May 2021 Fanfic Recs

[forestsofpine]

Here are some of the fics I enjoyed this month. I had a great month for fic reading, so there's more than usual and I'll put them behind a cut.



MDZS Fic Recs

Are you gonna be my girl, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 14k, explicit

“I thought it would look nice on you,” Lan Zhan said. “Such a cute girl.”

“Lan-er-jiejie, please,” Wei Ying said. “I’m a dyke, don’t use such derogatory language.”

Five Dogs, One Cat, gen, 13k, general audiences

If you’ve ever believed me in anything, believe I want what’s best for Jin Ling, the first line of the letter reads.

Jiang Cheng has to stop and take a moment before he continues on to the next line:

You must come to Carp Tower as soon as you can and lavish praise on the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen.

got your way with me, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 51k, explicit

It doesn't hit Wei Ying until the third time it happens. In his defense, he's not running on all cylinders, and definitely only on four hours of sleep. So if all he's noticed about the guy sharing the elevator with him for the third time in two weeks is his hotness, who can really blame him?

But now that he's looking a bit more closely, as the guy stares resolutely at the number display ticking up, he sees the telltale signs: slightly rumpled collar on an otherwise pristine outfit, bags under his eyes—not so noticeable that they are instantly apparent, but there if you look closely enough—kiss-bitten lips, and (the most damning evidence of all) a hickey blooming just under his ear.

This guy is coming back from a hookup of his own.

I Wish You Would, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 51k, explicit

Lan Zhan takes a breath. His hands are in fists on his thighs. He stares down at them hopelessly, then carefully unclenches them, one finger at a time, before taking another breath and reaching for his lukewarm tea. He'll go out, tomorrow. Maybe in the late afternoon. Something quick. Something easy. He'll text his brother first, the short note of when he should be home, so he'll know to track him. He'll be fine, just like he said.

Keep the Customer Satisfied, Lan Xichen/Jin Guangyao, 9k, mature

It’s a typical Wednesday afternoon the day the most beautiful man in the world walks into the EZ-PC, which is to say, Meng Yao is dealing with an idiot.

Meng Yao works the IT desk at a big box electronics store; Lan Xichen’s laptop seems to suffer an extraordinary number of mishaps.

(Or, five times Meng Yao provided excellent customer service, and one time he provided really, really excellent customer service.)

liberties untaken, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, <1k, explicit

There are things that Lan Wangji remembers. The tap of a hand fastening a talisman to his anger-taut shoulder. The snap of fingers. The evening turning syrupy and amber, honey-drowned. The messy room, the fragrance of wine, a laughing mocking face. The slow-flowing stream of his thoughts. Fingers on his sleeve making a suggestive gesture. Fury. Longing.

He thinks about that night. He thinks about it when things are bad.
-
OR: Things Wei Wuxian Never Did to Lan Wangji.

A Lifetime of Study, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 14k, explicit

Wei Wuxian said, voice hushed, “Have you never been kissed?”

Lan Wangji didn’t move, didn’t flinch, didn’t indicate that he even heard the question. He had only one memory of lips to his skin: his mother, before she’d died. It was a faint memory. The smell of jasmine, earrings like drops of blood. She’d kissed his forehead, called him her little rabbit. Told him to be good, to go back to the main house

“By a lover,” Wei Wuxian added, as though he’d followed the exact path of Lan Wangji’s thoughts. He said, “On the mouth.”
--
Or, wwx finds out lwj has never made out and is like "lol let me teach you tho WHAT COULD GO WRONG" & then like everything goes wrong

Only Fools Rush In, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 22k, mature

Wei Ying thinks he’s going to meet a younger version of Professor Lan, since they’re brothers- gently smiling, a little sad way back somewhere, smart as a whip and just a touch gullible, but instead he meets a drop dead gorgeous sonovabitch who refuses to make more than cursory eye contact and has about as much empathy in him as a brick fucking wall.

In which Wei Ying is forced to take AAS100: Intro to Asian American Studies to graduate. He has a cruelly strict grader, and his only hope of passing the class is attending extra credit movie nights in a ridiculous dorm with 3,000 rules.

Or: I watched a Chinese piece of media, promptly had a whole pile of feelings about being Chinese-American, and dumped them into a fanfiction.

on the unfortunate termination of your betrothal, Jin Ling/Lan Sizhui, 35k, explicit

Sizhui's betrothed calls off their engagement. He goes to see Jin Ling about a promise once made.

Standing Engagement, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 18k, mature

Lan Wangji believes he and Wei Wuxian are essentially engaged. While they search for his missing betrothed, he accidentally reveals as much to Jiang Wanyin. Now everyone in the cultivation world knows about the imminent marriage, except for Wei Wuxian himself.

Tripped At Every Step, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 28k, explicit

Wei Wuxian knows that Lan Zhan is the same Lan Zhan as before, but also so, so different. This Lan Zhan is soft for him. This Lan Zhan has a set jaw and a steely look in his eye, ready to fight anyone who gets in Wei Wuxian's way. This Lan Zhan puts up no fronts - it almost hurts to look at him, he's so open.

Wei Wuxian looks at this Lan Zhan, and he wonders.

(i.e., Wei Wuxian tries real hard to use his two brain cells to figure out if Lan Zhan likes-him, likes-him or not.)

Waiting for Spring, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 130k, explicit

“It is a well-known fact across the major leagues that one does not smack Lan Wangji’s ass.”

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. Everyone smacks everyone’s ass in baseball. It’s how the game is played. Lan Wangji does not get to be exempt from this most sacred of baseball traditions.

Wei Wuxian will make sure of that.

Or, a Major League Baseball AU

Bonus rec: Waiting for Spring!LWJ fanart

Word of Honor Fic Recs

gently into morning, Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing, 5k, explicit

“You can go on, if you want,” he said when Zhou Zishu stopped for breath. “Scold and punish me for seven years, then I will scold you for the next seven, and then we’ll have to find something else to do.”

The thought of years took any other words out of his mouth. Zhou Zishu had gotten used to measuring time in thimblefuls. A New Year’s day, a drift of peach blossoms blown off the trees: each one, perhaps, the last he would see. There wasn’t a container in his mind big enough to hold years, decades, centuries.

One Step Forward, Three Steps Back, Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing/Han Ying, 14k, explicit

“I want to make your Ying’er watch while I fuck you in front of him, then let him take his turn while you’re still wet inside,” says Wen Kexing. “He can have you while I instruct him and make sure he’s seeing to you properly. If he behaves himself and performs adequately, I might just let him come inside you too.” Zhou Zishu can only stare at him, heart pounding. He can’t breathe. “I’ll fuck you again, after that,” Wen Kexing adds, eyes glittering. “Just to remind you who you really belong to.”

Wonderstruck, Zhou Zishu draws a gentle hand down Wen Kexing’s throat, holding him in place. Wen Kexing does nothing more than exhale softly, lips parted, docile and desire-flushed in his grasp.

“You’re insane,” Zhou Zishu says, his voice rough-edged and breathless. It sounds dangerously close to praise.

season of green plums, Cao Weining/Gu Xiang, 4k, general audiences

The girl looked from the pastry to the wide brown eyes of the mayor’s son. She hadn’t expected it to work quite so easily. It was no fun tricking someone who would just hand you their food the minute you came around looking like you wanted it. She sat back up and told him, rather triumphantly, that she had just had a big lunch and that he shouldn’t be so gullible. He gave her half the pastry anyway, and she ate it, feeling like one of them was still being tricked, but not sure anymore which it was.

Siji Mountain Rest Stop for the Weary Traveller, Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing, 17k, teen

“The souvenirs are decently priced, but the food is not.”

One employee, two uncles, a colleague and the (nonexistent) business of tourism.

Strays, Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing, 46k, explicit

Zishu's mind has been trained to this sort of work: to take in every meaningless detail and produce from that the truth. To assess danger and opportunity alike. Of course, this is a misuse of his talents. Kexing shouldn't concern him. He should be nothing to Zishu: just another foolish boy to mold into a useful weapon, or else to discard. But then, Zishu has seen what's really inside him, the pitiless tiger who lives in his guts. And he might be the only one who has. Kexing let the other boys off with bruises, didn't he?

He is Zishu's, somehow. As much as anything has ever been.

[AU timeline in which teenage runaway Wen Kexing meets career assassin Zhou Zishu and upends both their lives.]

with inexplicable fondness, Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing/Han Ying, 17k, explicit

Wen Kexing is aware of the following things.

One, Han Ying would die for Zhou Zishu - and Wen Kexing likes that in a man.

Two, upon their first meeting Han Ying dropped to his knees before A-Xu the moment Wen Kexing let go of his throat - and that is simply just interesting. Three, Han Ying is A-Xu's in a way no one else is anymore.

That last part, he could find an issue with. Or, he could use it for the best - he is not called Philanthropist Wen for nothing, after all.

you're the trouble that i always find, Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing, 27k, mature

“Do you know him?” Jin Wang asks.

The ringing in Zhou Zishu's ears gets louder. “No, Wangye,” he says.

At Zhou Zishu’s voice, the prisoner freezes.

Or: Jin Wang tries another way to get Zhou Zishu back.

Happy reading!