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this all-graved tome / in cipher writ

Summary:

[ART] Wei Ying is, of course, brilliant. What she chooses to use that brilliance for is occasionally mystifying to Lan Zhan.

Notes:

  • For verity.
  • Inspired by [Restricted Work] by (Log in to access.)

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

[Image ID: An illustration in an isometric perspective of Wei Ying's apartment. Wei Ying sits on the floor in a pool of sunlight from the window, talking animatedly and displaying a talisman aloft. Lan Zhan sits stiffly on Wei Ying's twin bed, watching her. The room shows clear signs of Wei Ying's erratic brand of genius. A laptop sits near her knee and three more computers, along with two monitors and a handful of peripherals, sit at her desk. A whiteboard with notes is mounted on the wall, and two shelves of books above the desk are haphazardly crammed with books and items. I am burying the lede here: the most obvious item in the room is a roughly constructed wooden stand, resting on a round rug with an array painted on it. An open book lies in front of the stand, and talismans are affixed to the stand and the array-rug itself. On the stand are eleven furbies, the beginning of some sort of talisman-based furby organ. The remaining furbies are scattered around the room.]

Notes:

This is my contribution to the 2025 MXTX remix challenge.

My brain absolutely stuck on the idea of Wei Ying's talisman-powered furby organ, so here is perhaps an alternate scene for a different version of events, where Lan Zhan got to experience the lovely torture of watching Wei Ying be bright and talented and also work on something deeply cursed. It's that mix of pining and mild horror for me, right?

I hope you like it!

Bonus notes:
- There are 30 furbies in this illustration, not counting the one sitting on the desk that has been skinned.
- The title is from John Donne's "A Valediction of the Book"

Art can be found on social media on tumblr, where I am teleport-warning, and bluesky, where I am @telportwarning, after reveals!