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June recs
Top five recs above the cut, with lots more Word of Honor after, plus one rec each for The Untamed, Nirvana in Fire, and The Old Guard.
A Good Bargain by Neery (Word of Honor, Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu)The Window of Heaven captures the Ghost Valley's master. Zhou Zishu is put in charge of interrogating him.
But Wen Kexing has a plan of his own…
Full disclosure, I finished the series and then immediately beta’d this for @this-is-neery, and it was an absolutely amazing experience, A+++ would read five more times again! Both of them are trapped in their roles and meeting in the worst way, yet there’s still that bright spark of connection and understanding, and a hopeful ending.
you're the trouble that i always find by sundiscus (WOH, Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu)
“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.
Yesssss, magical dreamsharing with serious feels. (Or more precisely, how to fall in love with your zhiji all over again while killing him repeatedly in your involuntarily drugged dreams.)
A More Dangerous Unknown by ivyspinners (WOH, Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu)
Zhou Zishu hid on rooftops like someone with a great deal of practice. Wen Kexing sympathized. He also had experience in this, for what were probably equally murderous reasons.
Four things that are best done on rooftops, with beautiful company. (And one that isn't.)
Lush and sharply perceptive series of moments set during the early part of their courtship.
替我踏遍天涯; walk the edge of the sky for me by yiqie (WOH, Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu)
“We’re going home,” Zhou Zishu huffs when he pulls Wen Kexing’s arms over his shoulders, then hitches his legs around his waist. He hops in place to get a good grip under the bends of his knees, then makes sure his robe is covering as much of Wen Kexing as it can. “If you die before we get there, the first thing Shixiong will do when we see each other on Naihe Bridge is hit you.”
Gorgeous post-canon story.
Oh No!!! by findmeinthealps (Nirvana in Fire, fanvid, gen)
Old man trouble back again / Fuckin’ up my plans, like oh no, oh no
I’m back to the black again / Gettin' fucked up again, oh no, oh no
Fantastic Prince Yu character study vid, featuring Mei Changsu fucking up his plans repeatedly. I just really admire how this vid takes on his perspective on the events of canon, and that way he’s allllmost sympathetic, except in all the ways he’s a terrible person. Great editing.
Ghost Nails by Basingstoke
Wen Kexing knows he is in love, but he's not sure what happens next.
Twisty, gorgeous look at Wen Kexing figuring out how to be in love when he barely knows how to human, has a shitton of trauma, and isn’t all that interested in sex.
Looking up, I find the moon bright by beautifulchildsandwich
Zhou Zishu opens his eyes.
Instead of waking up in the same place he has for the past five decades, he is sitting slumped by a desk in a room that he recognises, but wishes he didn't. He swallows harshly and stares down at the desk in front of him.
Seven long and thick nails lie on the table before him, along with a written record in his own hand on their usage.
Very enjoyable time-travel fix-it. The latest story in the series is still a WIP, but it’s gotten through their reunion in a satisfying way.
a blossom fell on flowing water by decidueye
Zishu sputters hard enough to cough blood. "You've really - never? What about those nights you spend at the bathhouse, when Gu Xiang describes your latest favourite courtesan? What are you doing then?"
"She's been doing that? She said she wouldn't," Wen Kexing asks. A pleased smile graces his features for just a miao before it is replaced by an upturned nose. "We read poetry."
"Poetry," Zishu deadpans.
Zishu decides he's going to have sex with Wen Kexing. He doesn't expect him to be a virgin.
Hot, sweet, funny with pitch-perfect banter and just the right undercurrent of bittersweetness.
Nothing More to Be Said by hollybennett123
“I’m fucking you like this until you promise to stop shouting the place down,” Zhou Zishu warns him, resuming an achingly slow pace. It’s horribly frustrating and tantalisingly good in equal measure. “You’re being even more ridiculous than usual.”
“You’re just as loud when I’m fucking you,” Wen Kexing says. Whether this is because he inhabits an alternate universe to everyone else or simply because he thinks lying is fun, Zhou Zishu doesn’t know and doesn’t care to find out.
In which their bickering leads to discovering a new kink. Good for them/congratulations on the sex! *laughs*
my touch magnifies by isozyme
“You idiot,” Ye Baiyi chuckles at Long Xiao. “He was already panting for someone to have him like a bitch before you poisoned him. You’re doing us a favor by encouraging these two soup-for-brains to go off into the woods and fuck their feelings out.”
Wen Kexing swears at Ye Baiyi, then threatens to pluck his eyebrows bald. Chengling blinks as he takes in the scene with round eyes. Long Xiao smiles, showing off his full set of adult teeth, eerily out of place in a child’s face. Zhou Zishu feels sick to his stomach; he wishes he could be drunk.
Wen Kexing gets hit with fuck-or-die sex pollen on the way to Longyuan cabinet. Everything would be fine, except Zhou Zishu’s been keeping an unfortunate secret: the nails in his chest mean he can’t get hard anymore.
Definitely a fucked up setup, but it’s handled deftly and manages to be oddly sweet between WenZhou despite that.
Gentle Care Required by oanja
Wen Kexing learns over and over again what bodies are for, what flesh can be made to endure. Yet, as with all things, he masters himself and trains his body to be only his to use as he pleases.
It is much harder to learn gentleness, or believe he might deserve such a thing.
I’m not sure what it is, but Wen Kexing is fantastic in this - that perfect mix of his very direct ruthlessness and violence, and his myriad masks and lies.
season of green plums by Lirelyn (Gu Xiang/Cao Weining)
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.
Immensely healing and well-tuned reincarnation story where A-Xiang and Cao Weining find each other in their next lives (guest-starring a couple of immortals and A-Xiang’s epic stubbornness).
between the places that are hard and terrible by TheDameJudiWench
"A-Xu," Wen Kexing says into the kiss. There's an edge to the sound, one that Zhou Zishu can't identify. It's almost as if he's reminding himself who he's tasting. It's almost the questioning sound of a small voice in a dark room.
Tender and layered first time.
The Immortals of Siji Valley by purplesky24
The grudging approval was on the tip of his tongue — do whatever you want, he wanted to say. But some instinct, honed too fine and too deep over his youth in the Ghost Valley, stopped him. Mo Huaiyang was a cunning old fox, he had said so himself. He had thought that it would be a trait that would keep Qingfeng Sect out of the chaos, and hence keep A-Xiang safe. But what if the cunning had been turned on him, and on Ghost Valley? Hadn’t Mo Huaiyang wanted the spot of the supreme leader, and had called Kexing out in front of everyone before Ye Baiyi stopped him?
Maybe he was being paranoid. But he had survived because he had been paranoid and counting on others’ worst intentions all his life. He shouldn’t stop now, not when everything was going so well for the first time.
Or, Wen Kexing refused to open the gates to the wedding guests from Qingfeng Sect. It changed everything.
Thorough and very soft fix-it. <3
Wash Away All Masks by ivyspinners
Does Wen Kexing understand the inherent eroticism of Get on your knees and call me shifu? Zhou Zishu investigates.
Also featured: the inherent eroticism of trust, in showing your heart's ugly, vulnerable parts to someone you love.
Ahhh, this starts out funny, with Zhou Zishi’s seduction attempts being frustrated, and winds up gorgeously intimate. This author has such a delicate touch with them.
NIRVANA IN FIRE
She Does Not Brave the War by alpheratz (fanvid, gen)
She does not brave the war, but she saves the day
Beautiful vid about Consort Jing being a subtle force. What an absolutely killer song this is for her.
THE UNTAMED
a thousand hills, no birds in flight | 千山鳥飛絕 by defractum (nyargles)
It is said that if a phoenix is seen in a land, it is a sign that the ruler is just and fair. No phoenix has ever been sighted in Wen skies.
Lan Zhan is just trying to survive when he discovers that Wen Ruohan has been keeping a phoenix captive in Qishan.
Lovely hurt/comfort fantasy.
THE OLD GUARD
Full Fathoms Deep by Sixthlight (gen)
In which Quynh is discovered by marine scientists. A little horror, a little female solidarity, a lot of great ‘bring your fandom to work’ detail.It started on the midnight to eight shift, sometime before three, the witching hour even by ship standards.