(Open) The Cruelest Month

[strikingchords]

Who ⬤ Lan Wangji and YOU (in April)
What ⬤ Night Parade fallout/catchall
When ⬤ throughout April
Where ⬤ Various locations
Content Warnings ⬤ Will be added as necessary!


1. food runners (April 2022 event #4B)

[before and after the assassination, food still has to get delivered. though he pointedly hasn't followed the kuidaore philosophy of the city, Lan Wangji has enough uses for money (and is unused enough to having to ration it) that it's worth earning more -- and because he's recently reacquired certain abilities, he sees no reason to limit himself to his feet or a motorbike. no, he's a cultivator who's regained his golden core, which means he can fly. if you've ever wanted to see a man carry food strapped to himself while riding a sword like a hoverboard, now is your chance.

finances aren't Lan Wangji's only motivation, either. before and during the festival, he’s also doing his best to keep his ear to the ground -- he’s making a point to deliver to the Kappa and anyone else who seems nervous or tense. sometimes, he'll even put some of that new lucre directly into delivering complementary meals to small gatherings, just for the excuse to see and hear more of the conversations happening within them.

after the assassination attempt, he’s doing the same, but now his goal is even more targeted: he's keeping a special eye out to learn the reactions of the other factions, or catch up with and reassure the Kappa who are unwilling to talk to anyone but Sutoku Alliance members.

are you a Tamamo restaurant worker, receiving your payment from the last order before giving him a new one? are you coming to your door to take your food, complimentary or not? or are you a fellow beast of burden, helping him deal with an large delivery to an equally large -- and potentially information-rich -- gathering?]

...

Here. Take this.

2. busking for spirits (April 2022 event follow-up, #6)

[in the few days immediately after the disaster, you may come across an odd sight near the city center. a man is sitting around some of the rubble still not cleared away with a traditional instrument on the ground in front of him, eyes closed, frowning.

he plucks a few notes that seem to tremble on the air. the hair at the back of your neck rises -– there something not just sound in those chords. they tug at something you can't quite explain; you feel it in your throat and behind your breastbone.

after moment, the man takes his fingers away and waits expectantly. what happens next has no immediate explanation –- all the strings on the instrument shiver at once, very softly, enough to create a helplessly muddled home of noise.

the man frowns deeper before he jerks his head up and notices you watching.]

Hm.

3. club life (April 2022 event follow-up, #1, #6)

3a. open

[later in April, Lan Wangji is still trying to find new connections with the events of the Night Parade... with the help of some connections he made along the way.

specifically, his performance among the festival's spectral cherry trees caught the interest of one of the more music-oriented club owners in a district controlled by the Sutoku Alliance. now Lan Wangji has been installed as a performance artist at a live music venue, one that specializes in a sophisticated, traditional flavor. the manager here had suspected that a smoking-hot man in hanfu, playing a seven-stringed zither under in front of a projection screen that showed drifting wind and flowers, would create exactly the kind of ambiance some customers would want. they might have been on to something.

Lan Wangji seems at peace with playing along, the gentle lighting softening his severe face. if you just wanted to listen to the music and feel calmer after these crazy weeks, it goes no further than this, and you might notice the song becoming even more peaceful as your food and drink show up.

but Lan Wangji and the club owner also have an understanding. you might wonder: is he close enough to that table full of faction higher-ups with serious expressions to overhear their conversation? are you?]

3b. closed to Sutoku Alliance

[this particular group appears to be from the Sutoku Alliance, and something about the seriousness of their conversation and the way they're sitting feels like business. they're leaned in close to each other, voices low. if you wait long enough for Lan Wangji's set to end, you'll see him lift his hands away from his guqin and watch them openly, eyes sharp.

after another few moments, he'll glance at you briefly, confirming that you're also part of the Alliance. then he'll rise to approach the table.]

4. we love an open prompt

((respond with your own prompt, or hit me up by journal PM if you want me to write a specific starter for you!

for further reference, my plotting comment can be found on the ooc post, some starters that go down specifically during the festival itself are available over this way, and Sutoku Alliance members can find Lan Wangji available for the forbidden gossip post-Night Parade IC brainstorming here.))

Comments

3a

[taintedpeony]

[As exhausting as the meetings had been Jin Guangyao had to continue moving to see what information could be picked up from the ground in the aftermath of the assassination. The youkai that shared his body, hummed in agreement softly.

Places like clubs are really the best for gathering information, Yao-kun. Don't you think?

His ears twitched in response.

He had carried his guqin with him today, he thought it would be a good chance to perhaps perform to get the audiences more comfortable with his presence, if all else failed he also had a dance routine prepared in case. Though it was unlikely anyone would blink at a Tamamo wandering through the clubs.

After speaking to the club owner he made his way up through the back area where the performers were, He was taken aback at the familiar sight of the man dressed in white. Though the last time he had seen him, he had cat ears and a tail. This must not be the same one...]

Hello Wangji. I hadn't expected to see you here...

[Jin Guangyao looked quite different than he may have seen him last, for one thing, he was older, with his hair tied back at his waist. For another, he sported a set of fox ears and nine gold tails swaying behind him, marking him as both a member of the Tamamo clan as well as a Kitsune.

He gave him a bow.]

Would you mind if I played a set with you? It has been a long time since I was able to play with someone else.

[strikingchords]

[Tamamo performers in Sutoku-sanctioned venues aren't entirely unheard of; there's a certain amount of cross-pollination in the entertainment industry especially, as performers move around and experiment with styles that don't reflect their main clientele. Lan Wangji himself still works a couple of shifts per week in the kitchen of a club in Tamamo's territory, and he knows for a fact that that establishment's proprietor would let him perform in a flash -- if he was willing to do so by wearing one of their host uniforms, at least. if anything, they're a bit disgruntled that he continues to refuse after all this time. all that is to say that even in the charged atmosphere that's been felt since the assassination in many Sutoku-controlled territories, Jin Guangyao is welcomed onstage in this particular venue's less-exclusive atmosphere easily enough.

Lan Wangji was goes still when he hears the other man's voice, turning his head to observe him without blinking. he's not a member of the Alliance for nothing, so it's not that he was unaware that other Lost Souls from home were roaming the city... but the strange rumors he'd heard about who he still thinks of as the current Jin heir are certainly borne out by seeing the changes in his body in person.]

...

[he'll incline his head in a nod after a moment, the exact degree necessary to indicate polite acknowledgement -- not an inch more.]

Lianfang-Zun.

[his eyes are hard despite the greeting, as wary as a man walking into an ambush. his face is a bit thinner and more strained than Jin Guangyao would have expected from last seeing an older version of him. the faint evidence of hard use still stands out on a man from a family that as a rule barely shows such things -- but then again, no one but other Lans ever saw Lan Wangji when he was grieving and badly wounded, in the first days after Wei Wuxian's death.]

...

I will not gainsay you.

[taintedpeony]

[He was not particularly surprised by the lack of warm reception from Lan Wangji. Depending on where in time he was from there could be a myriad of reasons why. He did look a bit thinner and strained. Just that fact alone helped place him in time. There was one time he had retreated from the rest of the world. He remembered how much Lan Xichen had worried about his younger brother at that time. Thinking about his second brother still made his stomach twist in an unpleasant way. There was a wound there that he would rather shove down deep inside than actually inspect.

He refocused his thoughts on the other jade instead.]

I hope you are doing well enough in spite of the recent events.
[As he spoke he took out his guqin, this thing had kept him company on many long nights in Hakakgemachi, where he would play and offer tea and conversation to any of the other lost souls who dwelled there.]

Did you have a piece in mind?