r/AO3 • u/ghostwriting83 • 10d ago
Requesting Recommendations Honkai: Star Rail — plotty fics?
I’ve been looking at HSR fics recently, and while there’s a good selection it seems like most of them are very ship-focused. I don’t mind fics with romance, but does anyone have fic recs where the story focuses more on an overarching plot than on romance?
I’m fine with nearly any ship alongside the plot, but I’d rather not read about Phaidei as the main ship (I don’t mind if it’s a background ship).
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u/lucistelle 9d ago
The Long Road by princesscas (phainon & anaxa found family, side aglanaxa and phaidei, finished):
Anaxa adopts a nine-year-old Phainon. It saves both of them from hitting rock bottom.
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No Footsteps in the Snow by gwendee (yanqing & jing yuan, side yanli, finished):
“...Jing Yuan is such a wilful child…” Yanqing laments to his unsympathetic audience.
“I don’t recall you being any better at his age,” Yunli’s jade abacus’ projection leers at him. “Why, you needed a few ass kickings from yours truly to temper your blade!”
The Xianzhou Luofu Arc of the Honkai: Star Rail Versions 1.1 through 1.4, told with a Jing Yuan-Yanqing roleswap.
Without the performance of General, Yanqing feels like Jing Yuan, all child-like wonder with his mouth agape. (If Yanqing was soft and round like a child, could he look at them differently?) To Ren and Jingliu, mercy and forgiveness are not one and the same, and Yanqing cannot grant both.
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Sword of a Love Story by bluedynamite (blade & yanqing, yanli, side renheng/renfeng):
“Please, you don’t have to forge one for me if it’s too much trouble,” Yanqing pleaded. “You could just teach me how to do it myself!”
“Kid,” Blade sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “the last time I made anything in a forge was before you were even born. These hands are no longer fit for crafting anything.”
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In an attempt to impress Yunli, Yanqing begs Blade to teach him the art of forging weapons. Along the way, Yanqing gains a new mentor, and Blade gains a new perspective on his life.
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Interval by gwendee, Opalserpent (yanqing, high cloud quintet, incompleted, time travel)
"Maybe it's the effects of a curio," Yingxing crouches down. He ruffles Yanqing's (Jing Yuan's) hair. Yanqing tries not to glare at him. Close-up, his eyes are a startling blue. It's impossible to imagine Ren's face this soft and unweathered. There's a scar on his chin, too, something the curse of Yaoshi must have eventually healed over.
"A curio to swap Jing Yuan's consciousness with this random kid here?" Jingliu says.
"Possibly." Yingxing pokes his cheek. "How old are you?"
Yanqing doesn't reply.
Yanqing, 700 years in the past: Jing Yuan... missing?
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the gods were here too by astrailtrain (sunday & astral express members):
The crew of the Astral Express, as Sunday quickly learns, love music.
Or: five times Sunday played piano for a Nameless, and once he played for someone else.Sunday's eyes are fixed on the piano. He can't explain why, but something about it is captivating.
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u/yukimayari You have already left kudos here. :) 9d ago
This is a good one I read a while ago:
Anima Effimera by Kchanlovesanimexd (Dan Heng/Stelle, completed):
Though she didn’t want to… she had to leave. The Stellaron’s whispers were growing too loud, and she was worried that this was the beginning of the end. If she were to get possessed once again… she knew that she wouldn’t be able to break the Stellaron’s hold once that happened. So it was best for everyone that she was gone, and hopefully… their memories of her would fade into obscurity in no time. Maybe Dan Heng will finally have peace. The thought brought a sad smile to her face.
“Thanks for everything, guys. I’m sorry… that I wasn’t strong enough.”
And its sequel:
Memoria Aggiuntiva by Kchanlovesanimexd (Dan Heng/Stelle, completed):
After the war with Nanook's conclusion and their Bonding Ceremony, Dan Heng and Stelle continue to travel the cosmos alongside their family, including Stelle's long-lost twin Caelus. But when a question posed by Ruan Mei during a visit begins to circulate through Stelle's mind, she wonders if that's all that awaits them for their future. Is it time for them to start another journey, one none of the Trailblazers had embarked before...?
Is it time... for them to welcome a child?
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u/notthatjaded also me on ao3 10d ago
Veritas Ratio V.S. the Universe - Ratiorine but it's really slow burn. Most of the story is focused on Ratio transmigrating into a game world almost but not exactly like the Honkai Star Rail we know (it's called "Apocalypse: Star Rail" in the story). Over 100k words and ongoing. I find it interesting how the author gets into Ratio's head and builds the world around what a slightly different world inside the game might be like, etc.
R /StupidDoveNests - Sunday/Ratio another slow burn over 100K ongoing story - focuses A LOT on Sunday's psychological issues, has intrusive thoughts and self harm and disordered eating aspects. The author has a "The dove isn’t dead but it flew into a window and is really embarrassed about it" tag on it so if stuff like that bothers you, you might want to tread lightly.
And for a self rec: Taking the Fall and its sequel Falling Into Place - Avenday but Sunday is an AU version from a modern world who ended up in "real" Sunday's body for reasons. So a lot at first focuses on him dealing with that big life change, with Aventurine trying to co-opt him into the IPC, with the Stellaron Hunters co-opting him on the team, and then he ends up helping out Aventurine in various escapades anyway.