Fic/Art Recs: Wings!

[velithya]

Hello everyone! I hope you're all recovered from guardian_wishlist because I'm coming at you this weekend with a themed rec list for wings!

These are in no particular order and are all fantastic :3

Please click through to AO3 for complete list of tags/etc for each work.

ART RECS

Title: Shen Wei with wings
Artist: c_art
Rating: G

I really love the colours! Gorgeous work.
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Title: Winged Shen Wei
Artist: d_c_m
Rating: G

I love the crisp feather details on the wings! Note in case you're at work, Shen Wei is shirtless in this <.<
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Title: weaving this life with iridescent strands
Artist: yue_ix
Rating: G
Summary: Shen Wei isn't used to kindness. When he hurts his wings, Zhao Yunlan steps in to help. Can Shen Wei's heart heal along his wings?

I love the colours and holographic effects - and Da Qing quietly in the foreground making his own fun :3
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**Note: Some of the following recs have NSFW summaries. Please browse safely!**

FIC RECS - SERIES

Series Title: Dragon Wings
Author: starandrea

Part 1: Learn the Light
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 3,341
Summary: Shen Wei hasn't been home in three days, and Zhao Yunlan wants to know why.

Part 2: Love the Light
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 4,243
Summary: Shen Wei’s new wings only glow when he's trying to hide them, which is unexpectedly helpful when he decides to practice flying at night. Zhao Yunlan is more surprised to be invited than he is by the wings themselves.

Shen Wei grows wings unexpectedly, and Zhao Yunlan has some unexpected feelings about it. I love the relationship dynamics!
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Title: Still Learning
Author: Fangirlishness
Rating: E, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 1,500
Summary: He’s pounding away into Shen Wei, who is on his hands and knees, pushing back wantonly every time Zhao Yunlan pushes forward. Sweat is dripping into his eyes, and the bed is creaking, and the rhythm is perfect. Shen Wei is making the most wonderful noises, loud in his ears even through the sound of his own gasping breaths. Zhao Yunlan bites his lip, trying to hold out just a little longer.
Suddenly Shen Wei tenses and shouts, “Wings! Wings!”

This is in the series section because it follows on from starandrea's series above. The sex is scorching! *fans self*
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Series Title: Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through hell with you
Author: shadowlancer_95
Summary: Guardian Wingfic AU
The one in which everyone has wings - except the Yashou - and somehow this changes everything.

Part 1: fly with me (I can't)
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 4,673
Summary: Across both Dixing and Haixing, if there was one thing that both cultures shared – it was the reverence of a person’s wings. Every wing was different from person to person, much like fingerprints. It was also known that a person’s wings were sacred.
Or,
That Wingfic AU I didn't realize I needed.

Part 2: scars (show me all the ones you hide)
Rating: G, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 4,518
Summary:Zhao Yunlan had fantasized about Shen Wei’s wings.
Of course he had, anyone with a pair of working eyes and some common sense would take one look at Professor Shen and wonder just what kind of wings he had. Zhao Yunlan spent much of his time alone – both in the secrecy of his office and at home – coming up with different types of wings for Shen Wei. From the moment their hands touched, Zhao Yunlan had felt as though something inside him had slotted into place, like finding the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle, except he hadn’t ever realized that he was missing anything.
Or,
The sequel to the Wingfic!AU because more angst is always a bonus.

Part 3: show me the truth (I don't believe you)
Rating: G, Shen Wei & Ye Zun
Word Count: 1,570
Summary: He remembers the feathers.
Even ten thousand years of captivity and solitude hadn’t been able to dull the image of those feathers, the memory of its shape and texture stamped brilliantly in his mind.

In this AU everyone has wings. It's packed full of emotion and the resolution in part 2 is excellent :3
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Series Title: Angels in the Windows
Author: tinypinkmouse

Part 1: A Dirty Little Backyard
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 4,472
Summary: Look, Zhao Yunlan knew what kind of tripe people believed about Exalted being these perfect beings, or whatever, but the truth was most of them looked just like any ordinary human, just with a pair of gold wings stuck to their backs. This though, this might actually be the perfect being standing right here in front of Zhao Yunlan.

Part 2: Virtue's Pay
Rating: M, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 1,186
Summary: Da Qing is worried. Da Qing also has the worst timing.

Part 3: We May Not Buy Wings
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 2,672
Summary: Of course, Shen Wei trusted him. How could he not? This man that would one day be the Kunlun he remembered.

Early series retelling in a world where some people have wings. The getting together makes me grin like a idiot, I love it!
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Series Title: Wingspan
Author: ShippersList

Part 1: Come with me and I'll make you soar
Rating: E, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 5,608
Summary: When Zhao Yunlan defeated Ye Zun with the Longevity Dial, he didn’t go blind. No, he grew wings.
And they’re driving Shen Wei crazy.

Part 2: I promise I can make you fly
Rating: E, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 13,694
Summary: Zhao Yunlan gets thrown into the past and meets the young Shen Wei. And the rest is history—or future, depending on how you look at it.
OR
…just how did Shen Wei learn all the tricks to reduce Zhao Yunlan into a desperate mess?

Part 3: I clipped my wings but the winds shall carry me on
Rating: E, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Ye Zun/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 17,499
Summary:How do you cope when two timelines collide in your mind? How do you reconcile with yourself and your brother when your whole existence is based on a lie? (Also, how can anyone enjoy sex when it’s about humiliation and pain?)
OR
Ye Zun tries to cope with trauma. And gege and gege’s human who, for some reason, wants to make sure Ye Zun knows what consent means.

Zhao Yunlan grows wings after the Longevity Dial, and Shen Wei has a lot of feelings about it <.< I love the way the POV changes with each instalment so we get insight into everyone's head!
Note: if you're not into Ye Zun, Parts 1 and 2 can stand alone.
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FIC RECS - STAND ALONE

Title: Fall
Author: frith_in_thorns
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 510
Summary: Zhao Yunlan falls. He doesn't die.

This is short but oh so good! So many emotions *wriggles*
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Title: Shrouded by the Sky
Author: Shadaras
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 3,103
Summary: Zhao Yunlan couldn’t stop thinking about the Envoy and his wings.

Take one pinch of seamlessly meshing AU into canon, two pinches of emotions, and one pinch yearning, and you get this extremely satisfying fic!
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Title: Fly not where we would
Author: UndeadRobins
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 909
Summary: Our words have wings, but fly not where we would. -- George Eliot

Also has a podfic: Fly not where we would [Podfic] read by tinypinkmouse_podfics

This sits somewhere alongside canon, just a gorgeous little slice-of-life. (Also, Zhao Yunlan in a wet T-shirt. *ahem*)
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Title: Crowing Up
Author: Shadaras
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 3,131
Summary: Zhao Yunlan has wings.
When they first manifest, this is a trial. By the time he's grown up and found his husband, they're a gift.

Shadaras wrote this for me so I am definitely biased but I love everything about this! Zhao Yunlan is half Yashou, and this fic is a great exploration of how that could have gone (and gets in some finale fix-it and post-canon bliss at the same time!) :3
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Title: [Fanfic] Clipped Wings
Author: flamingwell, Mo_on_raccoon
Podfic: [Podfic] Clipped Wings read by flamingwell
Cover Art: [Fanart] Clipped Wings by Mo_on_raccoon
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 4,015
Summary:The strange weights move along Shen Wei's back. Heart hammering in his chest, he reaches backward and cannot swallow a cry of surprise that echoes off his narrow prison.
His wings.
His wings are back.
But Ye Zun is nowhere to be found. Zhao Yunlan isn't here either.
And Shen Wei is trapped.

How many times can you say OH, SHEN WEI? This collaborative work has both emotional and physical hurt/comfort and it's exquisite :3
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Title: Changing like the Seasons
Author: Elenothar
Rating: T, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Word Count: 3,336
Summary: Sometimes, out of the corner of his eyes, Zhao Yunlan sees the colour of Professor Shen’s wings shift.

This fic was also written for me so once again I am definitely biased but I also love everything about this! This is a canon AU where everyone has wings and the worldbuilding is delicious :3
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You are more than welcome to join me in the comments with any fan works I've missed, your favourite thing about wing AUs, the shameful imbalance between the number of works with Shen Wei with wings versus Zhao Yunlan with wings, what kind of wings you think any of the Guardian characters would have, and/or just wing AU ideas in general! ♥