January 2022 Fanfic Recs

[forestsofpine]

Happy Lunar New Year! 🧧🎆🧨 Here are some of the fics I enjoyed in January:

MDZS/CQL Fic Recs

为温暖 // for warmth, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 4k, mature

“You were unconscious for three days. Someone had to check.” There’s a desperation in it, like Lan Zhan is begging him to please understand. Wei Wuxian shakes his head. “I did not tell anyone, but. Wei Ying. I had to check.”

Wei Wuxian wakes up after the final battle of the Sunshot Campaign.

I am not there, I do not sleep, gen with implied past Nie Huaisang/Mo Xuanyu, 1k, teen

Wei Wuxian returns to Mo Manor to burn paper money for Mo Xuanyu. He meets Nie Huaisang there.

How can you honor a dead man when you walk in his skin?

Living On (Deep and Long), gen, 3k, teen

The hand on his nape is cool. Lan Wangji doesn't open his eyes. He takes another breath, and even that movement hurts. His palms are sharp points of pain, discrete, grounding, something he can focus on, something more manageable than the flood of his back.

"The boy?" The voice is concerned. "He is well enough. Wangji, who is he?"
--
Lan Wangji recovers.

Never Let Me Hit the Ground, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 1k, mature

Some people think that brats are advanced model subs -- suitable only for those with expertise -- but actually they're great for demos because if there is an unclear expectation, they will let you know.

pro bono, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 6k, explicit

At the height of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Wuxian - travelling demonic cultivator, part-time cadaver thief - ends up rather far from home. His new acquaintance, Lan Wangji, ends up rather far from human.

(Or, the vampire Lan Wangji and his necromancer boyfriend take on the Italian Renaissance)

Working Title: Everyone Lives (With Knives) series

1. What Could Have Been, gen, 27k, general audiences

Crumpled at the base of Koi Tower’s long stairs for the second time, Jin Guangyao presses his face into the stone, takes a deep breath despite re-broken ribs, and arranges his features as carefully as he knows how. Then he stands, moving carefully around the pain, and bows deep, arms held straight and true. The walk back up the steps to his father's side is painful enough to wipe the smile from his face; it is not painful enough to prevent him re-taking his place as seneschal, bowing again at the top of the steps. As he straightens, he prioritizes his plans for his father’s demise over all else.

2. Always walked a very thin line, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 22k, teen

Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch, demonic cultivator and perpetrator of the massacre at Qiongqi Way, destroys the Stygian Tiger Amulet three days after his nephew’s one-month ceremony.

His family's safety has been assured: Jiang Cheng is in command of Lotus Pier, Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan, and Jin Ling are ensconced in Koi Tower.

The Wen Remnants will be secluded and guarded in the Cloud Recesses, where Wei Wuxian trusts Lan Wangji to look after them, even when Lan Qiren disapproves.

Wei Wuxian destroys the amulet before negotiations over his own life start, which may, in retrospect, have been foolishly shortsighted.
* * *
In which Wei Wuxian survives a negotiated cease-fire, the Yin Iron is destroyed, and being alive when you expected to be dead is much harder than anyone expected.

I also added two new fics to my f/f Wangxian rec list this month:

give me one good honest kiss, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 25k, explicit

The text keeps flashing over and over in Lan Zhan's head like the bulb lights on a marquee. They’d been talking about homework directly before that, swapping notes on music theory in the baroque period. Then, like a fork of lightning out of a clear blue sky: wanna practice kissing? 😚
—
Wei Ying suggests an arrangement. Lan Zhan, in love, deals.

Let's Get Real, Baby, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 22k, explicit

If Wei Ying had been asked “what sort of pajamas does Lan Zhan wear to bed?” her answer might have been: something utilitarian, like shorts and a t-shirt. Or maybe a set of striped pajamas, like the kind grandpas wear. It would never, in a million years, have occurred to her to say “a slinky silky lacy cami and tiny shorts set,” but that is what she is currently staring—gaping—at as Lan Zhan makes her way from the bathroom to her side of the hotel room.

Painter of the Night Fic Recs



One of my favorite wlw Wangxian authors wrote a cisswap fic for this fandom (recced below) and I went to check out the canon and ended up getting sucked in! Painter of the Night is a Korean BL webcomic about a lowborn painter of erotic art who attracts the attention of a wealthy nobleman with a reputation for cruelty and debauchery. The art is beautiful, and extremely smutty. English speakers can read a free, SFW sample here or subscribe to the full, ongoing story here. ⚠ for BL-typical consent issues

So you agree, Yoon Seungho/Baek Nakyum, 17k, explicit
⚠ mind the tags

“Come up and see me while you’re here,” Seungho said.

Nakyum shook her head but said, “When?”

“Whenever,” Seungho said. “I’m always home.”

Cherry Magic Fic Recs



I've recced fic for Cherry Magic previously, but as long as I'm including the extra info about Painter of the Night, I figured I may as well throw in a short note about this show, too, just in case it's new to anybody. It's an extremely cute and fluffy Japanese BL drama about a man who acquires telepathic powers when he is still a virgin on his 30th birthday, and soon discovers that his most popular coworker has been secretly in love with him for years. It's free to watch on Crunchy Roll or via these fansubs by Irozuku Subs and fairly short, so I highly recommend checking it out if you're in the mood for a quick, happy, pick-me-up sort of show.

There isn't a huge fic fandom, but enough to find some cute reads like the one below, and the premise seems to be becoming increasingly popular as an AU in other fandoms. i'm the one for your fire (Wangxian, 42k, explicit), which I recced back in March 2021, is one of several MDZS Cherry Magic AUs I've enjoyed.

my love goes on, Adachi Kiyoshi/Kurosawa Yuichi, 1k, teen

Is it possible— ? No, Adachi cannot possibly still be a virgin by any reasonable standard. Kurosawa had made careful, thorough, painstaking, sure of that.

MCU Fic Recs

This one's actually a fancomic rather than a fic, but lovely!

The Long Way: A Stucky Fancomic, Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, teen

After Thanos is defeated, Steve doesn't stay in the past. This is the story of where he and Bucky go next.

Happy reading!

Comments

[brownbetty]

I just followed your rec tag all the way to the bottom and enjoyed it a lot. You have good taste, gentle stranger!

[forestsofpine]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've really enjoyed your rec posts as well, especially the Wen Ning and Meng Yao ones. Always nice to see them get some love and a chance for things to turn out better. 😊