forestsofpine

If you've seen all my monthly fic recs, there won't be any new fics listed in this post, but after the Wangxian musician AU recs last month, I wanted to keep doing more themed rec posts, and of course the next one I decided to do was my favorite genre: canon divergence! There's so many points in MDZS and The Untamed where a little tweak might have sent things in a different direction, so I've really enjoyed exploring different scenarios in fic.

Here are ten canon divergence fics that I loved, all with Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian as the primary pairing. Recs are organized in roughly chronological order based on the point of divergence.

⚠Spoilers for the book and show ahead

In which Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are betrothed in childhood like Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli

seldom all they seem, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 24k, explicit

or, one hundred and thirty-three principles of the Gusu Lan, pertaining to the state of marriage
***
He bows to Wei Wuxian, sword in hand, sleeves falling properly. Wei Wuxian bows in return, and the sect leaders begin the opening courtesies, and for all of ten minutes Lan Wangji is under the impression that he is betrothed to a boy who is perfectly normal and acceptable apart from an unfortunate tendency to fidget with his clothes.

That impression does not last.

In which the Cloud Recesses Study Arc goes differently

three changes, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 18k, mature

Wangji risks a glance across the aisle; Wei Ying’s gaze is tilted down to his book, a model of diligence. But he’s smiling as he writes, and when his eyes flick over to Wangji’s, just for a second, they’re alight with something beautiful.

This is love, Wangji realizes, right then. This is what it feels like. It's happening afresh even as it dawns on him.

He copies the next line wrong, and the next.

In which the Wen are destroyed by a natural disaster before attacking other sects

A Life Without Sun, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 30k, teen

A great calamity fell upon Qishan Wen. It's said that some of the Wens still live, surviving on turnips and raw hope, but Jiang Cheng has not thought of Qishan Wen in years. He has enough on his mind with securing a lecture for Yunmeng Jiang, and somehow, dealing with Wei Wuxian's nauseating affection for Lan Wangji.

In which Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian try kissing in the Xuanwu Cave

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

In which Lan Wangji tells people that he and Wei Wuxian are engaged while Wei Wuxian is missing

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.

In which Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian experiment with dual cultivation during the Sunshot Campaign

Sex, Science, and True Love: A Rigid Analysis of the Practical Applications of Dual Cultivation, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, WIP, explicit

“I once heard a rumour that this is how Lan An and his cultivation partner did it,” Ma Qiao piped up. “Which, I mean, if anyone could…”

“The Lans are far too boring and repressed for something like this,” Wei Wuxian said, with the authority of one who had been resoundingly ignored by a Lan for the past month. “Can you imagine Lan Wangji dual cultivating?”

Everyone knows that dual cultivation is a myth that only works in porn. Wei Wuxian discovers differently.

In which Wei Wuxian and the Wens don't hide in the Burial Mounds

wide enough and wild, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 64k, explicit

Wei Ying leaves. He follows.

In which Wen Ning doesn't accompany Wei Wuxian to Qiongqi Path

The Fire Lapping Up the Creek, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 66k, explicit

Wei Wuxian travels to Lanling for his nephew’s one-month celebration alone, without Wen Ning.

Lan Wangji lives with the consequences.

In which Lan Wangji doesn't hear Wei Wuxian play their song at Dafan Mountain

watch the slow door, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 2k, teen

Lan Wangji woke shuddering. There was a hand on his shoulder, a face bent over his. It took him several moments to understand where he was, to know that the face was Mo Xuanyu’s.

“Hey,” said Mo Xuanyu. “You — I think you were having a bad dream.”

Lan Wangji closed his eyes, shuddering again. His cheeks were wet. His chest ached. It had been years since he’d had one of these dreams, and he’d always been alone. To be seen like this was unbearable.

In which Wei Wuxian's body dies after completing Mo Xuanyu's revenge

shape me something new, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, 24k, explicit

“Mo Xuanyu’s revenge,” Lan Wangji says dully. “It is finished.”

Wei Ying hangs onto Lan Wangji’s hand, his palm clammy. “I guess that means I’m finished too. He got what he wanted.”

“You are not finished.” Lan Wangji grips his hand tighter and pulls him closer. “We are not finished.

(Or: the one where Wei Wuxian shares Lan Wangji's body with him after the sacrificing curse ends and takes his body with it.)