Lan Xichen could see ghosts since he was a child, though he could not hear them like his brother Wangji can. When he runs from the burning of the Cloud Recesses, he is saved by a silent boy who takes care of him and follows him like a shadow for years to come. But what is Meng Yao’s unfinished business? Will Lan Xichen be spared from his resentment?
Alternatively: how different would the story be if Meng Yao had been a ghost all along?
Podfic of Sweet dreams (are made of this) by Shiome.
Total podfic length - 01:36:04 (01:34:19 clean)
A bit late for Halloween, but here's a sort of canon-divergent ghost-yao romance for you. It has a surprisingly happy ending, despite its premise, because this one is that kind of fairytale.
Note about tags: I did not tag as Major Character Death because the character is already a ghost before the story starts, but there are references to how he died so let me know if you'd like me to warn for anything in particular!
Also, the age difference tag is due to the fact that ghosts don't age... but Lan Xichen does.Title from this lovely, haunting version of this song by Kat Leon.
✨ Headphones are recommended (but not required) when listening to the non-clean version of this podfic ✨
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
Cover art by TAKONXMZ (twitter, tumblr, instagram)
Sweet dreams (are made of this)
Sweet dreams (are made of this) (CLEAN - no music/sfx)
Playlist [clean version + music/sfx version]
Alternative streams and downloadable files
Google drive | Archive.net
*Xiongzhang-fu = brother's spouse, so Wangji's brother-in-law now.
Lan Wangji a moment later: “…what are we going to tell Shufu?”
Perhaps it would have been more poignant or realistic to have JGY move on, but at the same time I thought it was very funny that the Lans were trying so hard to solve his unfinished business and he was largely humoring them while having no intention to leave at all. :')
~*~
Whew! Writing this fic I realized once again that JGY is incredibly necessary for the plot of MDZS! Without him, so many things simply would not happen... (including Wangxian!) In fact, without his intervention they would probably have lost the war altogether. Nie Mingjue still died, however, because the saber spirit does not simply go away - and NOT having JGY to play Cleansing for him is almost as bad as having JGY playing Turmoil for him. Ah, JGY is so important! Love that little man who moves mountains.
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Thank you to Holly for betaing, thank you to ralf and Luna for brainstorming and advice, and to Tako for cheerleading! <333
You can share this fic on twitter here or on tumblr here!
In case you might be interested, I've been doing an on and off little thread-comic on twitter with the same premise (LXC being haunted by ghostyao but not being able to hear him), but it is modern AU! Check it out here~
The music used throughout the podfic are all tracks from the Kentucky Route Zero OST by Ben Babbit! The track names in order of 'appearance' are:
track 23 The Library
track 24 5 Dogwood Drive
track 18 Angel Wings
track 4 Bureau of Reclaimed Spaces
track 2 Ghosts in the StaticThe guqin music used during the inquiry scene is, of course, Wang Ji from the CQL OST. And, as stated in the description at the beginning, the intro/outro song is the Kat Leon cover of sweet dreams are made of this.
Please give Shiome some love in the form of comments and kudos in the original fic, Sweet dreams (are made of this)! If you liked my narration, comments and kudos for this podfic is also highly appreciated.
TheQueenOfFish, a2m8e, Jopig, chvorka, OccasionalArtist, unikittyqueen, LunaLazuli, KiriBakuForLife, Ahlai, ExileInIL, Dactylifera, HomuraKaname, Blxke, Binky01, FoxChan7, Elisabeth_Berry, jennisaisquoi, scattered_coreopsis, AlyssaLaylaVictoria, StockinSkye, MeiJhaT, clmoryel, CastielWho, Hoshisaki, SharpestRose, and WishtheFish as well as 3 guests left kudos on this work!