#kitty-corner

[conditionalriverofabsolutelove]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Summer rooftop garden vibes.

[conditionalriverofabsolutelove]

[fic] The Cloud Recesses Cat Café - MDZS modern AU

New AU! ft. swords as cats, with special appearances by baker!NMJ, barista/community organiser!LXC, and chronically stressed MY (de rigeur).

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

For anyone wanting visual references (and because it's what I spent most of my time thinking about, let's be real), here are the cats:

Shuoyue

Shuòyuè (朔月) translates as "new moon", so I decided to make her a black smoke cat, whose dark coat has a white base. She's very friendly and chill, but no one argues with her; Shuoyue is definitely in charge.

Liebing

Lièbīng (裂冰) means "cracking ice" and is the name of Xichen's xiao. This type of lynx point colouration is sometimes known as frost point. Liebing is Adventure Cat, very active and curious about everything. She takes advantage of being deaf mostly to ignore being in trouble; hobbies include stretching out on the key hammers of Xichen's piano while he plays.

Baxia

Bàxià (霸下) charmingly translates as "death to tyrants". On reflexion, I found that her most important character trait was resting death-glare, so ultimately there was only one option: Grumpy Cat (RIP queen). Baxia doesn't actually like anyone other than Mingjue, but will tolerate Xichen and follows Meng Yao around to supervise him from atop high perches from which she can look down on him in judgement.

[conditionalriverofabsolutelove]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[conditionalriverofabsolutelove]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Cat Café #4: In which Meng Yao adopts a cat.

Introducing Hensheng.

[conditionalriverofabsolutelove]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

In which Meng Yao acquires more cats!

Of course a lot of this comes from personal experience, but I also draw inspiration from sources including the LA Kitten Rescue livestream (cw: terminal cuteness overload).

[conditionalriverofabsolutelove]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/70491641

Cats are turning out to be more trouble than Meng Yao expected. :3

[conditionalriverofabsolutelove]

[fic] Regulars - MDZS cat café pt 2: The Soundtrack

Xichen and Mingjue are quite disgustingly in love, I have to say, and have formed an unspoken but benevolent conspiracy to ply Meng Yao with treats. Consensus among the cats is that he is an acceptable addition to the furniture.

Read on AO3!

Ad hoc playlist for this instalment:

Kitty-Corner