Vienna Waits For You

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Fanfiction
Title: Vienna Waits For You
Author(s): Pouler
Date(s): Originally posted September 2015; Completed June 2018
Length: 151865 words, 15 chapters
Genre(s): Slash, Future Fic
Fandom(s): Haikyuu
Relationship(s):
External Links: Read on Ao3

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Vienna Waits For You is an AsaNoya fanfic by Pouler. It is one of the most popular fics for the pairing, with 600 bookmarks and over 38,000 hits on Ao3 as of June 2020. Many fan artists have created art inspired by or illustrating scenes from the fic, and it routinely appears on rec lists for the pairing.

The story is told from the perspective of Nishinoya Yuu as he struggles with depression and young adulthood, and chronicles how he and Azumane Asahi get together in the midst of a dark period in Noya's life. It also incorporates (or possibly originates) several popular headcanons, such as Asahi being the youngest in his family and Noya being the oldest.

While originally rated Mature, the rating was increased to Explicit after chapter 6. Going forward, in the chapters that contained sexual content, the author provided a phrase that readers could skip to if they wished not to read those parts.

Summary

"It was the day before Nishinoya Yuu's twenty-second birthday, and he had never been more convinced that he'd reached the end of the better part of his life." A story about losing many things, finding some of them again, and realizing the rest wasn't really lost after all.

Reactions & Reviews

Many readers connected on a personal level with Noya's feelings and situation, sending in comments and messages to the author about their own experiences.

I’ve ranted about this fic to a few different people already but I’m going to rant to a few more and say that if you like asanoya & have ever felt lonely or directionless, this is the fic for you

Seriously. I was in a pretty blah place when Paula gave me this WIP to read (and I’ve read future chapters, and they are So Good Too, Even Better Than This One) and it was like curling up warm inside with a storm raging outside—like being safe. I don’t want to over-praise it because part of the joy of fic reading comes from discovering something and realizing “wow, this is really good, like really really good” but at the same time I don’t think I /can/ overpraise. In the meantime:

Asahi and Noya meeting again after a few years; Asahi having come into his own a little and Noya feeling like he’s lost something essential. Such genuine affection & attraction between them with a dose of wonderfully sweet misunderstanding in later chapters (without falling into misunderstanding-ville cliché).

“A must-read.” — me

[1]

Aside from the well developed plot, the characters are just so real. All the emotions they go through are just so understandable and valid. Usually anxiety and likewise emotions are experienced through Asahi, but I think it’s so important that Noya was the one to take them on this time. Not to say that Asahi doesn’t convey an important characterization here. They’re both not the people they were in high school, and yet their old personalities still shine though.[2]

This is one of the best things I’ve ever read - and I’m not just talking about fics, this is one of the best stories I have ever read, full stop. There is so much heart and life and love in pouler’s writing anyway, and it just spills out so wonderfully in every paragraph of this story. It was a real privilege getting to know her through this story, and watching it come to life.[3]

Painful and sweet with a happy ending. Noya goes through Some Shit and reconnects with Asahi.

Cannot overstate how painful Noya's decent and breakdown is. But raising up again in the aftermath and reforming solid meaningful relationships is such a soothing balm.[4]

Example Fanworks

Art

References