Uffish Thought

Booting this out the door before Yuletide hits! Quite a hodgepodge of fandoms from November: three fics from Nirvana in Fire out of the annual NIF fic exchange, plus fic from The Mandalorian, The Witcher (no S2 spoilers), DCU, Supernatural, The Untamed, and an original superheroes fic.

NIRVANA IN FIRE

with honor by tciddaemina (Lie Zhanying/Jingyan)

For seven months, Zhanying watched his mother grow more thin and gaunt, watched his brothers grow more brittle, the bags beneath their eyes deepening with every long night spent in the workshop. For seven months, Zhanying watched his youngest siblings smile and laugh and try to pretend their stomachs weren't still rumbling when they went to bed, growing thinner every day, and in the eighth month Zhanying said no more and joined the army.

Not my usual pairing, but this slow burn backstory romance was fantastic, following Zhanying through his service in Prince Jing’s army and their changing relationship over the years. Fealty and pining and wordless chemistry, oh my!

Blackbirds by sandalwoodbox (vid, gen)

Cai Quan and Shen Zhui have been waiting for this moment.

This is a great vid for anyone who has feelings about our favorite ministers finding someone worthy to follow, and their friendship.

Lilies That Bloom by circumference (gen)

Liyang, after the trial.

Sweet short piece about Liyang getting some answers re: MCS, and starting to spread her wings again.

OTHER

Crash and Burn by Aureutr_Accoredge (The Mandalorian, Din/Luke)

There had been no Seeing Stone on Tython that Grogu could use to call for a Jedi. They had survived Gideon's light cruiser mostly by luck. And now Din Djarin is trapped between trying to resume his old life with Grogu in tow or facing what wielding the Darksaber truly means for him and his people. Mostly he just wants a nap.

Luke Skywalker is looking for Jedi artifacts he can use to help build a curriculum for the school he seeks to create. Not that he knows where it will be. Or how to find pupils. But then he runs into a shiny stranger whose beskar armor makes him a null space in the Force. And he doesn't know who Luke is.

Intrigued (and in need of parts to repair his ship), he Skywalkers his way into tagging along on the latest bounty.

I LOVED this: it’s very long and plotty dealing with Din becoming Manda’lor, with a great meet-cute to slow burn romance, but mostly this author gets Luke Skywalker in all his dorky-epic glory. Really interesting treatment of Luke’s trauma from his fight with the Emperor and the war generally, and the rare Din/Luke fic that really showcases Leia.

Silver and Copper by Heronfem (Witcher, Geralt/Jaskier)

Geralt is just supposed to pass through the quiet Lettenhove area. He's not anticipating being begged by its people to help save their viscount from a curse that keeps him from daylight. Lord Jaskier, they call him, and he's likely dying.

As Geralt struggles to untangle the ugly web of history that has lead to the increasingly complicated curse, he finds himself spending more and more time with the strange young viscount and wondering just what he might have been before the curse, and who he might be after. But things are not always as they seem, and as the curse tightens its grip on Jaskier, Geralt is forced to face the fear of failing yet another person whose choices were stolen from them.

Very AU, but a gorgeous dark fairytale with a strong backbone of hope and community. Mind the warnings - Jaskier’s father is a definite monster in this.

Exit Strategy by smilebackwards (DCU/Batfamily, gen)

Batman needs a Robin and Batman has a Robin. Tim is just extraneous now, vestigial. He’s a bandage over a healed wound. He doesn’t know what he’s hanging on to.

Or: Tim didn’t expect his exit strategy from the Batfamily to involve quite so much bonding time with Damian over Wayne Enterprises bureaucracy.

*rolls around in the Tim feels* *and the Tim-Damien brotherly feels* Mmm, delicious.

and you can use my skin by unicornpoe (Supernatural, Dean/Cas)

Cas comes back. Dean can’t stop touching him.

This doesn’t break any new ground plotwise for a S15 fixit, but it’s beautifully written: immensely tender and healing and romantic.

Revenge is a Side Dish Best Served With Tea by merakily (The Untamed, Wangxian)

Despite popular opinion, Lan Wangji is actually:
   1. Terrible at diplomacy
   2. Surprisingly vengeful
   3. A master of holding grudges

Five times Lan Wangji gets his petty revenge + one time Wei Wuxian calls him out.

Very fun! Like the summary says, it’s tea-based petty bitch LWJ revenge fluff, with a nice underlying thread of affectionate-and-protective Wangxian.

His Greatest Adversary Yet by architeuthis (original superheroes, slash)

Doctor Nowhere doesn't do the nemesis thing. But the Blue Beacon hasn't been seen in a while, and the more he learns about why, the more it haunts him.

Wonderful mad scientist/superhero piece - Max is such a distinctive and hilarious narrator right from the start, the older-person-figuring-out-they’re-queer feelings are strong, and there’s a lot of deft worldbuilding in the background. [For a little bonus fic-of-fic porn, please enjoy All Along The Watchtower (Or At Least Against The Men's Room Door) by PersianPenName as well, which is very hot and funny.]

Happy International Fanworks Day, everyone! Have some fic recs for Star Wars, The Witcher, The Fugitive, Knives Out, Avatar: the Last Airbender, and Shadowhunters.

STAR WARS

what good are the stars above by fabrega (Rey/Finn/Poe)

“I don’t want to lose you guys,” Poe says quietly.

Post-TRoS OT3 coda of cuteness. <3

a much better dream by rain_sleet_snow (Zorii/Rose)

 “Who are you?“ Zorii asked.

 "Rose Tico,” said clipboard girl, “and I asked you first.”

 Zorii said that this was Babu Frik, and he was an excellent droidsmith, and she was Zorii - just Zorii - and she was good at fighting things and flying things, in-atmosphere for preference, and she’d already parked her yacht, thanks.

 “You’ve landed it on top of a navigation sensor and I’m going to have to ask you to move it,” Rose Tico said.

In which Zorii joins the Resistance and gets a massive crush on Rose. Charming romp with two characters who were neglected in the movie, with some great worldbuilding and background OT3 slipped in for a bonus.

MISC

home is nowhere, therefore you by Ark/@et-in-arkadia​ (The Witcher, Geralt/Jaskier)

“Right, well,” Jaskier says, when he halts before Geralt. Up close, he looks much more nervous. There is sweat on his brow and his collar is damp with it, and his teeth keep catching on his lower lip. “True love’s kiss. There's—ah—there’s nothing to it.” And he bends, the utter imbecile, and kisses Geralt full on the mouth.

*heartclutch* Chock full of fae and their shenanigans, true love, banter, Geralt’s skill at feeling a lot and having no idea how to say most of it, and a good deal of very hot smut.

The Hunter From the Field (The Fugitive, Kimble/Gerard)

He didn’t keep in touch with ex-cons, even innocent ones. He didn’t befriend them and he sure as hell didn’t sleep with them—it was him and them and never the twain should meet.

I didn’t even know I wanted this, but it’s a fantastic follow-up to one of my id’s favorite movies. Great character voices all around, the slow reveal of Sam’s attraction was beautifully handled, and I loved having more closure for Richard’s trauma and grief as well.

If I’m Haunting You, You Must Be Haunting Me (Knives Out, Marta/Ransom)

It seems horribly fitting that when Marta’s soulbond arrives, it’s in the most absurdly ridiculous, horrible way imaginable. It involves the Thrombeys, so of course something that should be wonderful just ends up being terrible in the end.

INCREDIBLY fun and smart remix of the movie, where Ransom is still terrible (I appreciate she didn’t gloss over Ransom’s major flaws) and Marta is still the best but things go rather differently due to their soulbond. But don’t worry, there’s still murder! Also, porn!

Safety First by Haicrescendo (ATLA, gen)

Zuko’s used to feeling unsafe. Zuko is also used to sleeping like shit. Somehow, he’s never considered that these things are connected.

Or, Zuko figures out where he stands with Toph and almost immediately falls asleep on her.

Sweet and soft and right in the feels. I can never have too much of their friendship. <3

you who have come from my old country by paperiuni (Shadowhunters, Magnus/Alec)

A century later, Magnus returns to the city he loves to find it changed for the better.