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May recs: The Untamed
So I read an incredibly large amount of fic for The Untamed in May, and after wrestling with my typical mode of picking a sane number for these monthly reclists, I gave up. Instead, you get a selection of my six very favorites (I couldn’t even knock it down to an even five, what has happened to my life) above the cut, and a bunch more stories sorted into rough categories beneath the cut. It’s fine, I’m fine, we’re all fine here, now, thank you.
TOP PICKS
The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch by @aubreyli
Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”
“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”
“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.
I thought I was going to bounce off this premise but it’s PERFECT. The juniors writing RPF for great justice while Wei Wuxian wanders around sorting out his shit, and both of them quietly pining. And the sequel has the juniors engaging in vigilante justice and friendship! They’re both love stories, in their own ways. <333
Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses by hansbekhart
Later, when he’s older, it’s this that A-Yuan will remember most: the stretch of silence, the two of them both dirty and shaking with fever, as he looked at Brother Rich, and Brother Rich looked back at him.
Exquisitely painful look at Lan Wangji during the years Wei Wuxian was dead, from Sizhui’s POV. Book-based, so the timeline of events is slightly different.
Something Yet to Learn by Glitterbombshell
“Wei Wuxian,” the man grits out, and he pauses with one hand reaching for the door handle. The disciple who had come in to speak to Lan Qiren brushes past him and exits the pavilion without a backwards glance. Wei Wuxian turns back to Master Lan, one eyebrow tilting up in question. “An urgent matter has come up,” Lan Qiren says, every word sounding like it’s being forcibly dragged from him. “His Excellency requests my presence. Their current instructor is ill, I was meant to take over classes for today,” he continues, gesturing towards the tiny juniors. He swallows heavily, and the next sentence sounds bitter. Choked. “I cannot leave them unattended.”
Wei Wuxian just blinks at him.
Wonderful series about accidental teacher WWX, figuring out a life in the Cloud Recesses. I really appreciated the look at Lan Qiren in the later stories, and the first story has some very cool worldbuilding about talismans, as well.
one good thing by Yuu_chi/@glenflower (with podfic by @jellyfishfire!)
Wei Wuxian has been haunting his childhood home for three years. He's perfected the fine art of scaring away all the tenants, and has grown used to living with the dying flowers in the garden as his only company.
When Lan Wangji buys the house, Wei Wuxian fully intends to drive him off too. Except Lan Wangji is beautiful, and interesting, and captivating company - even if he supposedly doesn't know Wei Wuxian exists.
Obviously WWX does not stay a ghost, I’m a happy ending partisan, but the story is a sweet, aching romance.
Give You What You Like by Jo Lasalle
Wen Chao's dungeons are warm and comfy. Especially when there's two of you. (Or: what if Wen Chao had been a slightly more competent - or perhaps slightly luckier - villain?)
In which LWJ is also thrown into the dungeons when WWX gets locked in with the monster dog during the indoctrination bureau arc, and then Wen Chao sets up a fuck-or-die scenario to further torture them. I don’t usually rec WIPs, and this series is waiting on a third part to wrap things up (omg give it to meeee), but the extant stories have enough partial closure that I’m going ahead because I loved it. Warnings for torture, graphic mutual non-con under duress, WWX taking care of everyone else while ignoring his own trauma, and some good good soulmates tentatively working through their emotional agony content.
the kite string and the anchor rope by @fleurdeliser
When A-Yuan gets sick and Wen Qing doesn't have the supplies she needs to properly treat him, Wei Wuxian can only think of one place to go for help.
Technically, I read this on June 1st but I loved it too much to wait to rec it in July. Just look at that summary, and assume that it’s exactly everything you imagine but with even more gorgeous hurt/comfort and Wei Wuxian being desperate to protect the people he loves and Lan Wangji being quietly supportive and adoring.
POST-CANON
This House of Ill-Repute by Jo LaSalle - in which they accidentally end up at a brothel instead of an inn during a storm, and clues are finally bought. Post-canon. Extremely cozy.
beneath six layers of silk by darkredloveknot/@darkmintchoc - In which Lan Wanji gets hit by an honesty curse, and it takes awhile for anyone to notice. Wonderful casefile/get-together.
shadows in the sun rise by Yuu_chi/@glenflower - LWJ gets cursed to internal isolation, and they still have epic amounts of broccoli. Some lovely, intimate h/c.
hunters seeking solid ground by @attilarrific - Takes the glimpses of Wei Wuxian's nightmares that we see in the show and runs with them. On the dramatic side, but good h/c.
Devoutly To Be Wished by yunitsa/@pamphilia - mmm, yunitsa does such lovely character work. 5+1 fantasies WWX has about LWJ over the years.
anyway, here's wuji by @kakikaeru - if you enjoyed Jingyi, this is a wonderful post-canon look at him. I hate the title but you can't have everything.
CANON AUS
A Crying Shame by thunderwear - in which A-Yuan guilt-trips LWJ into sleeping over after the Yiling lunch date, and everything is fixed. I am a big fan of this trope, because of course massive tragedy can and should be fixed by the power of A-Yuan/Sizhui being adorable, that just seems accurate.
seldom all they seem by @fahye - in which LWJ and WWX have an arranged marriage, and the events of canon play out differently. Gotta love fahye and her hand with AUs. Less fond of the sequel, Jin Guangyao might be redeemable and in love with Lan Xichen, but I'm still not especially into sociopathic Slytherins.
what else is there? by thunderwear - canon-divergent but also Swan Princess AU! In which the Yiling Patriarch supposedly kills Hanguang-jun, but in actuality LWJ gets turned into a swan by JGY.
MODERN AUS
Always Knew You Were Magical by jeyhawk - modern with cultivation, they're at college, WWX isn't in the know but then gets hit with an ugly curse and LWJ helps him.
through a window softly by @impossibletruths - a very cute college student musicians AU where they end up dueting with each other from separate apartments and fall in love sight unseen. caveat: I read this before finishing the show but I remember it being INCREDIBLY sweet, so.
the best of you by sysrae/@fozmeadows - in which Lan Wangji rents his spare room to WWX, who's going through some shit. Direct hit to my feelings about WWX hiding his trauma from people.
If anyone has reached the end of this post and still wants more, I’ve made some additional haphazard recs here that include what I’ve saved in July so far.
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For heavy people-taking-care-of-WWX content, that modern AU 'the best of you' is pretty potent and soft, I just re-read it yesterday, but I suspect you favor canon fic. Hmmm. It's hard in canon because he's just so resistant to letting people help him, all the really "nice" ones I'm thinking of are modern AUs, like harriet_vane's fic. 'hunters seeking solid ground' might suit. grow, but that's post-canon.