Fanfiction: "when the light goes out" by janonny

[glymr]

Title: when the light goes out
Creator Link(s): janonny 
Canon: Drama
Type: Fanfic
Category: M/M
Length/Size: 53,537
Characters/Ships: Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei, background Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No major archive warnings apply. Some spitting of blood, lots of angst, but with a happy ending
Themes: Post-Canon, Fix-It, Canon Compliant, Comedy, Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Team Feels
Collection: N/A
Summary:

Shen Wei stumbles across a lantern in the library that is always lit, sitting wholly out of place next to a window that allows in neverending Dixing light.

-

“Shen Wei…” the lantern says, and for a moment, his tone sounds fond, almost longing. Then the lantern continues in a jovial tone, “That is a good name.”

For some reason, Shen Wei starts at that, feels an odd jolt of deja vu.

Why I'm Reccing This: I haven't been reading as much fanfic as usual because I've been having trouble focusing (I'm sure many of you can relate). So when I pulled this one off my To Be Read list yesterday, I didn't know if I'd be able to get into it, especially with the direct, matter-of-fact style of the first chapter.

Boy, was I wrong. I was completely sucked in by the story, spending most of the rest of the day reading it and finishing it this morning.

Folks, this is THE fix it you want. It is, and I don't say this lightly, a masterpiece. Completely canon-compliant, taking place many years after the ending, yet it still manages not to lose the things that we so love the show for. Every question is answered (except one, which is clearly a 'man was not meant to know' question), every concern is addressed, and the triumph of human and Dixing ingenuity is completely plausible within the context of everything we know about the world. There are many hidden knives to stumble on along the way, lots of moments of pain and sorrow and horror and tears, but nothing that can't, in the end, be overcome by cleverness, determination, and love. The spareness of the language becomes poetry as more and more of the world is revealed.

The positivity, joy, and absolutely lovely descriptions and reunions throughout are exactly what I needed right now. They might be what you needed, too.

Fanwork Link(s): https://archiveofourown.org/works/22972228/chapters/54915844

(Mods, could I get a creator: janonny tag please?

Comments

[naye]

Thank you for the rec! I haven't been reading much fic this year, and this sounds like something I don't want to miss.

[marycrawford]

SUCH a good story and so, so welcome right now, and your rec writeup was magnificent!

[clevermanka]

Well! Moving this one to the top of the TBR list, thank you!

[xparrot]

Hee I was planning on reccing this one (as soon as I got the time to actually finish reading it!) - good stuff!

[yantantether]

Thank you for reccing this! I read it over the last couple of days, interspersed with a LOT of crying and the leaving of increasingly incoherent comments 😭💖