January recs

[spatz]

Posted these on Valentine's Day on Tumblr, but I've been pretty distracted with the epic freeze in Texas right now, so I'm just getting around to crossposting. We got about half a foot of snow here, which is insane and recordbreaking (I think the last time we were anywhere close was 1985, the winter before my big sister was born, so not within my lifetime), and there are massive power outages across the state because no one expected it to ever get this cold for this long across so much of the state, so multiple power plants froze due to insuffficient shielding and the grid can't handle the remaining load. My parents have been without power since 2am Monday morning, but they're doing alright between their camping gear and their gas stove. My downstairs neighbor had a burst pipe and flooding, so my water was turned off most of yesterday while they repaired it; currently my bathroom faucets are working but the kitchen one is not, presumably due to those pipes being more exposed and frozen. I'm scared for all the people without heat and the always large but even larger than normal homeless population here, but there's literally nothing I can do except stay home, turn down the heat, and unplug as many things as possible to reduce load.

Anyway, recs! I’m starting with The Untamed again since that’s the bulk of the stories this month, but there’s more miscellaneous fandoms under the cut. Enjoy!

THE UNTAMED

watch the slow door by Lirelyn - AU where Lan Wangji shows up a little too late at Dafan Mountain to hear the song and thus doesn’t recognize Wei Wuxian right away. Short and sweet, but some devastating ‘pining for supposedly dead person who is secretly right next to you’ action before the reveal.

a micro utopia born as the overture plays by tardigradeschool - canon AU in which Meng Yao and Lan Xichen get engaged during the war, and thus he is invested in solving the problem of Wei Wuxian so that the Lan brothers will stop being sad about it. I am weak for ‘Meng Yao uses his powers for good and fixes things’ AUs, but this one does a particularly great job with the XiYao relationship as well - their love is one of knowing as well as trust.

Moonlight as My Guide by BromeliadDreams - fantastic modern AU casefile where Wei Ying is a talisman researcher who Lan Zhan consults about a set of disturbing murders.

Just Say Yes by edenwolfie - long and satisfyingly original AU where Lan Qiren is a better teacher, recognizes Wei Wuxian is bored as hell in his classes, and shoves him into advanced studies with Lan Wangji, causing a lot of things to change. The series consists of several stories covering the events of the war and aftermath - there’s just one story left, but since the main plot is wrapped I’m gonna go ahead and rec it now.

To pluck the misunderstanding before it grows. by kaminikaku - quiet but lovely little story about Sizhui starting his musical studies, and Lan Zhan talking him through a problem.

every breath that comes before by tardigradeschool - canon AU where the wine that Jin Zixun tries to make the Lans drink is poisoned, and the banquet and Qiongqi prison camp events go very differently.

vintage youth by sami - this early nineties/modern AU where Lan Zhan happens upon long-presumed-dead Wei Wuxian while he's a fugitive from the police is absurd and dramatic and SO MUCH FUN, I love it. The later stories in the series are more celebrity-and-baby oriented fluff, which is all well and good, but not as delightful as Lan Zhan laser-focused on evading a police search without any shame or qualm whatsoever while Wei Ying is stuck in confused lust (with light trauma) mode.

dreaming and getting a glimmer by verseau - modern AU where Wei Ying belatedly figures out he’s very gay in college thanks to a number of things happening all at once. Implausible three-way identity porn and implausibly hot actual porn. Mind the tags.
 

OTHER

(Temeraire) Good Neighbors by ChronicBookworm - delightfully gossipy look at Tharkay & Co post-canon from the perspective of his neighbors.

(Temeraire) Rowan Tree by peevee - in which Tharkay goes out in a winter storm to rescue an injured neighbor. A little bit of competent action, a little bit of feels, and just nicely atmospheric.

(Queen’s Thief) The Path is There. Follow it. by ama - brilliant AU where Kamet refuses to let Costis travel to Roa with him, and they are both much more involved in the war. The romance, the different perspective on the events of RotT, and the use of mythology are all spectacular.

(BNHA) Conventional Taste by WowBoring - smart and sweet pre-slashy story about Todoroki attending a hero convention with Midoriya. Unlike a lot of similar stories, the author has clearly attended a lot of conventions before and does a great job with Midoriya (who is truly deeply passionately nerdy about heroes and the business and not just a fanboy, and would 100% take intense notes during panels) and the hero industry and the boys’ own burgeoning hero status, plus a light but thoughtful touch dealing with Todoroki’s abusive father.

(Cherry Magic) Touched by @drownjngindreams​ - gorgeously simple vid, for all of your hand porn and UST needs.

(DCU/Batfam) Panic Room by envysparkler - intense h/c piece where Damien locks Jason and Tim into a panic room that they can’t escape for several hours, and they’re pretty fucked up about it.

(DCU/Batfam) Into the Brighter Night by shoalsea - *heartclutch* Look, I just love Tim Drake SO MUCH, and this story (written from the POV of other members of the Batfamily) really captures him in all of his loyal self-sacrificing chameleon workaholic genius-dumbass teenager ways, featuring the Bats and his wonderful weirdo network of friends from various teams and past adventures.