straightforwardly | 246 | more MDZS fic recs

Reading: so, so, so much MDZS/CQL fic
Listening: slowly making my way through the TAZ: Spirit Breakers oneshot whenever I do the dishes—I think I have about 15 minutes left?
Playing: nearing the end of chapter 3 in Bravely Default
Watching: nothing
Writing: One of my FIAB assignments, finally.

As the above implies, I am still deep in this strange and unexpected MDZS rabbithole. Since my last update, I’ve picked up a new ship, and have also begun exploring the world of Nie Huaisang-centric fics, aka the character who probably would have been my fave had Jiang Cheng not taken that position in my heart so fully and decisively early on.

A few more fic recs—most of them centering Nie Huaisang, but not all:

A Winter's Dream (Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang, 10.9K)
When Jiang Cheng visits Qinghe to attend Nie Mingjue's funeral, he doesn't expect it turn into an extended stay. But Jin Ling likes the mountains, and Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang discover they rather like each other.

(Of course, this is before the truth about Nie Mingjue's murder emerges).

they're all dead hearts to you (Nie Huaisang, 24K)
It is an odd thing, to be the only adult amidst a gaggle of teenagers.

Frankly, it is exhausting. They have certain…. expectations of him, especially the Gusu Lan juniors, and Huaisang has made it a life mission of his to never rise up to anyone’s expectations, but they just won’t let it go.

It is weird to realise that you have lived longer than you've planned for. Nie Huaisang learns to deal with the aftermath.

The sparrow's curious song (Nie Huaisang & A-Qing, 13K)
One day in Lanling, a little blind beggar picks Nie Huaisang’s pocket, which is the most interesting thing to happen to him in months. (AKA the one where Nie Huaisang adopts A-Qing.)

Paper Dragonfly (Jiang Cheng & Lan Sizhui, 1.2K)
In a different universe, Jiang Cheng makes it to the Burial Mounds to find Wen Yuan before Lan Wangji.

This has consequences.

Dead Ringer (Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang, 9K)
The truth was that Nie Huaisang wanted to be angry like Jiang Cheng, without caring about the consequences.

Or: years after Nightless City, Nie Huaisang finds himself in a moment of weakness.

Lycoris radiata (Jiang Cheng/Wei Wuxian, 4K, hanahaki AU)
After the surgery, Jiang Wanyin looked up his flowers. Call it morbid curiosity; the ones Ren-daifu weeded out of his chest had all been slimed with blood and crushed to pulp, and he had no idea what they normally looked like. He’d found an illustration in one of the few books that had survived the Wen attack.

Red, spindly, with long tendrils that looked more insect-like than floral. They don’t suit Wei Wuxian, he thinks, now having seen him.

The Same River Twice (Nie Mingjue & Nie Huaisang, 17.8K, WIP—last updated 2021)
Nie Mingjue would be the very first to admit that devious plotting was not his strong suit – but if it meant he could make things better, make it so that his brother never had to dirty his hands to avenge him, he would do his best.

His best, in this instance, was a forbidden ritual that sent him back in time to before their father had died, before Wen Ruohan's perfidy was revealed, before Meng Yao was twisted by the world's cruelty, before Wei Wuxian was orphaned...

Nie Mingjue had a lot to do and very little time in which to do it. Best to get started right away.