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dentedsky · 2 years

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Review of The Untamed

This is one of the only tv shows i have ever marathoned and then immediately watched all over again. I started watching this show on Netflix knowing absolutely nothing about it; i didn't even know it was a gay love story... likewut. I had previously over saturated myself with American sitcoms and so looked for something completely different. Little did I realise I would smack myself in the face with my own love for the characters, themes, costumes, and downright beauty of the thing. I was immediately hooked in when in the first scene the lead character is murdered by his brother, cos I am a real sucker for stories that start out with, "Once upon a time, I DIED!!!" That to me is pure chef's kiss.

If you haven't watched it yet, let me forewarn you: the first two episodes are a clusterfuck of situations and lines and characters you don't give a shit about and have no context for. But push past these into episode 3 and beyond, and trust me, you will.

So here is my review of The Untamed. I'll try to be as spoiler-less as possible.

General premise

Five major clans control majority wealth, power and magic. Teenager Wei Wuxian is from one of these clans, and attends Ancient Chinese Hogwarts with BFFs/siblings Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng. But it's not all fun and hormones; soon after the semester ends they are thrown into war. Despite knowing magic and sword art, they are woefully under-prepared for the carnage and political shitshow that follows. Alliances fray, hearts are broken... and Wei Wuxian dies.

Sixteen years later he is resurrected by a necromancer who wants revenge on his shitty family. Wuxian's crush from magical high school, Lan Wangji, is now a 30-something hottie and a top-tier wizard, and is investigating a sword spirit that's gone apeshit. Since the revenge plot and the sword spirit issue are related, they team up buddy-cop style to solve the mystery.

The Pros

Costume and set design

It's beautiful. Someone in the costume department was having a ball with this one bc every outfit is gorgeous and unique. The long shots of the ancient Chinese sets are eye candy too. I found myself drinking in every little detail of their clothes and swords.

Themes and metaphors

I've seen a couple of Australian movies that talk about asylum-seekers, but I've never watched a show that has brought in the subject quite like this one. No doubt the episodes dedicated to our untamed hero Wei Wuxian saving war prisoners are a metaphor for China's incarceration of its minorities, but for me I was seething, constantly remembering that cunts like John Howard chose to use their power to treat people fleeing oppression like they were nothing but inconvenient garbage. Why governments choose to infeasibly sweep refugees under the rug rather than help them I still don't understand. In The Untamed, it's highlighted that the reasons are all about power - who has power must do all they can to keep it, even if it means torturing people they have never met, and slandering those who don't fall in line.

Cancel culture and mob mentality is a constant theme in the show, shown throughout several episodes from start to finish. Although set thousands of years before the invention of the internet, The Untamed highlights one important truth: internet trolls have always existed in some form or other and they will never change. They don't attack the reputation of others because they honestly believe that person deserves it - they do it because it fucking makes them feel good. If you can't take their shit any more and you kill yourself, it only solidifies in their mind that they were right all along. It's uncomfortable, and is almost impossible to endure. Like Lan Wangji, I wanted to take sweet Wei Wuxian into my arms and whisk him away.

The love story

Hooo boy, da love story. I ofc realise this is the main reason fans love this show. Between them, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji portray all the emotions that have ever existed, and then some. I found myself melting at Wuxian's every smile, looking closely at Wangji's infinitesimal widening of his eyes or curl of his lips. Wuxian is a guy who talks a lot with his mouth and his body but never says the right things, and Wangji is a bloke who says very little but his thoughts are written all over his supremely gorgeous face. And when they're together... woof. Gurrl. Idek. The chemistry is just... something. There is some over-acting on Wuxian's actor's part in some scenes Wangji's actor isn't in, but when these two are in a scene together, they're kind of amazing. The actors put full effort in, and it shows.

The Cons

CGI and make-up

Although the same genre, don't expect the production value of Game of Thrones, or The Witcher. This one runs more along the CGI lines of Merlin and Doctor Who. If you can use some imagination and stomach those two shows, then you can watch this. Similarly, the zombies are not scary, like, at all. But maybe that is less to do with make-up and more to do with wangxian being so overpowered that if this was a jrpg video game, wangxian would be lv 99 by age 17.

Plot holes and side characters

This show is well written and paced. However, there's one episode in the second half that you could quite frankly chuck in the bin and nothing of value would be lost. The side story involves a third-rate villain and three side characters who the villain emotionally and physically tortures for shits and giggles. If you liked these characters, that's great, but the whole thing to me stank of torture porn and added nothing to the main plot or central characters or relationships. The Untamed is not the only show to suffer this; Altered Carbon comes to mind. There was literally a whole ep in that show dedicated to torturing the lead and I'm still flummoxed as to why some stories choose to do this when literally there is no point?? I get that this villain is central to The Untamed plot and that he is a dark reflection of Wuxian's future if he didn't have Wangji as an anchor, but those things could've been shown in other ways without dragging three characters idgaf abt into some flashback that bored me to tears.

Summary and general thoughts

Omg, dis my fandom now. I'm already reading fics and God, look, writing fucking essays. I'm so naughty - I got my bff into it just so I could have someone to talk to. Luckily, her 1st language is Mandarin, and after watching the show, she read the web novel in 4 days, then translated the porn for me. Of what she tells me though - unpopular opinion - I think I prefer this drama. I prefer the idea that Wuxian fell for Wangji love at first sight, and also, I'm not a huge fan of sex while drunk - it's actually kinda triggering for me. That's just personal things tho. Wangxian have some beautiful moments that I like to rewatch and keep cupped in my hands.

6/5 stars.

#the untamed #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #lan zhan #wei ying #jiang yanli #jiang chen #mdzs #mo dao su zhi #wang yibo #sean zhan #the untamed review #i made a thing #stuff #my review #netflix #text

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anyataylorjoys · 2 months

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“Poor Things was gross and exploiting and had misogynistic themes and therefore was not femininely empowering.”

Sometimes themes of misogyny have to exist in media for a female character to rise above them. Although the film can be viewed as raunchy, the sex scenes were actually meaningful to the plot as this story was about her journey of self-exploration, a large part of that being her sexuality and unabashedly fulfilling her desires, as she dismissed and argued against male expectations when they did not suit her. In addition, this film perfectly depicted the way men will attempt to groom innocence and shame girls and women who do not conform to their standards. If you were unable to digest this film for what it truly was, you likely have a very shallow level of media comprehension in this essay I will

#and stay off my poor things posts cause your negative reviews are wrong plain and simple #happy international women's day! may all women seek their truths for growth that will make them feel empowered and untamable #may all women rise above misogynistic ideals and move freely unashamed of their desires or of how they present themselves #💭

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deathbyoctopi · 1 year

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The year is finished, so it is time to look back and go through the best AO3 treasures I found these last 12 months!! And since XueXiao has been the bane of my existence ever since i discovered it, I decided to make a top 10 list of them!

So these are (in no particular order) my favourite (song)xuexiao fics:

- the backyard is full of bones by @veliseraptor A thoroughly enjoyable what-if with Xiao Xingchen being a bit smarter about the wounded man he found. Extremely well paced and written, it eases into the enemies-to-lovers dynamic perfectly, and it depicts characters so believable and well-rounded that it practically feels like canon.

- I promised you a garden by @lady-of-the-lotus A short snippet into an alternate timeline where Song Lan’s consciousness is trapped in a paperman and forced to bear witness to the yizhuang’s (very sexy) domestic life. Cute and frustrating and very, very satisfying. (One of those where Song Lan’s not having a good time, which might be one of my favourite tags).

- Now that I see you by @10holmes Don’t usually go with unfinished projects, but this one is an absolute treasure which’d need to work very hard to go awry, so of course I’ll have it here. We have a double canon divergence with Not Blind!Xiao Xingchen, and Amnesiac!Xue Yang!! Which make for a delightfully angsty relationship as they both tiptoe around each other, all while battling with internal turmoil, conflicting morals and a misplaced low sense of worth. A fic absolutely worth keeping track of.

- The prisoner of Jinlintai by @fieri-sentio-et-excrucior A rather recent project that had us in tethers for a month and a half (!) with the very sexy prompt of Xiao Xingchen being framed and arrested by the Jin, while a certain guest disciple with a sweet tooth was still around... Another enemies-to-lovers with a wonderfully natural evolution in their relationship, with the extra treat of a rich and entertaining world building that could easily sprout a few spin-offs.

- Nothing but a way of shading blood by @veilchenjaeger This one is very recent, but it shoot up to my top 10 immediately, both for the marvelous writing style and the perfect way they executed the prompt. It provides just the right amount of anguish in Xiao Xingchen, before and after certain discoveries are made, and the diplomacy game with Jin Guangyao and his minion just adds an extra flavour in an already spicy mix.

- Heaven has a road but no one walks it by @silvysartfulness The second (and last) ongoing project here, but just as deserving of the spot. This book-sized treasure is a long journey of (re)discovery, of a slowly kindling relationship with wonderful twists and turns. The slow pace balances out perfectly with some intense (and, in one occasion, thriller-like) action scenes. Also, it was the fic that made me see SongXueXiao with a more favourable opinion.

- lie back and let me unlock you by @veliseraptor A short and extremely sexy xuexiao roll in the hay, with the amazing prompt of Xiao Xingchen being (quite shamefully) aroused at the thought of his old enemy Xue Yang, and good ol’ Chengmei offering to rolplay. The result is even more unbelievable that what you can imagine!

- On the topic of cold by @andreri25 A cute little snippet in the early days at Yi City, where Xiao Xingchen almost dies from hypothermia and Xue Yang has to keep him warm. So what if he takes advantatge? Daozhang won’t remember, and he does need some hot friction after all! It’s wicked and cute in equal parts, because Xue Yang starts off really concerned (even if he wouldn’t admit it or know why, really) but changes gears when the danger is over...

- Final victory by @fieri-sentio-et-excrucior A funny concept very well executed, particularly in the emotional response both Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang give at the different turns of the plot. Daozhang discovers that his old enemy is in town, killing people, and after recovering from the surprise, Chengmei offers his help to hunt him down. Cue some well-placed deceit and a cruelly cute happy ending.

- it hurts at first (but it ain’t that bad) by @veliseraptor Yet another change in dynamics with Xiao Xingchen discovering his mysterious friend’s identity, if only this time because Xue Yang flat-out tells him (well, he thought he was done for anyways). What follows is a wonderful deluge of arguments, moral dilemmas and Xue Yang’s particular brand of twisted social logic that allow a deeper (and less deadly) reprise of their last canon conversation. Just lovely.

Which one of those I like best? I don’t know. I don’t care! They are all fantastic.

AND, since this year was also the first I started actually writing some original content, and not only devouring other artists amazing works, lemme put them here as well >w<

- Phantom Threat The foregone conclusion of all the fix-its that have xuexiao become an item (sans hidden identities, that is), in which Song Lan arrives at Yi City and does what he should have done in canon and talks directly with Xiao Xingchen, to reveal the terrible secret... which he already knows about.

- To carry a bit of yesterday A small slice of life in the Three Year Bliss, where Xiao Xingchen wants a family portrait and despite being quite contrary to the idea, both a-Qing and Xue Yang end up complying. It has amazing art by @wrathyforest, too!! ^-^

AND FINALLY, just a few non-xuexiao fics I also loved to the moon and back, but have little-to-no connection other than belonging to the mxtx universe.

- You’re stuck with me by LikeAFlamingKiss_Consume A delightful jadecest with dark!Lan Xichen (well, dark!Everyone and their mother, it’s a fucked up AU) and a reluctantly horny Lan Zhan.

- Blood array by @giraffeter Though it could technically be a xuexiao fic, the actual fucking here is between Demonic Gremlin Team Extraordinaire! Xue Yang and Wei Wuxian, sooo... doesn’t count. The fic is entertaining, very sexy and their interaction is marvelous to follow!

- Despite warning signs by @extrapenguin A surprisingly cute and light-hearted Xue Yang/Mo Xuanyu little treat, from their days as Jin disciples. A happier alternative reality for both of them, with fluff and smut in equal parts, which never fails to make me smile.

- Qi Rong’s day off by @ahintofblue Too bad the only tgcf fic to make the cut is a very, very nsfw alternate outcome of the mausoleum scene from book 2, but what can I do? The writing’s so smooth and engaging, it’s rough and cruel and I loved every single minute of it.

I have the gnawing feeling I’m still forgetting something, either here or in the xuexiao part... but until I discover the way to check which fics I left kudos in, I either go through an ocean of titles from my ao3 history page (that won’t even let me filter!!!) or I just wait for my two braincells to click one day. Oh, well!

Thanks for reading, and to all writers, THANKS FOR WRITING!!! I love you all. Have a happy new year!

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #cql #ao3 #xuexiao #thank gods for ao3 and every single one of its writers #mdzs fics #fanfic review #the most PRECIOUS THINGS I've read this year #octopi reviews #tgcf #heavenly official's blessing #tian guan ci fu #(yes. the last one ^^U)#mdzs recs #fanfic recs #rec list

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cadybear420 · 1 month

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Cadybear's Reviews- Untameable

Welcome to the thirty-fifth official Cadybear's Reviews! Today I'll be talking about Untameable, which I have ranked on the "PooPoo Tier" at 1 star out of a possible 10. My last and only playthrough of this was around March-September 2022.

Holy fuck this one is so bad. It’s so bland it’s so bland it’s so bland.

I think this is the first story in Choices to actively anger me. Well, actually, that would actually be OG HSS 2 because of the basketball game drama, but at least that had an excuse for happening and it didn’t taint the whole book.

Admittedly, this is a weird one to put in the Poopoo Tier along with shit like Surrender and FCL. When you get down to it, it isn’t really offensive or problematic like those two are. There isn’t any glorified toxicity or half-baked resolutions of toxic behaviors or anything like that. But it still had me shouting and ranting at my phone screen with little to no redeeming qualities… so I put it on the tier.

To start, the story isn’t even that charged with smut outside of those CGs, despite it being a “sexy” book. I mean, at least excessive smut would have made it interestingly bad or fun bad. But no, it’s just boring and frustrating bad.

Kit is easily the blandest LI I’ve ever seen. Like, textbook definition of a soulless customizable LI. The story tries to push them as a “player” but all we ever see of that is two scenes where people flock over to Kit and swoon over them. But Kit was completely unresponsive to it, so how am I supposed to buy them as a player and not just a local ranch heartthrob?

The conflict as a whole is super artificial and contrived. I’ll give the affair stories this– as contrived and melodramatic as they are, their “forbidden” attractions actually felt forbidden, by virtue of the LI (or MC in TDA’s case) already being in a relationship with someone else.

With Untameable, they try to push Kit and MC as a forbidden romance, but literally nothing about it is forbidden besides the fact that Austin will throw a baby Caillou temper tantrum once he catches Kit and MC. Like, he straight up claims their relationship affects the ranch but HOW DOES IT DO THAT. HOW. WHAT MENTAL GYMNASTICS DID YOU DO TO GET TO THAT. IN WHAT WORLD DOES THAT MAKE ANY LOGICAL SENSE.

It’s not even one of those “it’s more interesting and refreshing as non-wlm” routes like something like SW, TCH (1), ID (1), DLS, and (presumably) Alpha are, despite the “older brother wants to protect younger sibling MC from player friend LI” trope that was meant more for wlm routes. Because, again, it’s trying to force high stakes and forbidden romance where there is none.

I have no idea why this absolute doodoofart of a book got a sequel. But hey, at least it’s gonna be about a different cast of characters, with Mandy as a LI. Honestly, Mandy was probably the only major recurring character in this book that didn’t bore or annoy me despite leaning very dangerously into the “best friend who talks exclusively about diamond outfits and how you totally deserve to bone the LI” trope.

#choices stories you play #choices #choices stories we play fandom #choices game #choices stories we play #anti untameable #choices untameable #untameable #anti ut choices #anti choices ut #choices ut #anti ut #ut #cadybear's reviews

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callunavulgari · 1 year

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Top 25 Fics of 2022

1. all that and more by Euphorion | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 20k

His first thought is that Lan Zhan meant them for someone else. That he just woke up at—he checks the timestamp—6:30 am on a Sunday and decided to go absolute full nuclear seduction option on some poor boy he met on Grindr, who would now be missing out on the best thing to ever happen to him because Wei Wuxian had a bad habit of distracting—of—oh.

Heather Says: So, I don’t normally go for the “dude thinks he’s straight and is increasingly dense about wanting to fuck his best friend” trope, but whew, this one here is an exception. The way Euphorion writes Wei Wuxian is this perfect storm of chaos and VERY in character. Also, it’s really sexy.

2. A Thorough Reassessment by veilchenjaeger | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen | 37k

Xue Yang looks up at him, his usually piercing eyes softer, almost shy, under hooded lids. It’s just a fleeting glance, but it’s intense, and when his eyes return to the ladle in his hand, his smile is sticky sweet.

Oh, Song Lan thinks. Xue Yang is in love with me.

Heather Says: Okay, just trust me here. I fell in love with this OT3 last year as the wangxian hyperfixation was slowly easing, and this was a really delightful fic. I secretly love fics where Song Lan and Xue Yang are sharing Xiao Xingchen and end up accidentally falling for each other.

3. haarlem by spqr | Hannibal | Hannibal/Will | 6k

“Hannibal,” he thinks he says. He gets told later that he doesn’t really say it at all, but that the entire police station—most of which is waiting outside in the rainy parking lot—hears his voice clattering around inside their skulls like someone standing on a roof banging pots and pans and screaming at the top of his lungs: HANNIBAL, HANNIBAL, HANNIBAL.

Heather Says: Okay, so this is first of a truly shocking amount of @andthepeople’s work that made it onto this list. I will not apologize. I’d considered limiting it, and to a certain extent I have, but restricting it more than I have didn’t feel honest. Fact of the matter is that their fic blew me away this year. I haven’t even really thought about Hannibal in ages, but I had a brief spell earlier this year where I clawed through as much of it as I could get my hands on. This one features a Will Graham who is a telepath, which is very obviously my cup of tea.

4. here's a story by mimilamp | The Untamed | Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji | 45k

Wen Qing tells her about the couples’ retreat and Wei Ying laughs like, Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!, like that, four times in a loud row. Wen Qing says, “So that’s like, a rude no?”, and Wei Ying says, “Biiiiiiig no. No thank you. Nooooo thank you.”

Heather Says: Rule 63 Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, featuring the sexiest butch Lan Wangji that I have ever read and typical disaster Wei Wuxian with bonus lady parts. Mimilamp writes the best rule 63, it is known.

5. A Twist of the Knife by RC_McLachlan | The Untamed | Lan Xichen/Nie Mingjue | 14k

Xichen, do you remember when we were younger—before Sunshot, before our brothers gagged on the metallic taste of war—and I stayed at the Cloud Recesses that spring? On the first morning, you woke me at that ungodly hour and dragged me to the crest of the mountain that overlooked Gusu to the east. As the first rays of the new day touched your cheeks and cast you in gilded vermilion, I felt the strangest feeling in my gut. A shifting and settling. A sense of finality.

When I picked up the brush to write this, I felt it again. It crept into my fingers and eased the tremors that seem to plague them constantly, which explains the sudden improvement in my penmanship.

This will be my last letter to you.

Heather Says: Lan Xichen/Nie Mingjue is a pairing that I typically appreciate in an aesthetic sense, but don’t often actively pursue. This though, was just really lovely—and yes, tragic—all the way around. Told from Nie Huaisang’s POV after Nie Mingjue’s death, he finds a series of letters that his brother never sent to Xichen.

6. Heal Thyself by @astolat | Harry Potter | Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter | 46k

"Are you going for the course?" Lovegood asked. "You have the NEWTs.”

“What course?” Draco said, then, “No, don’t be ridiculous,” when he realized she meant the notice pinned up on the board he’d been staring at: Applicants To The Introductory Mediwizard Course For The Coming Term Shall Present Themselves In The Chief Mediwizard’s Office By August 24th.

Heather Says: I love a good Draco redemption AU. I also am very, very weak for every single thing that astolat produces. This one was honestly probably my favorite that she’s written in a very long time, featuring found family and a very long pursuit towards redemption.

7. heat lightning by spqr | Avatar: TLA | Sokka/Zuko | 9k

It’s a text from Toph. Heads you socks and cookie mocap again – which with Toph’s shitty speech-to-text software means Heads up Sokka and Suki broke up again.

Heather Says: And here we have the second and certainly not last of spqr’s fics to feature on this list. This one is a blast from the past Zukka in a delightful modern setting featuring sexting and messy boys. spqr is a master of characterization, and it really shines here.

8. Coral Bone by @kaikamahine | Arcane | Silco/Jinx | 57k

"It's not like you to leave a vacancy," she said. "Let me be useful."

Heather Says: Okay, okay, okay. Let’s talk about toxic relationships and how with this particular one, all I really wanted out of fandom was a fic where Jinx tried her damndest to throw herself at Silco and be (mostly) neatly rebuffed every time. Or, the even more bad wrong option, successfully seduce the old man, but the dubious consent being entirely on Silco’s side of the equation. Eh, eh? Nobody else came out of Arcane wanting that? Anyway, this fic is amazing and is basically exactly what I was craving.

9. Grenadier by @kaikamahine | Arcane | Violet/Caitlyn(/Jinx) | 24k

Then, yesterday morning, Caitlyn had walked yawning into the bathroom and found Jinx sitting on her vanity, swinging her heels and eating the cucumber slices right out of her waiting face mask.

She put her hands up immediately and bared teeth. "I surrender! Cuff me, sheriff, I'm at your mercy."

Heather Says: Okay, so all that I said up there about what I came out of Arcane craving? This was not that, at all. I came out of Arcane with no real inclination to ship Violet/Caitlyn in any real sense because they’re too put together as a couple for me to really pursue the ship outside of canon, but apparently when you add Vi’s crazy sister to the equation, I get incredibly interested. Also, I got THREE whole Elizabeth fics this year and am ecstatic about it. There’s another one where Jinx lives in Ren’s ceiling and I just! It’s so good! They’re all so good!

10. 1-800-ROBIN by spqr | Batman | Tim Drake & Jason Todd | 12k

“Gotham Youth Mental Health Hotline, this is Jason speaking. Can I ask who I’m talking to?”

Heather Says: Oh look, the third one. Like I said, this is probably going to get embarrassing but look. Sometimes one author dumps a series of bomb one-shots over the course of the year and like ten of them make your top 25. It happens. Anyway, I had never once considered venturing into the Batman fandom, but I trust this author with my life at this point. There are several other Batman ones from the same author, but this one was my favorite. Found family is very much my weakness.

11. Lifeline by astolat | Fast & the Furious | Dom/Brian | 37k

"Vampires dominate by biting, alpha wolves dominate by fucking. What the hell’s going on between the two of you, I don’t even have a clue."

Heather Says: Another fandom that I have never once had an inkling to delve into, but again, I trust astolat and would basically read anything she’s written. Also, I love the vampire trope so so so much, and this was astoundingly hot.

12. what survives of us by @wildehacked | The Magnus Archives | Jon/Martin | 32k

I don't forgive you, Tim says, and then there's a click.

Heather Says: Considering there’s twenty-five of these, I obviously can’t pick just one, but if I could, this one would definitely be in the running. This brought me all the closure that I never knew I needed after the Magnus Archives finale, every gorgeous, heart-stopping word of it a love letter to this podcast that stole so many of our hearts.

13. Royal Flush by astolat | GOT | Jaime/Brienne/Margaery | 85k

Robb Stark had swept his entire hand of cards off the table, and Tyrion couldn’t see how to make a single play at all.

Heather Says: Oh, look, another astolat fic. I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m not. Her Game of Thrones fics have always been long, epic, and usually incredibly compelling in more ways than one, but I THINK that this one may have been my favorite. I really like the way that she writes Jaime and Brienne together, and adding Margaery to the mix really worked. I mean, I’m downplaying the sheer amount of politics and world-building and just about every other reason to love this story, but the shippy parts were a delight.

14. if i stare too long by @brawlite & @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger | Stranger Things | Billy/Eddie/Steve | 191k

After the end of the world, Billy Hargrove is a mess. But at least he has company.

Heather Says: Okay, I know that it’s long. It is very, very long. But, it was my first real taste of this OT3 after I finished the most recent season and it’s really, really good. Character’s voices are spot-on, and I love their Eddie. I love the way their Eddie is with Billy, in particular, but obviously with Steve too.

15. Lovesick in Loch Nora by red0aktree | Stranger Things | Eddie/Steve | 62k

Even though Eddie's name has been cleared legally, he's still very much on trial in the court of public opinion. Dealing drugs isn't a lucrative occupation anymore, and getting a legitimate job in a town who still considers him a killer isn't much of an option, either. Eddie is beginning to think skipping town and starting over somewhere no one knows his name is the only chance he has left. Steve has another idea.

Heather Says: I think this was the first Steve/Eddie fic that I read this year that I really sat down and enjoyed (in a non-OT3 context). It’s really good and super sweet and just all around a fantastic fic.

16. The 1,000 Hour Sleep by spqr | Star Trek | Spock/Kirk | 27k

“You’ve been exposed to a novel form of radiation,” M'Benga explains. “It seems to prevent you from sleeping, and yet requires sleep in order to leave your system. One thousand hours of it, by my estimate.”

“Hell of a catch-22,” Jim jokes, but his smile feels weak.

Heather Says: I do love how Star Trek just kind of spawn and catch me with my guard down. I never seem to have to go looking for Star Trek fics, they just find me when I need them most and boost my mood for like a month and a half after. At the risk of sounding like a broken record - this is really good! Characterization! Sleeping together (in a non-sexy way!) as a plot point!

17. (feel like i die) ‘til i feel your touch by decideophobia | Star Wars | Obi-Wan/Anakin | 15k

Their bond, ever since Obi-Wan had gone to the Halls of Healing, sits eerily silent at the back of his mind; mute in a manner it hasn’t been in years, maybe ever. Anakin hasn’t touched it since the—diagnosis. Obi-Wan keeps running careful fingers over it, wondering if he’ll feel anything. He never does. With Anakin’s side of it so tightly shut, the once vibrant connection is void of—anything; nothing there to even give him a slight zap at the contact.

Obi-Wan has never considered himself a masochist. Now, a little pain is lightyears more preferable to the dead nothingness that’s constantly lurking around his connection to Anakin.

Heather Says: Ahhh, tragedy! Touch starvation! Curses! So much to love in one perfectly sized 15k fic.

18. Heat Wave by spqr | The Sandman | Dream/Hob | 6k

“Sounds like you’re horny to me,” says Matthew.

Heather Says: The Sandman was SUCH a delight this year. I did fall in love with the whole cast and was intrigued enough by the Hob/Dream pairing that I hunted a couple relatively unsatisfactory ones down, and then this one (and the two-three others by the same author) found me! I really loved everything about this, particularly the dream settings. 10 out of 10, would read again.

19. oh it's not real (if you don't feel it) by BeeLove | Stranger Things | Chrissy/Eddie | 31k

In which Chrissy Cunningham gets the chance she deserves to take control of her life and also maybe falls in love with a too-cute-for-his-own-good, tattooed rocker boy along the way.

Heather Says: I really fell in love with Chrissy Cunningham this year. We had for a small portion of one episode, had her and Eddie together for even less time, but you know? It woke something within me.

20. sick part of a sick thing by betts | Stranger Things | Chrissy/Eddie | 45k

“Gotta say, I didn’t have ‘sneak into Chrissy Cunningham’s room at three a.m. to help her come down from a bad high’ on my senior year bingo card. Excuse me if I’m a little in over my head here.”

Heather Says: This was actually the fic that made me fall in love with Chrissy. I read it all in the span of a day and had some incredibly severe emotional bleed-off (mind the tags), but you know what, it was a great ride. A lot of this fic colored my characterization of Chrissy. It’s sexy and sweet and takes an abrupt dip into very angsty before coming out the other side.

21. Dirtbag by betts | Stranger Things | Chrissy/Eddie | 10k

“Eddie,” Chrissy says, looking away like she’s shy, like he hasn’t dicked her down in every way imaginable a thousand times. “We haven’t seen each other in a year. Don’t you want to get caught up before we start?”

Is that how she sees the obligatory pre-fuck small talk? Getting caught up?

“Health, good. D&D, good. Band, good. That’s all I’ve got.”

Heather Says: I ALMOST didn’t read this one. The tags spooked me a little and after the last Chrissy/Eddie fic from this author, I was very concerned about more bleed off, but I’m really glad I gave this one a chance. It is sweet and yes, angsty, and the infidelity, while not to be ignored, is a lot more nuanced than I was expecting, with a couple surprises.

22. In A Year by tenddisorder | The Untamed | Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen/Xue yang | 58k

When Song Lan wants to defy the natural order of things, there's only one person he can turn to.

Heather Says: Another long one, this fic did a VERY good job at bringing the Hozier song “In a Week” to life. It was immersive and slow and dreamy in all the best ways. Again, there was angst, but it was such a perfect sleepy kind of angst that you almost don’t notice how saturated in it things are until it comes out the other side into something sweet.

23. dirtbag by spqr | The Goldfinch | Boris/Theo | 10k

y did you do that, he types out to Boris, meaning why did you kiss me and why are you reminding me about it, why aren’t we ignoring it like usual, then deletes it and slams back the rest of his drink with extreme prejudice so he doesn’t have to remember what his best friend tasted like. He tasted good. Fuck.

thx 4 the tix, he texts, frowning hard.

💋, Boris replies.

Heather Says: I read The Goldfinch in 2017ish. I watched the movie a couple months after it came out. I haven’t really thought about it since. Then spqr published this fic and it basically punched me in the throat. It is unapologetically horny and so, so incredibly good. The characterization is the stuff of legends.

24. i like my empty life (but dang!) by @wildehacked | What We Do In the Shadows | Nandor/Guillermo | 15k

“Speak to me,” Nandor says, sounding portentous. God, he has a good profile. Just, Guillermo doesn’t know how someone can have a perfect forehead, but Nandor has a perfect forehead. A really good brow bone. “Remind me you are a rational creature.”

“...I am speaking to you,” Guillermo says. “Actually, I spoke first.”

Heather Says: It was really, really hard picking only one of these WWDITS fics. But as much as I love the slice-of-life’ness that is wilde’s other WWDITS fic, this one really, really took me by the throat and shook me. Characterization obviously means a lot to me since I can’t stop talking about it, but the characters really come to life in this one.

25. Clear Blue Sky by spqr | Suits | Harvey/Mike | 17k

Whenever Mike’s allowed herself to think about Harvey and sex, she’s mostly imagined: Clooney and Lopez in Out of Sight, Bruce Wayne and Bond girls, clandestine choreographed encounters in anonymous hotel rooms, gorgeous Italian and Russian and other such intimidatingly foreign supermodels peeling him carefully out of tuxedos with price tags that would make Mike’s eyes water – neat, elegant encounters that left the women as puddles of goo and Harvey cooly unaffected, lighting a cigar on the balcony and looking appraisingly out at the city while his partners recovered.

She’s gratified to discover that she was completely, totally wrong.

Heather Says: Yet another fandom that I did not expect to make any kind of comeback since I haven’t thought about Suits since.. god, 2013? Maybe? Anyway, rule 63 where Mike has always been a girl. There is trauma. There is also some REALLY sexy moments of pure UST before you even get to the sex. It was. A DELIGHT.

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