Mo Dao Zu Shi: a loaf of bread is not a substitute for a blank cake, by Anonymous.
Sep. 8th, 2025 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Pairings/Characters: Gen; M/M; Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian; Lan Yuan, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, OCs
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 2,442 words
Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply, anonymous author, autobiographical incident, inappropriate choice of rabbit food, racist microaggression, secondhand embarrassment
Creator Tags:
Based on a True Story, yes my mom really couldn't find a basic cake and so we had to go with bread, Fluff, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Baking, Icing, Frosting, AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHH THOSE ARE TAGS, Michael's (the store) makes a big appearance, Father's Day, but idc if it's not father's day yet, I was inspired, Inspired by Real Events
Creator Links: none
Theme: Food & Cooking, Cultural Differences, Family, Fluff, Modern AU, Slice of Life
Summary: In which Sizhui and his Baba ice a loaf of bread for Father's Day (plus some angst, but we don't really have to get into specifics do we?)
Author’s Notes:
something i wrote while having writers block
enjoy
(also stay safe and wash your hands and quit going outside if you are)
this isn't really asian rep it just happened when i was 10 and i typed for two hours also its may and here we are with a fictionalized crackheaded version of what happened
yes there were mean girls
… lan zhan's the one getting the cake because his personality's the closest to my dad's but like my dad cut off the frosting and we ended up using the bread for other stuff
Reccer’s Notes: The author posted this anonymously on 8 May 2020 for U.S. Asian and Pacific Islander Month, apologizing that “this isn’t really asian rep”; given that the canon creator is Asian, her target audience is Asian, the characters are Asian, and the OP is Asian fictionalizing a real-life experience, I personally don’t see how it can avoid being Asian Rep.
The author’s self-consciousness—both at the time of writing and in retrospect—is flying from the ramparts, and arguably an integral part of the story. They never did emerge from anonymity, and they’ve since deleted the story—which is a shame, because this is a valid slice-of-life in the Lynda Barry vein, with the OP’s imaginary friends as proxies. Since there seems to be no identifying information that could be used to trace them, I don’t think posting a Wayback Machine capture will expose them to further embarrassment.
And let’s not be like the Mean Girls at Michael’s, okay?
Fanwork links: a loaf of bread is not a substitute for a blank cake