the western tradition....people can do heartless,cruel, maybe even evil things (BLOOD DRINKING BLOOD DRINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but there don’t really seem to be “good” or “bad” people, just the main characters and the ones they’re going against...its honestly so refreshing and i see why when people start reading cn web novels they keep going lol 

the way that mdzs stretches this to criticize systems of power and social structures in general though im not sure that fgep really goes as far as well? BUT FULL DISCLOSURE im still not done reading so I think ill prolly come back and edit/add more because who knows how the rest will turn out and change this! definitely the way that wangxian peace out of society to be gay in peace but dont actually..change anything abt the structure seems maybe similar to what will happen to yuexian? which is FINE just interesting! the gays said fix ur own society straighties i want to live in a cottage with the love of my life and be homosexual in peace...........also these two books like..........shouldnt be compared, not really? they arent really that similar at the end of the day lol so im mostly just musing bc i assume a lot of ppl who have read fgep have read mdzs as well and might be thinking similar things .....does anyone have any thoughts on this...........................

#female general eldest princess #female general and eldest princess #fgep #女将军和长公主 #e