Ignipotent for Kai?

“Have you considered specializing in Evocation?” Fassina asked, flipping brusquely through Kai's grimoire. “You have an affinity for it, aimica.”

“I have an affinity for fire,” Kai corrected absentmindedly, looking through Fassina's spellbook in turn. There certainly was very little overlap between them. “And I don't like the idea of limiting myself.”

“That is one way to look at it, I suppose,” Fassina said dryly. “Why fire?”

“I don't know. Everything I cast ends up wreathed in flame. Even defensive magic.” Kai cast the smallest spell she could think of, summoning a tiny ball of light in her palm. It flickered warm orange like candlelight. She chuckled to herself. “The words come to me easier and take less energy. I thought it was a curse, when I was younger.”

Fassina scoffed. “Di verus. Yes, such a terrible curse, to have a natural affinity for one of the most difficult magics to control.”

Kai grinned, unperturbed by Fassina's venomous tone. “Not the worst curse I've ended up with, at least.”

Fassina scoffed again, but it sounded more like a stifled laugh. She still didn’t look up from the borrowed book, pen moving in sharp, aggressive motions on a scrap of paper at her side as she took notes of something she’d found interesting.

Kai kept talking, knowing the conjurer was listening even if she pretended not to. “My older brother told me once that that’s why I have red hair. I’m the only one in my family that does, and Gaius said it was proof that I was cursed. Called me fire-haired and said that everything I loved would burn to ash. I was young enough that I even believed him for a while.” It was hard to keep the cold bitterness out of her voice when she spoke of Gaius. Though she had long since reconciled with her sisters, Kai had no intentions of mending her relationship with her older brother. Those bridges could stay ashes for all she cared.

“Bazzo,” Fassina spat.

Kai laughed, but it was humorless. “You have no idea. He’s only grown more sour with age.” She studied her fellow wizard for a moment. “Is it a requirement to become a wizard? Having a shitty family?”

“Why else would anyone willingly spend so much time surrounded by dusty old books? Because they’re better than people.” Fassina handed her grimoire back. “Not much of use in there to me, aimica, but not completely useless.”

“Thank you,” Kai deadpanned. “Just past sixty years old and I’ve finally graduated to ‘not completely useless.’”

“It’s more than I give most.” Fassina held out her hand for the return of her own spellbook. Kai briefly considered holding onto it, just to see how long her friend would stay like that, but ultimately decided against it.

“True.” Kai said, though still dripping with sarcasm. “Perhaps in another sixty years I could even become ‘not that bad, actually.’”

“I would not get your hopes up if I were you.”

《Midnight Sun》 Ask-Reply Marathon 1/3

Long Post: So I got a lot of asks for "midnight sun" the fem!wwx verse; unfortunately I can't write a snippet for all of them, but I will answer the asks briefly, sometimes with a lil short piece attached in italics. Undercut is all the asks I won't be writing a prompt for. If you don't see your prompt, assume I probably will write something longer for it.

And for the anons and friends who sent messages of supports/thoughts/etc, a HUGE thank you! This is such an accursed au, i'm so glad y'all like it. Haha. :P

:D

@midnightlighthowlite

Haha that’s cute!!! But Yan’er isn’t that kind of a girl I don’t think. That’s really not her personality. She’s more quiet with her affections and displeasures. But... it’s like if she loves you, you’ll know, and if she hates you...lol run.

@affzinho

Mianmian and Wei Ying got on like a house on fire in this universe. After meeting Mianmian, they quickly became good friends, maybe even best girl friends. I think they would be much closer than they were in canon, even if WWX still wants to throttle JZX with her bare hands.

The female disciples studying at cloud recesses for the summer formed a habit of cooling off by soaking their feet in the river flowing along the back mountain. This was done in private without an audience of course, lest their bare ankles be seen by one of those rowdy boys. It was entirely Wei Wuxian's fault that this innocent little indulgence devolved into a full-blown splash riot one particular afternoon. By the time Lan Wangji, the disciplinary officer, came to inspect the commotion, they were all soaked from head to toe. Only Jiang Yanli was still appropriately dry, having assumed a safe high ground on a flat piece of rock defended by her protective shimei. "You'll all show yourselves to the discplinary office for -" Ever the diplomat, Mianmian dipped her head courteously whilst shoving the other girls behind her. "Apologies, Lan-er-gongzi. Forgive my sect sisters, I -" "I started it Lan Zhan!" interrupted Wei Wuxian, before shamelessly wading forward in the shallow shore and patted her chest to declare, "No really, I did! It was all my idea. The others had nothing to do with it." Lan Wangji quickly averted his eyes, the motion so swift it was almost a flinch. Wei Wuxian may be as flat as a washing board with barely any curves to speak of, but she was still a... well, a girl. Her white Gusu uniform was thoroughly soaked through; her hair was almost entirely unbound and dripping. If Uncle knew the thoughts in his head... One must not be promiscuous. "Get decent first," instructed Lan Wangji. He meant to depart then with a disapproving sweep of his white sleeve, but could not help sparing the Jiang disciple one last look. He hoped it was perceived as a glare and not for what it actually was: curiosity. "Mianmian, I think Lan Zhan was looking at you. I think he's sweet on you!" He heard her giggle and gossip to her new friend. He did not see Mianmian's incredulous look of disbelief that someone so witty and bright can also be so inexplicably dense, but in the cave some months later, it would be the same one he serves Wei Wuxian.

About a year after Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji married, Yan'er got hit with a de-aging curse on a night hunt (Wei Wuxian attempted to help the father-daughter reconcile by arranging a lot of joint night hunts with the juniors supervised by herself or Lan Wangji). The curse itself was relatively harmless, but it turned her into her five year old self for 48 hours.

The child sitting in a pile of robes too big for her was close to crying. She pulled at layers of tulle and linen, confused and scared. Lan Wangji approached her as he would an alarmed creature. "Yan'er." "Who - who are you? W-where is my shifu? I want shifu!!" Lan Wangji thought about evading the question, but one look at the haunted desperation on Wei Ying's face changed his mind. He knelt down and extended his hand, palm up, towards the small girl. "I'm your diedie." Yan'er, even as a toddler, was an icy ball of fire. She slapped his hand away with as sharp a swat as she was capable. It didn't hurt, at least not physically. "Liar! I don't have a diedie. Everyone knows this!" "Everyone has a diedie." He replied. "Then..." Those rose-petal-like lips quivered. "Then why hasn't he come and find me?! A-niang is dead, diedie doesn't want me! Now even shifu has abandoned Yan'er -" Fat droplets of tears rolled down her cheeks. Lan Wangji acted on instinct. He scooped his daughter into his arms and cradled her against his chest the way he would Sizhui during those first terrible years. "Yan'er don't cry. You're just lost, you're not alone. Jiang Wanyin is waiting for you at Lotus Pier. I truly am your father. Diedie is sorry, Yan'er, diedie would never abandon you or your a-niang." Those dark beautiful eyes that he could now clearly see resembled his own, blinked up at him with hope. Yan'er sniffled. "R-really? You're really my father?" "I am. My name is Lan Wangji, of Gusu Lan." "Lan...Hanguang-jun?" "Not Hanguang-jun. Just diedie." He had never wanted to be anything but Hanguang-jun so badly in his life. Yan'er gnawed on her lips and then timidly whispered "diedie" as if trying out the word to see if it would hurt. "Mn." Behind him, he could hear Wei Ying's shallow breath. They both knew this would not last. In a couple of days, the old Jiang Yan would be back, but while they've got her, they would treasure every second of this gift. In his arms, little Yan'er curled up and hung on tight.

After that, even though Jiang Yan returned to normal, her attitude towards Lan Wangji softened. She still refers to him as Hanguang-jun, but with more respect than before.

Eventually she was able to call him fuqin, which means Father.

In this AU, when WWX returned to life, the juniors' age from oldest to youngest is: Jingyi 16, Sizhui 16, Ouyang Zizhen 15, Jiang Yan 14, Jin Ling 13. (I used more book age than cql age)

Jiang Yan and Jin Ling are close, and she's quite good friends with Ouyang Zizhen too. LWJ does save A-Yuan.

Before Jiang Yan found out Sizhui was A-Yuan, she and Lan Sizhui had a friendly or not-so-friendly rivalry. It was an unspoken one. They were certainly the brightest of their generation and the Lans and Jiangs have got a silent/cold competition going on with these two as their contestants.

Jiang Yan is not loud like Jin Ling and she doesn't act discourteous enough for Jingyi to sass her without putting himself in the wrong. If he does, she'll sass him right back, but she always has a way letting you know she thinks you aint shit or you're a piece of shit without openly saying either of those two things (she gets it from lan wangji; that level of bitchiness is genetics).

For the most part, Jiang Yan always acts as Jiang Cheng's perfect disciple, but she has a cold way of going about it. The few times when she does lash out... y'all better stay clear.

I think Yan'er's feelings towards Sizhui are complicated. He effectively got to spend time with both of her parents more than she ever did, and I think she's quite sore about this. Sizhui, on the other hand, finds Jiang Yan perplexing. For Jin Ling, I think he sees through the tough act pretty well and knows Jin Ling is A Really Good Boy, but Jiang Yan is more complicated, as is their relationship. He's not sure what kind of a role he should take in her life, and she's never really given him more than stay-the-fuck-away-from-me vibes.

At one point or another, Jiang Yan will tell Lan Sizhui straight to his face, "You're not my brother, Lan Sizhui. Move."

Ouyang Zizhen: guys please, guys can't we just get along.

After Jiang Yan gets de-aged, she goes to Lan Sizhui and asks to walk in his memory a little to understand both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian more. Sizhui agreed. Afterwards Jiang Yan says, "I know it's not your fault that I never knew either of them, but I'm not ready to forgive you yet. You're a good son, Sizhui, their perfect rice bun. You're already the good child, so I guess I don't have to be."