#ALSO. check out the fic & the extra vignettes!!!!

[castelled-away]

So I was reading this cool Mergwenthur fic (https://archiveofourown.org/series/3591679), where the 3 of them have a baby girl & they call her YGRAINE 🥹, which just REEKS of Arthur’s sappyness over his own dead mother.

And I would just like to say that, yes, Arthur would totally name his daughter after his mother but if he had had a son, Arthur Pendragon would never EVER call his baby boy Uther after his shitty shitty father. Just so you know. He would not fucking do that.

Also I’d imagine Gwen and/or AT LEAST Merlin (hello??!?) to have several objections against that decision.

[jadeleechsupportgroup]

Laundry Day

floyd and jade learn how not to do laundry.

cw: none

also on ao3

note: this is a vignette from a collection for a full-length fic, but there are no spoilers in it and I like it as its own thing.

Floyd tapped the window of the washing machine with a suspicious expression. “Are you sure we’re doing this right?”

Jade was reading the instructions on the bottle of detergent. “I am mostly sure,” he replied. “I measured everything carefully.”

“Hmmm.” Floyd looked and sounded skeptical. “Are you sure we put enough bleach?”

“Again, mostly sure,” Jade replied. He hummed and set the detergent down. “I suppose we shall find out in due time.”

“Ehh, I don’t know about this thing.” Floyd was treating the washer as if it had challenged him to a staring contest.

Jade understood his skepticism to a point. Much to his personal embarrassment, they had never actually done laundry since moving ashore. At school the staff had handled it. But it could not be terribly difficult if most humans managed it on a regular basis.

What he found particularly fascinating was the way stains worked. A stain was all but impossible underwater, but they interacted with different fabrics in unpredictable ways. Blood, for example, needed to be rinsed in cold water immediately if there were any hope of eliminating it. Dirt and mud were more easily dislodged, while any sort of oil-based substance was much more difficult. He was already devising all kinds of experiments that would answer his questions.

“It will never dry anything if you continue opening the door,” Jade said when Floyd checked the contents of the dryer for the tenth time in almost as many minutes.

“It’s taking so looooong.” Floyd threw himself down on the floor with his limbs splayed out like a starfish. “I demand entertainment.”

“I have not connected the TV and such yet,” Jade answered, which elicited another groan of potentially fatal boredom from his twin. “Check the games cupboard.”

That certainly perked him up. Floyd got to his feet and went to rummage through their collection. He returned with Battleship and a glowing grin.

Jade cleared a space on the floor. Moving was an exhausting process, and he was beginning to think furniture was more trouble than it was worth. They set up the game, each of them trying - and failing - to fold their excessively long legs into a comfortable seating position. Floyd gave up and stretched out on his stomach, propped up on his elbows. Jade felt awkward doing the same and settled for keeping his legs off to the side and leaning on one hip.

“E5.”

“Miss.”

Jade placed a white peg on his side.

“Hmm…C4.”

Jade blinked. “Hit,” he replied and added the red peg to the bow of his destroyer. His gaze flicked upward to meet his brother’s with a slight edge.

Floyd giggled. “It’s your favorite stable plastic explosive.”

Jade sighed. “Am I so transparent?”

“Yes. C5.”

Another hit. Jade decided he really must learn to be more surreptitious about his preferences.

Floyd had decimated Jade’s fleet and was about to deal the final blow when there was a knock at the door. Jade went to answer it, grateful for the opportunity to stretch his legs.

“Hello, Azul.”

Azul strode in. “Greetings.” He scanned the mess of the apartment with barely-concealed dismay. “How are things going?”

“We’re playing Battleship!” Floyd cried from his place on the floor. Then the dryer alarm sounded to announce that it was finished, so he rolled to his feet and went to open it. He removed an armload of clothes and carried them into the bedroom. There was a soft whoosh as he tossed everything on the mattress. Then he returned to move the next load from the washer to the dryer. “Play with us!”

Azul shut his eyes for an extra-long blink and willed himself not to react. “You should fold or hang up clothing immediately after removing it from the dryer,” he said flatly. “Otherwise it will be wrinkled.”

“Laterrrr,” Floyd whined.

“And Battleship is only a two-player game,” Azul continued as he removed his shoes to leave them by the door.

“Uhh, yeah, maybe if you don’t have six copies of it.” Floyd rolled his eyes and went to collect the other five.

Azul frowned at Jade. “Why?”

Jade shrugged. “Object permanence.”

Floyd cleared out their current game and swiftly assembled the playing field so that each of them had two boards. He took his spot on the floor again and gazed up at the others eagerly. “Come onnn.”

Jade gave a tiny, helpless shake of his head and went to join him. Azul followed with tangible reluctance.

“I offered to help you organize things,” he said tartly. “I have a schedule, you know.”

“Should’ve written a contract,” Floyd giggled. “Now you have no choice but to have fun.”

Azul resigned himself to it. He had an easier time sitting with his legs crossed on the floor than Jade, who kept changing his position every few minutes in a futile attempt at comfort.

Jade looked around at the state of their new apartment while Floyd explained his ludicrously complicated house rules for Mega Battleship. It seemed impossible for them to own so many things. When he last spoke to their mother, she assured him that once they had everything put away, it would ease his anxieties. He did not like for things to be out of place. It would be too easy for someone to cover their tracks if they had broken in, if they were lying in wait for him-

Jade shook the thought out of his head with a twitch and reached his arm across to rub his other shoulder. It did not truly hurt anymore, but the thought continued to pester him.

“H10,” said Azul.

“Miss,” said Jade, glad that he had managed to get his thoughts back on track before either of them noticed. “D9.”

“Miss!” Floyd grinned. “J8.”

Jade sighed. “Hit. You have eliminated my submarine.”

“Knew it!”

“I mean this in the most polite way possible,” said Azul, “but how the hell are you so good at this game?”

Floyd shrugged. “I’m not. You two are just so obvious.”

They played through two rounds of it, then took a break to do some actual work. Azul and Jade set to patiently organizing things, putting things away, and hanging up the clothes Floyd had so eloquently discarded on the mattress. It was sitting directly on the floor, and Jade was seriously considering leaving it there, even though Floyd had threatened to build a tent over it and pretend they were camping every night.

“When will your furniture arrive?” Azul asked after a while.

Jade was spending a little too much time flattening the collars and lapels of every shirt and coat in the closet. “We have not purchased any yet,” he said. “I have not found anything to my liking.”

“Hmm,” Azul said. “And Floyd?”

“He finds everything to his liking.” Jade imagined that a room designed by Floyd with an unlimited budget would look patently ridiculous. In the same trip to a furniture store, Floyd had decided he wanted a bean bag chair, an inflatable couch, and a hot tub that would have cost several thousand dollars. (“In the bedroom?” “Uh, duh? Where else?”)

Jade was surprised to sense Azul coming suddenly toward him, leaving enough space for his comfort, save a hand reaching out to rest on his shoulder. He turned away from his anxious fingers, making no effort to hide his distress. There was no point in trying to conceal anything around Azul; his senses were as finely tuned as the eels’, and that aside, Jade trusted him.

“It’s alright,” Azul said simply. “I ensured those responsible were dealt with.” His eyes gleamed, and his jaw was firmly set. “Comprehensively.”

“Of course.” Jade let his gaze drop to the floor of the closet, where Floyd’s shoe collection was spilling over onto his side. “I know that, logically, the odds are quite low that it would happen again.”

Azul took hold of the hand that was once again rubbing his shoulder. Jade had not even realized he was doing it again. “It is also logical to feel lingering effects, Jade.”

Jade closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath that turned into a sigh.

“Food’s here,” Floyd yelled from the living room.

Jade hung up one more shirt before following Azul to the kitchen. They had little choice but to eat at the counter, but Floyd merrily unpacked the boxes of sushi and seafood and spread them out buffet-style. He pushed the box of sashimi in Jade’s direction and hoarded the spicy tuna rolls for himself. Azul and Jade picked at various items with their chopsticks since apparently they had not purchased any plates yet, either.

Floyd opened the next box and froze. “Uhh, who ordered this?”

Azul and Jade peeked at the contents. “Ah, that’s mine,” said Azul.

Floyd and Jade just stared at him as he separated a piece of grilled and glazed eel meat from the others and lifted it to his mouth. He seemed to enjoy it a little too much.

“What?” he asked with feigned innocence. “It’s good.”

Floyd made sure to stare at Azul with his most unhinged expression as he sucked down an entire octopus arm between the points of his teeth like a second tongue. “Serves you right,” Floyd said when Azul’s mouth twitched. “That could’ve been my grandmother. At least your fricken arms grow back.” Floyd paused, as if silently wondering whether this would still work in Azul’s human form.

“Don’t get any bright ideas,” Azul said, pointing the chopsticks at him.

The dryer alarm went off again. Floyd all but leapt up to go open it. When Jade looked at him curiously, Floyd just grinned. “It’s warm and soft,” he explained. When he opened the door, several strips of what looked like paper fluttered out of it with a puff of dryer lint. “Whoops.”

Azul thought nothing of it at first, but his attention snagged on something. They couldn’t have been receipts. Receipts that went through a wash-and-dry cycle turned into little annoying balls of wadded-up paper that shredded all over the place. “Floyd,” he said with intensifying alarm, “what is that?”

“Uh, my favorite blankie and pillowcases. Also the money.”

Azul all but choked. “Excuse me?”

Floyd shrugged. “I washed it. No big deal. You’re welcome.”

Azul tripped over his own feet as he staggered to the dryer. He snatched up the pieces of material and examined them with growing horror. “Floyd,” he said again, “what did you do?”

Now it was Floyd’s turn to look at him like he was crazy. “Did you forget already? Just did what you asked.”

The bleached, worthless bills slipped from Azul’s quavering hands.

“Are you alright, Azul?” Jade asked from a safe distance.

Floyd, ignoring the unraveling of Azul’s temperament, removed the rest of the bundle from the dryer and walked it to the bedroom, leaving a trail of shattered dreams fluttering to the floor behind him. “I don’t know what you’re upset about,” he said indignantly. “You’re the one who said to launder the money.”

Jade was certain Azul was about to faint, if he did not explode first. His eyes bulged behind his glasses, and his voice came out in a soft, raspy, desperate scrape against his throat. “That is not what I meant.”

[crepesuzette2023]

As the most infamous fic reccomender do you have anything which will get me out of this depressive pit I've recently fallen into? Something like 'I need you darlin' where its like a well-rounded full story of them falling for each other.

As someone who's familiar with "the long, dark tea-time of the soul," I'll do my best!

The I Need You Darlin' verse (@beatlessideblog) is definitely my go-to as well when I'm stranded on the emotional equivalent of wherever that was where they filmed The Terror, so we share that love. :-)

Many of my comfort reads are on the shorter side: smutty or humorous one shots, but your ask for well rounded stories made me think of these longer fics, too. Hopefully some of these spark joy:

Weddings (@ohjohnnysblog). John and Paul get married in their hearts in Paris '61, and before the law in 2014. They go through many ups and downs, but it all ends well.

I also enjoy 5 Thomas Lane (@chut-je-dors): Modern AU in which John and Paul are married dads. This one is more of a collection of long, one-shot chapters set in the same world rather than a fic with an overarching plot, so perfect for coming back to. The extra Phone Sex is a hot and funny. And check out this art!

A story I keep thinking about is Whatever Fate Decrees (@dailyhowl). John and Paul are an artist and musician, respectively, but still find each other. Lots and lots of pining, but a happy ending, I promise...and Brian lives! <3

Beautiful and so hot my dignity doesn't stand a chance: always, no sometimes (@stonedlennon). Private moments with John and Paul during the lead-up to Sgt. Pepper's.

Suffer Fools Gladly (@aquarianshift): John and Paul through the Beatles years. Four times they almost kissed, and one time they did. One of my favorite endings: zucchini-bread-bearing Lesbians ex machina!

Can You Still Love Me Tomorrow (@imaginebeatles). It's a sweet, romantic Christmas story, but lovely in any season. Modern/fake dating AU. Note the 'slutty!Paul' tag.

And here is a story-in-miniatures: Three lovely vignettes of young J&P through Mike McCartney's eyes, by thinkpink20: Sunday Morning, Boys, Interrupted, and Sleepless in Wales. Bonus: The Photograph, in which John gets to thinking after seeing one of Mike's portraits of Paul.

This is on the short side, but so comforting: Paul and John take a bath in Hamburg! (after bombardment, sonya, by inherownwrite)

Other comfort-/'satisfying my urgent need to laugh my ass off'- stories:

You Might Well Arsk (snugglesweaters). Barista John and student Paul strike up an email correspondence. One thing leads to the next...

Paul's Got John's Thigh, And He's Not Letting Go! (@waveofahand). Press conference shenanigans.

Fixing A Hole: Beatles Songs Scientifically Sorted In Order Of Gayness (@chut-je-dors, @imaginebeatles). Just gimme some truth.

[amyisherenowitsokay]

Hey mutual *wink*

Anywho so I’m a little hermit and I only read the same like 9 fics over and over again and I was re-reading What We Become and I was like what the hell happened to the Professor? Like did he try to figure out how to fix himself or did he embrace it? Like what happened to my boy Professor Membrane and also their MOM?!

(If you’d prefer to leave this to the audiences imagination and not answer then it’s chill)

Also I ADORED how you wrote that fic with vignettes :0

Have the bestest day, thank youuu!!

What We Become (link for reference; warning for new readers that it's a doozy). I gotta put that on ao3 eventually, huh? I think if I do though I'll split it into quarters. Thoughts for another time.

B r u h because tell me why I wasn’t already following you??? I was so confused when tumblr recommended me your blog and I was like, uh, yeah, I know, I follow them already??? But apparently not. I have rectified this crime post-haste.

Lmao because what a vibe, I do the exact same shit. I love burning through new stories but I also my precious handful. It’s such a comfort to have a story in your back pocket that you already know you like, ready and waiting for you whenever.

SO, Professor Membrane eventually learned to live and adapt. I think I touched on it briefly but he eventually is into the changes that the serum cause in his body. Not sleeping or eating as much is great, because it leaves more room for SCIENCE!™️ to happen.

I don’t think his relationship with Zim could ever return to what it was pre-serum. Membrane facing the reality that his own neglect led to a literal sci-fi monster creeping into his life—and that of his kids—long enough to for him to trust him so blindly is understandably traumatic. Zim could’ve killed him on purpose, on accident, on a whim, etc. A boy he treated like a son was actually a creature who deeply betrayed all of them, even if he didn’t mean to. That’s something you can maybe forgive, but never forget. So Membrane gets to live forever, yayay, and learns to adapt to his new body. But there’s a boundary between he and Zim that never really goes away completely.

There is however also a new bond, eventually, much longer down the line. As ill-executed as it was, Membrane would also eventually recognize that Zim acted out of love, not cruelty. He wanted his loved ones to live forever, and THEIR loved ones to live forever. Zim also does everything in his power to make the transition as comfortable for them as possible. Check-ups, vitals, the occasional medicinal or technological remedy to any and all hiccups that have or might happen. The effort is recognized.

Mama Membrane is actually not someone I thought about in the “yay everyone gets to live forever” category, but oooh what an interesting question.

If we recall, Zim traded the Tallest for a limited amount of serum. Three precious vials. But he bartered the serum, not the recipe. Three was all he got.

I like to think he considered Mama Membrane, but only got so much leeway with the Tallest. He was already asking for a lot. Something had to give. He had to prioritize.

It would be a hard pill for all of the Membranes to swallow that she wasn’t included in the bargain. It'd also be further complicated by the fact that even if they did have extra serums, they wouldn't be able to ask her consent. Given how disastrously sudden-immortality had on a mentally stable, highly rational man like Membrane, the reality of the situation would be simply that, vial or no vial, Dr. Mrs. Membrane wouldn't have been able to join them in immortality. It'd probably be incredibly painful, even with the rationalization that, immortality or no, they would've one day had to face her eventual passing anyways. It'd just emphasized how unfair her sickness was, and how much it'd robbed from all of them. Just super unfun and really shitty in general.

I think it might motivate them to start seeing her more, if and when she could tolerate it. Check in on her more frequently, and deal with their own traumas about what seeing her awoke inside them. Maybe everyone gets the therapy they need to face the living ghost they let the very real, unwell person their mother/wife was. Maybe immortality might make them better appreciate the finite, and be more willing to face hard things when they knew they only had so long to do so.

[sky-squido]

A/J for to isolate? (very excited for the finale btw)

A: How did you come up with the title to To Isolate?

okay so when i originally reblogged the fanfic ask meme, these are the tags i almost added and then didn't:

i did end up asking her anyway and she told me but i've already forgotten again, so there must not be a particularly interesting story behind it. i think we just played around with a couple of things and that was what we liked best. i mean, we had no idea it would get so huge, so we didn't put a ton of thought into it, and it's a perfectly serviceable and not-inaccurate title. yeah, there's not much more to it than that, i don't think

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to To Isolate.

HA!! NOW THAT TO ISOLATE IS ACTUALLY DONE I CAN MEME ON THE FINALE! i actually have TONS of silly ideas for post-fic funtimes because it has a happy ending and everything and i just really love the continuity it sets up. there's a strong chance i'll end up writing some of them out and putting them in their own fic that i group into a series with to isolate itself. i'll bullet some of my favorites below the cut for spoiler-proofing.

but those are less alternate endings and more extensions/deleted scenes/post-credits-scenes. most actual alternate ending possibilities for to isolate are pretty dark, but one of my favorite meme alternate ending ideas is one where Warriors keeps a journal in chapter one and for some reason?? Dink just Doesn't Notice so Wars wakes up on Day Four and goes "hey guys this is really weird" and everyone's like "YEAH that is pretty funky" and they all just talk about it. it would be funny to say that the whole plot just never happens, but that's not necessarily the case—dink still has his scheme, and i'm not fully sure what all the ramifications of them finding out this early on would be. he might just be like OH FRICK I FORGOT ABOUT THE BOOK and then wipes their memories and burns the journal. maybe that IS canon and sky just never knew~ oooooooooooooooh~ (it's not dw—if it were, wars woulda brought it up in ch. 10)

OH HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN! THERE IS AN ALTERNATE ENDING!!! POLTEA MADE ONE and it's beautiful y'all should check it out here

OKAY SILLY FUNTIMES POST-CANON NONSENSE IDEAS (SPOILER WARNING FOR LITERALLY THE ENTIRE FIC)

consider yourself warned

((lemme know which of these y'all are most interested in and if i ever get around to writing little these vignettes, i'll prioritize those))

four has been looking for the master sword for a while, Splitting for a time to cover more ground, and he hasn't found it anywhere. he's starting to plan out a long-term solution but also he's still looking. dot keeps telling him to stop, but he really wants to make extra super bonus sure he didn't just miss it by accident. as he's walking in the mountains, the sword drops out of the sky, bonks him on the head (with the hilt, but that's not much better than the blade cuz it's still Hot As Heck from ch. 7) and then tumbles down a cliff into the woods. he's simultaneously relieved and very annoyed, but he climbs down after it anyway to find it stabbed, perfectly vertically, into a pristine clearing, rays of golden sunlight spilling over it (wait where is that even coming from it's like midnight and also overcast) because the Master Sword is actually a Massive Diva and the laws of nature will bend to facilitate this

legend getting a loftwing!! he is a knight of skyloft, after all. i like the idea of his loftwing being really grumpy and kind of traumatized because it lost its rider, and no one's been able to even get close to it without getting bitten at, which is why it's up for grabs for someone of legend's age, but they understand each other really well and bond a lot, even if they can't "feel" each other like sky and his loftwing can, since they missed the critical period for that.

oh yeah it's canon that the wedding rings that sky and sun wear are gifts from legend—sky's got the green ring because a) green symbolizes courage in zelda and b) it's a balance of offensive and defensive boosts and mr. i-lost-the-use-of-my-sword-hand could use the help in both departments. zelda has the life ring L-2 which is pretty and heart-shaped but also regenerates health over time because sky and legend care about her lots and want her to stay safe <3

okay poltea and i high-key sidelined groose because neither of us can take him seriously because he's too much of a meme (even though i've played sksw twice now and agree wholeheartedly that endgame groose is a massive lad) and also like... he really wasn't relevant to the fic and there was honestly no point in fleshing him out or anything. however, this fun vignette would play with the HEY WHO'S THIS LEGEND GUY AND HOW'D HE STEAL MY BESTIE SO FAST?! element of the dynamic where sky's in a cheesy YA love triangle but of friendship sfdkgjhsldfgkjsdf. groose and legend would both slip slightly into their respective Jerk Modes to try and sus the other out, but then they'd bond and become bros and sky would bemoan the mistake he made in unleashing those two upon the world. they also fight over which of them will be sky's kid's favorite uncle <3 also legend's aroace in this fic because i said so so he just vibes with the lads. it's probably for the bet if he doesn't set up a bloodline in his own past anyway fdjhgfkgfjfd

OKAY SO REMEMBER THE LINE ABOUT PARADOXES AND CRAP and how sun kind of had a sense for them and would stop legend from causing any so he could safely inhabit the past? in this idea, like... the weirdest stuff sets off the Paradox Tinglies and Legend will be about to take a sip of juice and then sun bursts into the room and smacks it out of his hand and goes NO! and legend's just like O_O. he's honestly not sure if she's just screwing with him or not but he's too grateful to be here to question it

SKY AND SUN'S BABY AND LEGEND BEING A CHAOTIC UNCLE. i've never actively sought out fics in the vein of "we've just handed your favorite character an infant, what will they do now?" and i don't spend nearly enough time around children that small to be able to write any pre-school age particularly well, but just because it's these dorks specifically, i'm thinking about it <3

OKAY SO SKY AND LEGEND ARE THE FIRST IN THE TIMELINE NOW, RIGHT? get this—they make time capsules. they write letters to all the dudes, just for kicks, and they're kinda curious to see if any of them will actually reach their intended recipients, even if they'll probably never actually know until their spirits all meet up in the afterlife. not sure what they'll do about the timeline split and also convergence apparently though sfgljhsdgksdfh

hyrule just obliterating the ganon cult. like, we all know it happens, it's fully canon, but that doesn't mean i don't want to see it happen anyway. this is more likely to be art than fic, but i still wanna see it anyway because hyrule should be allowed to go feral more often i think

remember that bit where legend tells wars to not do too good of a job fixing space and time so they can all hang out again? yeah like five to ten years in, the portals all crack open again and the lads get to have like tea and biscuits and a nice chat or whatever. it would be purely crack and For The Memes because the boys all (largely) going back to their respective eras at the end was a Choice Made For Reasons, but also post-LU reunions are fun and this is a post-LU that i can really play around in because i actually know what it looks like and how we got there

okay that's most of them but there's definitely more kicking around my brain that i'm not thinking of right now. i just love the lads okay i gave them their happy ending and now i just wanna play around with it because it's fun :3

thank you for this ask and apologies for the Many Months delay, so i hope this answer manages to make its way to you! take care!!

[cosmi-trashbin]

Ideas for mp100 Stuff I'd Love to See:

-Teru has a huge crush on Mob and he's ready to confess. He asks Reigen for advice and it leads to the two reveling in their equally horrible fashion sense and Reigen being a supportive father/uncle figure.

-Ritsu has to find a chaperone for the school dance. Reigen volunteers and tries his damndest to use this as an opportunity to connect better with his student's brother. It'd pretty much be an excuse for more 'Ritsu hates Reigen' comedy or something more meaningful. Mileage may vary.

-Reigen meets a new employee at the upstairs cafe and hits it off with them. They have a mutual interest in B movies. Reigen makes a new friend and starts developing a healthy social life outside of work.

-A fic following Serizawa's school life and detailing outings with friends, introducing said friends, and focusing on how he's come out of his shell.

-Serizawa still has outings and social events with the Super 5 and possibly some of the Scars. Hijinks ensue.

-Reigen and Shinra become drinking buddies. They go out every other Saturday. One night, Shimazaki joins them and becomes an unexpected new part of the group. There's also details about where Shimazaki works, if he has a partner, etc. Extra points if Dimple and the security guard go out with the group, too.

-I love the idea of Dimple befriending and regularly checking in on the security guard he possessed. It'd be vignettes chronicling how their weird friendship starts and where it goes.

-I'd love to see the events of mp100 as a whole told from Tsubomi's perspective. Preferably with an A plot that focuses on her daily life, family, and some Big Thing she's working on or towards.

-Give Tome a girlfriend. It'd be fun to see how she goes about going on a date with someone she's interested in like that.

-I saw a comic about Reigen's hypothetical ex-girlfriend going 'wtf' after seeing him on TV. Please give me a fanfic about this ex-girlfriend! It follows her reminiscing, whether she still keeps in touch, what her life is like currently, and her thoughts on Reigen period. (Ex-boyfriend or general former partner are great, too).

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Do you know any good movie aus? Not as in they're actors, but fics written based on movie plots?

Hey Nonny!!

OHHHH! This is fantastic! Because I actually have ANOTHER ask looking for crossovers too, and the list is HUGE. So I’ve used this opportunity to split the list up into two. This one here is for my MFL list, and if anyone has any of their own to suggest, please add them to this list! 

So, check out Below!

CROSSOVERS and FUSIONS (Feb 2021) Pt. 1.5 [FICS TO READ]

See Also:

Fairy Tales and Fantasy

TV, Movies, and Books AU (Fantasy Pt. 2)

Wonderful Life AU

Sherlock / Hannibal Crossovers?

Science Fiction / Fantasy

Faes / Faeries

Disney-esque Fics

Moulin Rouge AU

Crossovers and Fusions Pt 1

Two More Miracles by PatPrecieux (T, 221 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Angst With Happy Ending, 221B Ficlet, Temporary Character Death) – Tragedy and miracles go hand in hand.

Here, Though the World Explode, These Two Survive by TheTyger (G, 1,194 w., 2 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Post-TRF, Ineffable Husbands, Fluff, Reunion, Rings, Hurt/Comfort) – Tomorrow, it would be three years from that day. Three years with no rude text messages, no experiments being conducted while London slept, no body parts in the fridge. And John still sometimes caught himself buying extra milk and looking for cases and making two coffees.

Just the Book by Carenejeans (G, 1,495 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Humour, Aziraphale’s Bookshop) – John's looking for a book. It's Aziraphale's bookshop, but Crowley provides customer service.

The Case of the Missing.... by Beth H (G, 2,601 w., 1 Ch. || Sherlock Crossover || Case Fic) – Crowley has gone missing, and Aziraphale hasn't a clue how to go about finding him. Luckily, help comes from above...or rather, from the side.

The Curious Case of the Missing Antichrist by Aedemiel (G, 2,865 w., 1 Ch. || Sherlock Crossover || Vignette, Case Fic, Desperation, Bad Ideas) – What if Aziraphale and Crowley had consulted the great consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, about finding Adam Young?

Eye of the Storm by Calais_Reno (G, 2,996 w., 1 Ch. || The Day After Tomorrow AU || Survival, Cold Weather, Boy Scout John, No Major Character Death) – Weather has become the fifth horseman of the apocalypse.

Nice and Accurate Deductions by htebazytook (T, 3,179 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Romance, Humour, Fluff) – Sherlock drags John to a certain bookshop in Soho.

Snake In The Flat by PatPrecieux (T, 3,293 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Magical Realism, Fluff, Humour, Ineffable Husbands) – There can be a snake in the grass, snakes on a plane and now there's a snake in the flat.

The Picture of Sherlock Holmes by CarmillaCarmine (M, 3,306 w., 1 Ch. || Victorian Dorian Gray AU || Angst, Paris, London, Travel, Painting, Major Character Death, Opera, Captain John, First Meetings) – Sherlock Holmes, a rich and frivolous man, after a lifetime of debauchery finally falls in love. His heart chooses Captain Watson.

The Old Town by a_different_equation (T, 3,573 w., 1 Ch. || Hans Christian Anderson Fusion || Magical Realism, Christmas, Fairy Tale Elements, Love Stories, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Museums, Sweet Sherlock) – Once upon a time there were two boys. This is the story how once upon December, they found the missing Christmas Spirit, true love and new beginnings. A Queer fairytale for all seasons.

Holmes vs. Harkness by coinin (T, 3,960 w., 1 Ch. || Torchwood / HHGTTG Fusion || Crack, Mystrade) – In which Captain Jack gets in a little over his head and is introduced to the myriad joys of bureaucracy, Mycroft is smug, the Guide offers up some helpful advice, John Watson doesn't share, and, in a strange turn of events, Jack doesn't get laid even once.

Perfect by TrufflesTheMushroom (T, 3,984 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || The Apocalypse) – Crowley and Aziraphale have made a huge mistake. It's the end of the world and it all boils down to one fight. Crowley has picked John Watson. Aziraphale has picked Sherlock Holmes.

Limbo by Calais_Reno (T, 4,070 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Waiting Rooms, Ineffable Bureaucracy, Paperwork, Explosions, Apocalypse, Second Chances, Declarations of Love, Nobody Dies) – Ordinarily Sherlock would be quite impatient by now with all this pointless waiting (for what?), but at the moment he feels as if he has all the time in the world.

The Baker Street Flat by Anonymous (PG-13, 5,000-20,000 w., 7 Parts || Lake House Crossover || Angst, Romance, LIVEJOURNAL Comments Fic) – John’s pretty sure it’s a sign of mental imbalance — of which he has been all too frequently accused of late — that he is actually entertaining the possibility that he is communicating with a total stranger two years in the future via the magic mail slot on the door of his new flat. He certainly won’t be mentioning this at next week’s session. On his way out the door to interview for a part-time position at a local surgery, another meeting where he has no intention of mentioning his most recent hobby, he drops a fairly sarcastic note: If you’re really from 2012, is the world about to end?

In the Shadows by Laur (M, 5,029 w., 1 Ch. || Loose Shutter Island Fusion || Disturbing Imagery, Psychological, Angst, Major Character Death, Grief/Trauma) – Do you believe in ghosts? When Sherlock’s eyes snap to him they are anguished.

come be my april fool by a_different_equation (M, 6,473 w., 1 Ch. || Great British Bake Off AU || Writer!Sherlock, Est. Rel., Fluff / Humour, Baking, Marriage Proposal, Military Kink, Domestics, POV John, Romance, Sherlock Wears Glasses, Sweet Sherlock, Bookstores, Queer Themes) – After leaving ‘The Great British Bake Off’, Sue Perkins has written a book about Victorian baking. Tonight, on April 1st, she is reading at ‘The Bard’, Mike Stamford’s bookstore in central London. It is the exact same spot where John Watson, battered and bruised, had learned all about his magnificent bastard – one Mr. Sherlock Holmes, famous gay crime fiction writer – for the first time. A story about found family, DRAMAtical lesbians, how to react when your boyfriend has a military kink but he doesn't want to act on it, oh, and popping the question. Sequel to 'i read your book, you magnificent bastard'. Part 2 of Magnificent Bastard!AU

The Babadook by CatieBrie (T, 6,886 w., 1 Ch. || Babadook Fusion || Post-TRF, Horror, Demonic Possession, Violence, Halloween, Grief, Angst with Happy Ending) – “A children’s book,” John mutters as he flips it open. The pages are scrawled with beautiful charcoal lines and thick black ink. The cover, bright red, edges the open pages and something tugs at the back of John’s brain. It’s a familiar feeling, black and tarrish and thick in his thoughts. He shakes it off and picks the book up off his bed, turning so that he can sit on the edge and spread the book out across his knees. If it’s in a word or it’s in a look, you can’t get rid of the Babadook. He turns the page, ignoring the pressure building beneath his chest. There’s a closet on one page; paper doors meant to be opened by the reader flutter as John reads the text on the other page.

What To Do With An Atypical Animal Within by HarveyDangerfield  & swimsalot (E, 7,804 w. || Harry Potter AU || Animagus, Porn With A Little Plot, Tail Porn) – Sherlock is determined to be an animagus. But what happens when it isn't a fox or a horse or a dog he's turning into?

The Lonely by elwinglyre (E, 7,888 w., 1 Ch. || Twilight Zone AU || Major Character Death, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Firsts, Sad Ending) – Witness if you will a distant planet with a dungeon made of desert sand and mountain stone. This planet holds one inmate, a man wrongly accused, serving a life sentence. His only solace, his notebook and the thought of the day when the supply ship brings him a pardon. Instead, salvation comes to John Watson in a large box and a visitor from The Twilight Zone.

Friend by esama (G, 7,909 w., 1 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || Character Death, Kid Fic) – Sherlock finds the skull when he's five.

Spell It Out by prettysailorsoldier (M, 8,344 w., 1 Ch. || Harry Potter Fusion || Teenlock, Christmas, Love Potion/Spell, Pining Sherlock) – Remaining at Hogwarts over break has become something of a tradition for Sherlock and John, staying behind together ever since their very first year, but, when Irene throws a gift of doctored coconut ice into the mix, plans quickly change, even if John doesn't. Part 6 of 25 Days of Johnlock

The Long Goodbye by elbereth (M, 8,367 w., 1 Ch. || Time Traveller’s Wife AU || Doomed Timelines, Time Travel) – Sherlock travels in time. The ending is known even before they meet, yet they choose to live this love. One of them knows the past, one of them knows the future, yet their deepest secret is safe from each other. Limited time, but unlimited love.

Sugar & Spice by Ttime42 (T, 8,476 w., 1 Ch. || Great British Bake Off AU || First Kiss, Baking) – Sherlock Holmes and John Watson compete on The Great British Bake Off.

Pygmalion by ancientreader (T, 9,136 w., 2, Ch. || Pygmalion AU || Magical Realism) – The spell to turn a statue into an animate being has been illegal in the UK for a hundred and seventy years when the -- body? -- is found on Hampstead Heath. It changes everything.

Am I the Current (Tiger) King of England? by Dee_Laundry (T, 9,360 w., 1 Ch. || Tiger King Fusion || Post-S4, Dreams, Friendship, John’s Sexuality, Sherlock’s Sexuality, Quarantine/CoVID-19, Past Character Death, Mentions of Violence, Mentions of Dom/Sub, First Kiss) – “I had the weirdest dream last night,” John said. Seven times.

I Could Try by Arcwin (T, 9,583 w., 5 Ch. || Greek Mythology Crossover || Post-TRF, Orpheus and Eurydice Myth, POV John, Pining John, BAMF John, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Horror, Angst with Happy Ending) – John is grieving Sherlock's death post Reichenbach until one day, he sees the violin case, and something inside him tells him to pick it up. Crossover between BBC Sherlock and the Greek tragedy Orpehus and Eurydice, wherein Eurydice is killed for her beauty and taken to the Underworld. Orpheus, being the son of Apollo (the God of Music and Medicine) travels to the Underworld to convince (via playing his lyre) Hades and Persephone to let Eurydice go. Orpheus then must travel with Eurydice behind him, not looking back, until they exit to the land of the living.

Puzzlebox by  standbygo (E, 9,867 w., 5 Ch. || Hellraiser Fusion || True Love, Supernatural Elements, Psychological Horror, First Kiss, Post S2, Angst with Happy Ending) – A love story with horror. A horror story with a happy ending.

you are a paradigm by 1electricpirate (M, 10,013 w. || Harry Potter AU || Wizard!John / Muggle!Sherlock, Magic) – Sometimes, only sometimes, when Sherlock is very far away and absolutely guaranteed not to return for at least three hours, John sits on the sofa and lets the tea make itself. In which John is (reluctantly) a wizard, Mycroft is (apparently) omniscient, and Sherlock is (surprisingly) oblivious. Part 1 of More Things Than Are Dreamt Of

Already Gone by johnwatso (M, 10,078 w., 8 Ch. || Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Fusion || Non-Linear Narrative, Memory Loss, Ambiguous / Open Ending) – Dear Mr Greg Lestrade,  Sherlock Holmes has had John Watson erased from his memory. Please never mention their relationship to him again. Thank you, Lacuna Inc.

A Real Deal by toyhto (M, 10,339 w., 1 Ch. || Black Mirror-Inspired ||  Science Fiction, Post-TRF, Canon Divergence) –  Please be real, he thought and pulled Sherlock closer.

You Don't Need Wings to Fly by Laiquilasse (T, 11,326 w., 11 Ch. || Wonderful Life AU || Bullying, Angels, Suicidal Ideation, Christmas) – John, an angel, is sent from Heaven to help a desperate Sherlock Holmes by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.

Backup Copies by etothepii (M, 13,332 w., 3 Ch. || Dollhouse Crossover || Major Character Death) – When John dies, Sherlock doesn't know what to do. But Mycroft does.

Silent Night by khorazir (M, 15,060 w., 1 Ch. || Codebreaker / WWII / Imitation Game-Inspired AU || Care Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Dev. Rel., Reunion, PTSD John, Christmas) – It’s Christmas Eve 1944, and Sherlock Holmes has received his most precious gift already: after a long, dangerous deployment, Surgeon Captain John Watson of the Royal Navy has unexpectedly returned from the front. As if this weren’t enough, there’s a case. Both events make for a night full of promise, excitement, and the difficult task of getting reacquainted with the man Sherlock hasn’t seen in three years and feared he’d lost forever. Part 2 of Enigma

In Arduis Fidelis by Raliena (T, 18,628 w., 10 Ch. || GI Joe Crossover || Captivity, Surgery, BAMF John, John “Three Continents” Watson, POV John Watson, Prisoner of War, Cobra - Freeform, soldier John, John-centric, Doctor John Watson, John is a Very Good Doctor, Violence) – Once upon a time John was a Soldier and a Doctor. And he was known John or Doc or Doctor. But things change. And he *earned* his right to the name “Three Continents Watson”. Part 1 of the Three Continents Watson series

Serendipity by Calais_Reno (T, 18,222 w., 3 Ch. || Serendipity Fusion || Christmas, Romance, Coincidences, First Meetings, Misunderstandings, New York City, Fate and Destiny) – A bit of New York Christmas fluff, based on the 2001 movie.

Magnificent by esama (T, 19,477 w., 1 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || Crossover Pairing) – The birth of the Ministry of Magic and his relationship with the British Government.

Much Ado About Nothing or Get Over Here and Kiss Me Already! by MorganeUK (NR, 19,847 w., 13 Ch. || Much Ado About Nothing AU || Mutual Pining, Angst, Lestrolly) – AU in modern time where the Holmes' are a powerful noble family, Mycroft is the chief of defences and Sherlock is working for secret service. Lestrade is a high rank officer in the army. Ms Hudson is an old Lady that took care of her niece and nephew Molly and John since their youth. Part 1 of the Sherlock / Shakespeare series

Dead Letter Office by a_different_equation (M, 20,364 w., 15 Ch. || ‘Bartleby’ Fusion / Office Setting AU || Different First Meeting, Epistolary, John's Blog, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pre-Canon, John Watson is Sherlock's Boss, PTSD John, Military Backstory, Writer John, Drug Use, Texting) – John Watson comes home from the war, gets a new job and meets Sherlock Holmes through Mike Stamford. Same tale since 1891, except this time it’s 2008, John is Sherlock’s boss, and they work together at the Dead Letter Office in London. It's not a love story, until it finally is.

When John Met Sherlock by MorganeUK (T, 21,293 w., 10 Ch. || When Harry Met Sally AU || Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Developing Relationship, Faking It, Mutual Pining, Background Lestrolly, Fluff and Smut, Rom-Com) – At first they thought that friendship was impossible. Then meet again and become friends. After dinners, texts, cases and discussions they become more, best friends. Faking orgasm before falling on the floor together to get real one... Then going back to pushing each other away again... Before falling in love!But not necessarily in this order.

You're The One by Mazarin221b (E, 21,768 + w. || WiP || Underage Dirty Dancing Fusion ||  Period Typical Homophobia, Sexism, Angst, Fluff) – John Watson is seventeen years old and has his life planned out: medical school, a commission, and an opportunity to change the world. He just has to get through three weeks at The Copper Beeches - a resort owned by one of his father's patients - with his annoying sister and his perfect parents before he's off to Cambridge. But John has a secret he's trying desperately to keep, and, it seems, so is just about everyone around him, including the incredibly gorgeous and amazing dance teacher, Sherlock Holmes, and his partner Irene Adler. Too bad Jim Moriarty seems to know precisely what everyone is hiding.

Into the Multiverse by AnAnYaH (M, 21,958 w., 18 Ch. || Avengers / Sherlock / Dr. Strange Crossover || Multiverses, Everstrange, Parentlock / Teenage Rosie, Sad Sherlock, Angry Sherlock, Sherlock/John Fight, Magic, Strange John, First Kiss, Whipping, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Threats of Rape / Non-Con, Mental Anguish, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending) – Nothing lasts forever. I am beginning to think it's the same for you and me. In a world where we don't co-exist how long will it take to finally break us ? Or are we already broken in need of a fix ?A multi-chapter fic where Sherlock and John had to leave their lives to save the world from universal threats and pursue as Doctor Strange and Everett Ross.Will they ever reunite? Part 1 of the Everstrange series

Addicted to a Certain Lifestyle by KatsatheGraceling (M, 22,751 w., 1 Ch. || James Bond Crossover || Bondlock, BAMF John, Assassin John, Q is a Holmes, Clueless Sherlock, Omniscient Mycroft) – The one where John is a BAMF assassin. With an affinity for cuddly warm jumpers.

Impossible Improbable Truth by KaraRenee (M, 24,308 w., 9 Ch. || Labyrinth AU) – John and Sherlock take a case investigating the disappearance of a teenage girl and her toddler half brother. What they find is an impossible adventure that leads them on a journey of discovery of their sexuality.

The Art Of Seduction: A Study In Pulling by flawedamythyst (M, 25,279 w., 1 Ch. || Queer As Folk Inspired AU || John/OMC, Additional Tags to Be Added Upon Reading) – Sherlock ran a website called The Science Of Seduction, on which he gave advice on the best ways to get laid, wrote blog entries detailing the results of his various sexual 'experiments' and generally contributed to the stereotype of 'every gay man is a sex-mad playboy'. John avoided the thing like the plague. AU in which Sherlock treats sex like he does crime in canon. Inspired by Queer As Folk UK, but it very quickly went its own way. Part 1 of The Art Of Seduction

False Advertising by ravenscar (E, 27,722 w. || Office AU / Devil Wears Prada Inspired || Victor Trevor, Flashbacks, Hurt / Comfort, Angst with Happy Ending, Younger John/Older Sherlock, Marriage Proposal) – Sherlock is John’s boss and mentor at an advertising agency. Can they find love in the cut-throat workplace?

A Wizarding Barista's Field Guide to Seducing a Muggle by paradigmfinch (T, 29,344 w., 9 Ch || Harry Potter Coffee Shop AU || Wizard John, Muggle Sherlock, Bisexual John, Flirting, First Dates, Secret Identity) – To help pay for Healing tuition, John Watson gets a job at a coffee shop in Muggle London, where he soon sets his sights on a particularly gorgeous customer. John's seen plenty of Muggle films. How different can it really be to woo a Muggle?

Time Of My Life by fiveainley_ohmy (E, 29,719 w., 8 Ch. || Dirty Dancing Fusion || Bisexual John, Dancing, Gay/Demi Sherlock) – John Watson takes his alcoholic sister to a summer camp in attempt to rehabilitate her. He didn't expect to fall in love with the dance instructor.

Through Dangers Untold by hogwartswitch (E, 32,003 w., 13 Ch. || Labyrinth AU) – The Goblin King has fallen in love with John Watson and visits him in dreams. But the evil wizard who cursed the Goblin King cannot allow that to continue. Will John survive the labyrinth? Or will he become a lost goblin like all the rest?

Unsettled by AxeMeAboutAxinomancy (E, 33,879 w., 10 Ch. || HIs Dark Materials AU || Daemons, Dark Themes, Non-Con) – Sherlock's dæmon hadn't settled. Once John realised that, so much made sense. Though so much else didn't, because it practically wasn't possible. Part 1 of the The Utmost Edge of Hazard series

The Last Companion by standbygo (E, 34,101 w., 14 Ch. || Firefly Fusion || Prostitution, Case Fic, Falling in Love, Angst with Happy Ending, Slow Burn, BAMF John, Discussions of Non Con But Doesn’t Happen) – Thirty years after the Miranda Wars, there is peace, both on the Rim and the Core planets. There are a number of old social mores still in place, such as the Order of Companions, but there is a sense that even such respected practices are coming to an end… Sherlock is a Companion - the best Companion on Persephone. With a bit of detective work on the side, of course. Then he meets a man named John Watson, encounters a series of bizarre cases, and finds his world is getting turned upside down.

The Great Bakerstreet Bake Off by Elphen (M, 38,058 w., 8 Ch. || Great British Bake Off AU || Caring Sherlock, Sweet John, Fluff, Baking, Accidental Touching, Pining, BJ’s, Banter and Bickering, Oblivious Characters) – John has decided to watch The Great British Bake Off this year and he is determined to do so. As Sherlock joins him, he is certain that that plan is ruined. He's in for a surprise when he's allowed to watch it but the real shock comes when Sherlock decides they ought to bake themselves. What's more, they should bake what they make in the Bake Off. John's not so sure it's a good idea but when his insides flutter at the thought, he finds it hard to complain.

Toe to Toe by standbygo (E, 44,971 w., 26 Ch. || White Nights Crossover || Ballet/Dance, Slow Burn, Spies/Secret Agents, Angst with Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Kiss/Time, Shower Sex) – Sherlock Holmes is an international ballet star. After a favour for his brother goes south, he finds himself trapped in a foreign country, with a man named John Watson who could be an enemy... or an ally.

Silence by halloa_what_is_this (T, 44,993 w., 13 Ch. || The Piano Fusion || Victorian Sherlock, Dub Con, Voyeurism, Permanent Mutilation, Johniarty, Mute John) – In 1850, John is a mute young man forced to marry to save his father from indebtedness. His sister as his interpreter and his piano to keep him company, he travels to London to live with his husband James Moriarty. Without John's consent, James sells the piano to his friend Sherlock Holmes, who only asks for lessons from John in return. The lessons turn into a power play between the two when Sherlock proposes a deal: John may earn his piano back one key at a time, certain conditions attached. Part 1 of the Aborted Wings series

Crime is of the Essence by K8BNimble (M, 45,569 w., 18 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || Mystery, Slash) – When a man he hasn’t seen in almost ten years appears in his home with a man he thought was dead for twenty years, Harry Potter knew his evening had just gotten complicated. Written for Snarry Swap 2011. Named Hot Rec by "The Daily Snitch"1/18/2011. Snarry, past Harry/Sherlock. Long plotty mystery with light graphic slash sex.

Always 1895 by standbygo (E, 45,901 w., 19 Ch. || Oxford Time Travel AU || Time Travel, Friends to Lovers, Case Fic, Victorian, Period-Typical Homophobia, Pining, First Kiss/Time, First Meetings, Slow Burn, Angst With Happy Ending) – Time travelling historian John Watson goes to Victorian era England to study, and meets detective Sherlock Holmes. He finds himself torn between the work he was sent to do, the exciting life of solving crimes, and the extraordinary Holmes himself.

Curled (A Tangled AU) by crimsonwinter (G, 46,330 w., 13 Ch. || Tangled AU || Alternating POV) – Sherlock lives a limited life, high in a tower, and all he's wanted in eighteen years of isolation is to someday break free and see the floating lights. Somehow, a string of events leads him to John Watson, a surprisingly kind thief who steals his heart. Will they escape the selfish advances of Moriarty, Sherlock's paternal guardian, and will Sherlock find the meaning behind the silver lanterns?

The Boy Who Balanced on the Train Tracks by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (E, 54,894 w., 5 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || John/Snape, Period Typical Homophobia, Character Death, Underage Sexual Attraction, Sexual Awakening, Time Turner, First Time, Poverty, Domestic Abuse, Death Eaters, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst with Happy / Bittersweet Ending) – Every year, on the 2nd of May, John Watson dreams of long black hair.

Say You’ll Stay With Me by justacookieofacumberbatch (E, 63,349 w., 21 Ch. || Pretty Woman Fusion || Prostitution) – It was just supposed to be an ordinary business trip, but when John’s car stalls out on Hollywood Boulevard, he meets someone who just might change his life.

Whispers in Corners by esama (T, 64,402 w., 10 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || Deathly Hallows, Crossover Pairing) – Everything started with a stumble - his new life in a new world as well as his surprisingly successful career as a medium.

Masters of Ink by Indybaggins (E, 67,382 w., 7 Ch. || Ink Master Tattoo TV Show AU || Angst, Banter, Body Modification, Cheating, Desire, Developing Relationship, Disability, Falling in Love, Feels, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Married John, Past Drug Addiction, Pining, Requited Love, Sex, Slow Burn, Smoking, Tattoo Artist John, Tattoo Artist Sherlock) – First-meeting-on-a-reality-show AU, Ink Master edition! There is expert tattooing, slightly less expert flirting, and two men falling hard. But John is married, and they can’t all win.

The Craving in Between by love_in_mind_palace (E, 69,349 w., 16 Ch. || Wedding Planner AU || Infidelity, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending, Misunderstandings, Sexting & Texting, Alternating POV, Mary is Not Nice) – Sherlock Holmes, The wedding Consultant. Picky about his projects and a nightmare to work with. Rejects ninety percent of the couples after just having a look at them and can predict how long a marriage will last. But when unassuming, plain, John Watson reluctantly limps his way in his office, with his more than enthusiastic fiancée, Mary Morstan, instead of dismissing the ill-assorted couple on the spot, he promptly decides that the project, and the groom.. are definitely worth working on.

The Loss of Flesh and Soul by deuxexmycroft (M, 69,712 w., 6/8 Ch. || WiP || Silence of the Lambs Crossover || Serial Killers, One-Sided Relationship) – Five years after John Watson puts the murderous Sherlock Holmes behind bars, a vicious copycat killer emerges. A reluctant John is pulled out of retirement to seek the expertise of the only man who can help, a man who has developed an unsettling obsession with John himself. Part 1 of The Loss of Flesh and Soul

The Vampires of London by consultingdetective (E, 72,660 w., 21 Ch. || Dracula AU || Pining Sherlock, Army Doctor John, Sharing a Bed, Porn With Feelings, Plot Twists) –  Over one hundred years after the first battle, a series of murders have caught the attention of London's police force and Sherlock Holmes. While most of the city has forgotten the vampire that once walked its streets, the descendants of the Van Helsing, Harker, and Seward families have not.

Save Me or Let Me Drown by GubraithianFire (E, 72,986 w., 16 Ch. || Shameless AU || Dysfunctional Family, Alcoholism, Recreational Drug Use, Angst, Humour, Clubbing, Bipolar Disorder, Custody Battle, Mutual Pining, Family Fluff, Smut, Handcuffs, Anal Sex, Shower Sex, Rimming, Come Shot, Angst With Happy Ending) – How Sherlock escaped from his family, John sacrificed everything to his, and how, together, they built their own. Part 1 of the The Watsons series

This Is Your Song by agirlsname (E, 79,990 w., 19 Ch. || Moulin Rouge Fusion || Prostitute Sherlock, Poet John, Acting, Singing, Dancing, Writing, Poetry, Musical, Song Fic, Heavy Angst, Unreliable Narrator, Sherlock is French, Love at First Sight, UST, First Kiss/Time, Frottage, Coming in Pants, Anal Sex, Switchlock, Clothed Sex, Crossdressing, Secret Relationship, Forbidden Love, Jealousy, Terminal Illnesses, Grief/Mourning, Breakup/Makeup Sex, Past Drug Use, Attempted Rape, Canon-Typical Violence)– When John Watson is invalided home from the army in 1895, he moves to Paris to rediscover his writing and find a new meaning in life. His old friend Stamford invites him into a group of artist friends, and suddenly John finds himself auditioning to write a show for the famous brothel across the street. There, he meets the most beautiful man he’s ever seen - Sherlock, the star of the Moulin Rouge. But Sherlock is already promised to the investor of the show, the rich Duke Moriarty.

Sherlock, P.I. by Callie4180 (E, 83,264 w., 11 Ch. || Magnum P.I. Fusion || Past Relationships, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Canon-Typical Violence, Stalking, Creepy Moriarty) – For the Fall TV Sherlock fusion project. Sherlock, P.I. is an American television show that follows the exciting adventures of genius private investigator Sherlock Homes and his friends as they live their lives on the beautiful island of Oahu in Hawaii. Sherlock solves crimes as he wrestles with the ghosts and demons of his past.

Saudade by tunteeton (E, 96,952 w., 30 Ch. || After That Very Much AU || Case Fic, Non-Con Drug Use, Dubious Science, Canon Compliant up to THoB, John’s in Denial, Sub!Sherlock, Fake Non-Con Drug Use, Dom/Sub Relationship, Mutual Masturbation, Oral Sex, Kidnapping, Threatened Torture, Mary is Not Nice, Anal, Fluff, Non-Con Domming, Verbal Abuse, Slapping) – saudade (port.): a deep and melancholy longing for something or someone that is gone and not coming back. Homesickness, an emptiness in one’s soul, a love that remains after the loved one dies. John loses Sherlock, gains Sherlock and learns to never, ever, ever pray. Part 1 of the The Untranslatables series

Rosethorne by suitesamba (M, 98,888 w., 28 Ch. || Secret Garden AU || Injured Sherlock / John, Recovery, First Times, Minor Character Death, Disability, Past Domestic Abuse [Mary/OMC]) – John Watson, WWII army doctor, is injured in the line of duty and can no longer wield a scalpel. Sherlock Holmes, Britain’s best code-breaker, is side-lined by his own devastating injury. In a work inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden,” the two men must find meaning and purpose in a world which seems to have taken away all they hold most dear. But of course, it really hasn’t.

Cake and Other Sins by  Indybaggins (E, 100,670 w. || Great British Bakeoff AU || Alternate First Meeting, Angst, Baking, Desire, Disability, Incest (Holmescest/Holmescest with John), Masturbation, Falling in Love, Oral, Outdoor Sex, Past Drug Use, Poisoning, Voyeurism) – Sherlock and John meet as competing bakers on The Great British Bake Off. There’s intense baking, lush recipes and enticing food. Mycroft, guilt, past sins in chocolate and gingerbread. And love. That too.

Fallen Through Time by susandwrites (E, 102,040+ w., 39/? Ch. || Outlander Fusion / Victorian AU || WIP || Time Travel, First Meetings, Meet-Cute, Frottage, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex/Fingering, Riding Crops, Rough Sex, Floor Sex, Breath Play, Light BDSM, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Switching, Romance, Sex to Love) – Inspired by my love of Outlander, but not exactly an Outlander AU. Sherlock Holmes, the world's only consulting detective, finds himself in Victorian London while investigating a murder. The first person he meets is Doctor John Watson, formerly of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers and his world is irrevocably altered.

Reichenbach Falls - Déjà vu by VeeTheRee (M, 180,436+ w., 29/303 Ch. || WiP ||Gravity Falls / Multifandom AU || Alternate First Meeting, Gay Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Unilock, Summer Romance/Love, Fluff, Insecure Sherlock, Villain Mary, First Kiss, Slow Burn, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Canadian John, French Canadian Lestrade, Insecure Sherlock, Mystery, Domestic Fluff, Developing Relationship Summer Love, Light Angst, BAMF! John, Case Fic) – Two Canadians, two Brits studying in Canada, and an upkeeper walk into a Mystery Shack…. and live there. Summer holidays are here, and the step-siblings, Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes, find themselves in a boring town called Reichenbach Falls, Oregon, USA. It isn’t as boring as it seems, however, once Sherlock stumbles upon a mystery journal, and the author is unknown. The journal contains ciphers, a strange colour wheel, and information about magical creatures that are said to be looming in the Northwestern forests. With mysteries to solve in hand, he and Irene set out to get to the roots of the town, and the abrupt disappearance of the author of the journal. But they’re not alone - John Watson, quite the handsome nephew of the Mystery Shack owner Greg Lestrade, is on their side to help out, plus mess with Sherlock’s feelings, in a good way. Shenanigans, romance, fun, danger, and deductions ensue. Oh, and there’s also occasional SuperWhoLock and two dorky Winchester brothers to spark up the action later on. Part 1 of the Reichenbach Falls series

To the Sticking Place by blueink3 (E, 121,973 w., 20 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Musical Theatre AU || Showmance, Friends to Lovers, Bickering, UST / RST, Fluff, Virgin Sherlock, BAMF John, New York City / Broadway) – Renowned Shakespearean actor Sherlock Holmes has finally burned all of his bridges in the theatre industry save for his constant director, Greg Lestrade. John Watson has made a name for himself in the musical theatre circuit, but age and injury are working against him. Can they reinvent themselves for an all-male Macbeth without killing one another? Part 1 of the Screw Your Courage series

Bel Canto by bendingsignpost (T, 127,481 w., 16 Ch. || Phantom of the Opera AU || Secret Identity, Sherlock’s Violin, Operas, Aristocracy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Disguise, Inheritance, Genderqueer Character, Classical Music, Singing) – After years of waiting for wealthy patrons to faint, Dr John Watson discovers a far more interesting patient in the opera house basement.

Welcome to Silent Hill by Cleo2010 (M, 130,227 w., 37 Ch. || Silent Hill Fusion || POV First Person Sherlock, Unrequited Love, Psychological Horror, Violence / Gore, Monsters, Nudity, Drug Use, Harm to Children, Cults, Distressing Imagery, Torture, Death) – John is missing. When Sherlock receives a text summoning him to Silent Hill he's intent on reclaiming his friend but the town has other ideas. Our detective must battle through a world shaped by his own troubled psyche as he uncovers the town's secrets, attempts to find John and hunt down Jim Moriarty. Part 1 of the Welcome to Silent Hill series

Drift Compatible by J_Baillier (E, 130,380 w., 26 Ch. || Pacific Rim Fusion || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Alternate First Meeting, Angst, Family Drama, Accidental Telepathic Voyeurism, Martial Arts, Sci-Fi, Internalised Homophobia, Rubbish Siblings, Army Doctor John, Medical H/C, Bullying, Neurodiversity, PTSD, Drug Use, Depression, Mourning, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, UST/URT) – A washed out war hero struggling with his past. A prodigy who wants nothing to do with his family legacy. Both are looking for something—and someone—worth fighting for in a world where human civilisation is constantly under threat.

Out There by DiscordantWords (T, 131,695 w., 10 Ch. || X-Files Fusion || Slow Burn, UST, Case Fic, Government Conspiracy, Aliens, UFOs, Mutants, Mutual Pining, First Kiss, Coma) – FBI Special Agent John Watson, medical doctor and army veteran, is assigned to assist eccentric genius Sherlock Holmes with paranormal investigations on the X-Files project.

Omens On Baker Street Series by WorseOmens (NR, 155,294+ w. across 3 works || Series WiP || Sherlock / Good Omens Crossover || Post S4 Sherlock, BAMF Aziraphale, Soft Crowley, Jealous Crowley, Fluff, Angst, General Idiocy, Misunderstandings, Crimes, Humour, Pining, Crimes, Magical Shenanigans, Unlikely Friendships, ?Slow Burn, True Forms, Ineffable Dads, South Downs) – Sherlock and John are no longer the only crime-solving disaster duo in London. After Sherlock unknowingly wrongs a demon, he finds himself with two mysterious rivals in the detective scene. For Crowley and Aziraphale, it's just a bit of fun, but they end up learning more about human nature than they bargained for.

Skeletons by flawedamythyst (T, 174,262 w. across 3 works || Nightmare Before Christmas Fusion ||  Implied Character Death) – Sherlock's refusal to talk about his past hides far more skeletons than John could ever have guessed at. Halloween-esque AU.

In the Deep, Where Dark Things Sleep by HardlyFair (M, 184,979 w., 26 Ch. || Scorpio Races AU || Graphic Violence, 1960′s, Slow Burn, Past Drug Use, Bed Sharing, Water Horses, Folklore, First Kiss/Time, Horror Elements, Vet!John, Protective John, Magical Realism, Horse Racing, Mutual Pining, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort) – The closer time crawls to November, the more water horses the Scorpio Sea spits out. The colder Thisby becomes. Sherlock Holmes is an islander - completely surrounded by the water. John Watson, he knows, comes from the mainland and lives for the Races. On the first of November, Sherlock will race. The man holding steady by his side is someone he never expects. A Scorpio Races AU (Maggie Stiefvater), but no knowledge of the book needed.

Rom-com adaptations... Series by MorganeUK (T, 211,229+ w across 8 works || Series WiP || Assorted Crossovers || Rom-Coms, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Friendship, Additional Tags Per Story) –  Mostly Johnlock with Mystrade or Lestrolly. If you want a movie to be johnlocked, let me know :-) Each story is completely different from the other!

Enigma by khorazir (M, 289,667 w., 23 Ch. || Codebreaker / WWII / Imitation Game-Inspired AU || Case Fic, Espionage, Period-Typical Homophobia / Sexism, Pining Sherlock, Inexperienced / VirginSherlock, Implied / Referenced Drug Use, Non-Graphic Violence) – It’s the autumn of 1941, war is raging in Europe, German U-boats are raiding Allied convoys in the Atlantic, the Luftwaffe is bombing English cities, and the cryptographers at Bletchley Park are working feverishly to decode their enemies' encrypted communications. One should consider this challenge and distraction enough for capricious codebreaker Sherlock Holmes. But the true enigmas are yet waiting to be deciphered: an unbreakable code, a strange murder, and the arrival of Surgeon Captain John H. Watson of the Royal Navy.

Over/Under Series by khorazir (M, 319,561 w. across 5 works || Cabin Pressure Crossover || Post-S2 / Reichenbach, ReunionFriendship, Angst, Humour, Pining, Cycling, Mountains, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Dev. Rel., Case Fic, First Kiss, Pining, Family Issues, Inexperienced Sherlock) – After his Fall, Sherlock travels the world to destroy what remains of James Moriarty's criminal empire. When things don't go according to plan and he finds himself in desperate need of a discreet means of travel, cue MJN Air ...

[scullydubois]

Keys: a series of vignettes

Documenting all the times Mulder & Scully use a key to get into each other’s apartment. 

read on Ao3               tagging: @today-in-fic (thank you <3)

Part 1 (Prologue): post-Squeeze 

After Tooms, Mulder knew he had to broach the subject. He also knew, despite the limited time that Scully had graced his life thus far, that she wouldn’t react like Diana had. Scully would make it difficult. And he understood this--respected it, even--but it still had to be done. He had barged into her apartment one time too many.

Seeing Tooms nesting in his jail cell banishes any misgivings Mulder has left. Those yellow-green eyes and their inhuman desire to desecrate their victim, stealing away the purifying organ...and it had almost worked. 

Mulder wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something happened to Scully on his watch. This is what he’s thinking when she brushes her hand down his bicep and leads him away from the immortal monster. He’s still thinking it as they exit the jail and he does the mental math and realizes that Scully will be 58 in thirty years and he can’t imagine any other fate for her than being the head of the Bureau, that wasn’t a joke. 

“Scully?” He had known that name first through Vin Scully, who had been announcing Dodgers games for as long as he could remember. It slips off his tongue so naturally now.

“Yes?” She shifts her gaze toward him, and he’s taken aback. How can he focus on the task at hand when there are entire oceans in her eyes? 

He knows that for this to be a success, he has to go the roundabout way. Does reverse psychology work on a doctor, he wonders? It’s worked on some psychologists he’s known.

He decides to find out. “I was just thinking, um, since it looks like we’re in it for the long haul…” Scully raises an eyebrow, her perpetual state of doubt coming to the surface. He presses on, a tenuous grip on his confidence. “Since we’re partners on the X-Files, I mean, since it looks like...that’s gonna keep continuing…” He feels like he’s back in high school asking Sloane Rivers to the senior prom. He hopes this has a happier ending. 

He clears his throat. “What I’m trying to say is, I’d like to give you a key to my apartment so that...if you need to get in there ever...you can. Without breaking the door down,” he adds with an awkward chuckle.

Scully actually smiles at him. Sure, it’s tight-lipped like the kind a Southern lady might offer after saying ‘bless your heart,’ but still, it’s not the frown he expected.

“I doubt I’ll ever need to break your door down, Mulder.”

“Why not?” His voice goes high. He’s almost offended.

She purses her lips. Pouty Scully always forces Mulder to fight back a smile. He clamps his teeth down on his tongue. With her crossed arms and pout, she has the air of a little girl imitating her nagging mother. “Have you looked at yourself?” she asks. 

“In the shower sometimes, yes,” Mulder deadpans.

There’s that eye-roll he’s come to expect. “How tall are you?” There’s exhaustion in her voice. She’s preemptively annoyed by his answer.

“Six feet. Six two if my loafers have a bit of a heel on them.”

“Uh-huh, and you’re a pretty strong guy, wouldn’t you say?”

“I could pick you up.” He lets the double entendre hang suggestively in the air. 

She humors him with direct eye contact, nothing more. “Right. And you’ve put away dozens of violent offenders over the years, correct?”

Mulder nods, not sure where she’s going with this. He’s constantly intrigued by how she keeps him on his toes.

“And have you ever felt that one of them posed a physical threat to you if they were to be released?”

He slips his hands into his pockets. “No, I never really thought about it.”

“Exactly. I have to think about it. Before, during, and after a case.”

It figures that Scully would beat him to his own point. Mulder laughs. It only occurs to him how his laughter must look to her after he’s already done it.

“Mulder!” she screeches.

“I wasn’t laughing at what you said, I was laughing at what you did.”

“Gee, thanks, real comforting.”

“No, I mean, that’s the point I was trying to make--that you’re more susceptible to, urhm, bad things happening-- but I didn’t want to offend you.”

“Offend me? With the truth?”

“Yeah, I, um…” It occurs to him that he has miscalculated her, that she is not like any of the women he has ever known. His chest flutters, but his stomach sinks. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sure you’re more aware of that than anyone else.”

Scully finds his earnest attempt at an unnecessary apology endearing, but she won’t show it. “Uh-huh,” she responds, staring out into the distance, checking her surroundings even now. 

“I just don’t want you to feel like you have to go at it alone,” Mulder continues. “I’ll watch your back too, if you let me.”

Despite his sweetness, Scully can’t resist toying with him. “You’ve had a partner before, haven’t you?” she smirks. “That’s kind of how it’s supposed to work.”

Mulder clasps his hands behind his back. The corners of his mouth turn up into a bashful, apologetic smile. This is the routine he used to perform when his parents yelled at him. Who says you have to grow out of childhood habits?

“Well, I…” He’s not sure where he’s going with that sentence, and Scully knows this. She relishes in his embarrassment.

“I’m just teasing, it’s very kind of you to be concerned.” She pats his shoulder. Turns out, someone saving your life makes you quite touchy-feely. “I’ll have a key made this weekend,” she promises.

Figuring Scully out feels like navigating a room full of laser beams. He may have to crawl, jump, or twist himself into otherwise unnatural shapes to get through, but--somehow--he always makes it. Each time he’s convinced he’s done the impossible, yet he finds himself even more stoked to take on her next challenge. Scully is his endless puzzle, his X-File to end all X-Files. He wouldn’t want it any other way. 

He slides his extra key off the chain, folds his fingers over it, and gently bumps his hand against Scully’s as they walk. She opens her fist, lets him place it in her palm, then curls her fingers around the metal. It’s still warm from his grasp. 

“Thank you,” she murmurs. Her gratitude goes deeper than the key, Mulder understands this.

“You’re welcome,” he hums. 

She is glad to have the key; he is glad she took it. She is glad he asked for her key; he is glad she will give him one. She is glad to be alive; he is glad that she lived. They have so many things to be thankful for.

[aethelflaedladyofmercia]

The Night the World Didn’t End

This fic was written for @bingokisses - the prompt was “Snuggling” but I got an attack of the sads and the soft angsts.

Ten vignettes looking at what everyone did the night after the Apocalypse.

You can also read on AO3, under my new secondary Pseud: Lady of Prompts.

--

The world hasn’t ended. Or it did, but not quite.

Saturday night, and everything is…thin. Uncertain. As if the universe might realize what had happened and change its mind. All around the world, people feel it, the hesitation, the uncertainty. Humanity can’t quite comprehend what it is, but it’s undeniable.

On a bus rolling slowly towards London, an angel takes a demon’s hand. No words are spoken, but a few kilometers later, the demon’s head falls onto the angel’s shoulder.

And a young boy sits on his bed in Tadfield and worries.

--

At Jasmine Cottage, a battered car rolls to a hesitant stop.

“Well,” Newt begins slowly. “This is it. It was…well, it really wasn’t nice at all. Parts of it were good.”

Anathema says nothing, her eyes still on the charred-black book in her lap.

“You’re not…not planning to live in my passenger seat, are you?” He asks with an awkward smile. It probably isn’t the right time for a joke, but Newt never really notices these things until too late. “Don’t think there’s, you know, space. I put my, uh, my groceries there and…”

Definitely not the time for a joke.

“Do you…” Anathema slowly looks up from the book. Her eyes land on Newt, but her mind is worlds away. “Do you want…to come in?”

He swallows, desperately wishing for a reason to say no, because saying yes is too terrifying. But a good terrifying. “Why?” he finally manages.

“I’m…I’ve never really…decided anything for myself before.” She turns the pages of the book, looking for one that doesn’t crumble to ash. “I don’t know what I want, or…or where I’m supposed to go. But I think…I think…” She looks up again, and this time her eyes hold Newt’s like an official Witchfinder pin. “I think I’d like for you to come in. If…you know…”

He gulps, at a loss for what to say. So he takes her hand.

It makes getting out of the car awkward, but they manage.

--

On the other side of Tadfield, Pepper drops her boots on the porch and heads to her room. She’s never felt this exhausted in her life, and she can’t quite remember why. The whole day is a blur, with some pieces missing - and others in stark, terrifying focus.

When she opens her bedroom door, she finds a mess – and not the mess she’d left this morning. Her comic books are spilled all over, pages wrinkled and ripped out as if struck by a tornado, and her sister sits in the middle of it all.

“I didn’t do it! It was an accident!” She’s been bracing for the argument, but her eyes aren’t defiant, just terrified and full of tears.

Pepper looks around the room. The two sisters have fought every day this summer, name-calling and arguments turning to stolen toys and pulled hair and screams for their mother. They don’t play anymore, or talk, or anything else. The five-year age difference felt insurmountable. 

But tonight...Pepper can’t seem to muster her anger. None of it feels important. She simply pushes the torn comics off her bed and crawls under the duvet.

“Are…are you mad?”

“Too tired.” Tired isn’t the word for it, but Pepper is eleven. She knows a lot of terms, but she doesn’t know how to describe the complete, draining emotional fatigue that comes from meeting a witch, fighting with your best friend, and stopping an apocalypse all between lunch and bedtime. She doesn’t have the energy for another emotion. “We can fight tomorrow. Promise.”

“Alright.” Her sister rests her head on the side of the bed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“I miss you.”

Pepper shuts her eyes, not even sure what to say to that. “Just go to bed. It’s way too late for you.”

“Can I sleep with you?”

“No! What’s wrong with your room?”

“It’s too scary.”

“How can it be scary? It’s your room…” Pepper opens her eyes and meets the tear-filled gaze of her baby sister.

They don’t get along. They have nothing in common. Pepper doesn’t even remember what it feels like to be five-and-a-half. But tonight, she feels very young, and alone, and a little frightened, and perhaps that’s close enough.

“You know what? Fine.” She moves over and folds back the duvet. “Just don’t kick.”

--

The bus rumbles down the road towards London, passing a slow-moving scooter. The scooter has rolled along for hours, and as it crests another hill the speedometer creeps towards 10 mph.

“Can ye not be more careful, ye daft woman?” Shadwell’s arms are wrapped around her waist, holding tight, as if he is afraid to fall.

He isn’t afraid, or at least, not of falling. Parts of the strange day keep drifting back across his mind. He wishes he had a strong cup of tea. He wishes he had something a good deal stronger.

But one thought keeps coming to the fore. He’s spent nearly the whole of his adult life hunting witches, and now that he’s found one, he’s not letting her go.

He hasn’t yet worked out what that means.

“Ah! Look out! Did ye not see that branch in the road?  Yer gonna get both of us killed!”

Madame Tracy pats his hand. She’s been listening to him grumble for over three decades, and has learned which words to listen to. “Just hold tight, Mr. S. We’ll get you home safe in no time.”

--

Back in Tadfield, Brian dumps his bike in the grass and comes inside. He was supposed to be home hours ago. Instead, he’s been making circles through the village, trying to think.

His parents are still on the sofa, his father nearly asleep, his mother switching between three different shows. Waiting for him. When his mother looks up, she isn’t angry, just making a point. We’re up late because you didn’t follow the rules.

Normally, he’d apologize and go to bed.

Tonight, he slides onto the sofa between his parents. It’s a tight fit – Brian is big for his age – but he manages it, his father stirring enough to make room.

Brian leans his head on his mother’s shoulder. “Is this alright?”

“I…yes, it’s fine.” Brian doesn’t cuddle anymore. He outgrew that ages ago. “Did you have a bad day?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Did you fight with your friends?”

He bites his lip. “Yeah. But. It’s better now. Just don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright then.” She leans closer and kisses his forehead. His father rubs Brian’s hair, as if he was still a little kid. Brian doesn’t mind.

They sit like that a long time, silently together.

--

In London, an International Delivery Man returns home after the longest day of his life. 

He hangs his hat and jacket, moves quietly into the bedroom. Maud is exactly where he left her, lying in bed, hair rumpled. Feeling a sudden urgency, he sits beside her, shakes her awake.

“Mmmh…are you finally home?” She blinks her eyes open. “What time is it? I waited all day.” He can hear the concern in her voice. “Thought something happened. You never even called.”

“I know, I’m sorry. Had an extra pickup to make, and…”

The deliveries, the final message, the strange gap in time and the half-memories that filled it.

“Lesley?” She sits up fully now, putting an arm around him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

He wants to tell her, but he wouldn’t know where to begin. He feels like everything should be different. Certain things you’re not supposed to live through, you’re not supposed to come back from unchanged. But he doesn’t feel different. Should he?

“Nothing. Sorry I woke you, love. Go back to sleep.”

But Maud knows that look. Knows his brain is still running, that it will be for hours yet. Lesley isn’t usually what you would call a deep thinker, but when he finally catches on something, he has a hard time letting it go.

So she takes his hand. “Do you want to know about my day?”

“Of course.”

Maud settles against him, with the familiar comfort of many decades of marriage, and explains all about the sales at the shop, and the unexpected weather, and her hunt for an umbrella.

--

The bus finally arrives in London, dropping off its last two passengers. They lean against each other as they walk, arms around waists, holding each other upright.

A few minutes later, the driver - dazed and uncertain why he drove all this way - finds the reservation confirmation for one night at one of the city’s finest luxury hotels, and a rather large meal voucher.

He barely uses the room.

Many of the guests have gathered in the hotel bar, long past the time it usually empties. It’s a subdued affair, fewer drinks than one might expect, quiet conversation. Just little groups of strangers, sharing their stories.

The other guests have paid more on this trip to London than the bus driver earns in a month. 

He sits at the bar, glass in hand, trying to decide who to approach and how. The bartender sees him hesitating, and moves closer. “Strange night,” she says, restacking glasses behind the counter. 

“Should have stayed in my room,” the driver says sourly. “But, dunno. It was too quiet.”

“Not the only one who feels that way.” She nods to a nearby group. “Normally would have kicked them all out by now but...just doesn’t feel right.”

“Hope they pay you enough for this.” The driver hasn’t even checked the fuel in the bus, but no doubt the difference will come out of his paycheck.[1]

“Well enough,” the bartender says, then lowers her voice. “But I might be taking some sick time next week. Head up to Kingham to see my folks.”

The driver blinks. “You’re from Kingham? Out by Chipping Norton?”

“Yeah. Heard of it?”

“Heard of it? I’m from Churchill.”

The bartender laughs, leaning on the counter. “What are the odds of that? What brings you down to London?”

“I haven’t the first idea.” The driver takes a drink, smiling. It feels nice to meet someone from his part of the world, a glimmer of familiarity amidst all this strangeness. “How about you?”

“Bit of a long story.”

The driver glances at the milling crowd, no sign of breaking up any time soon. “We’ve got time.”

--

In the Wensleydale household, the parents have long since gone to bed. But their son sits in the kitchen with the telephone and a list of names and phone numbers. He’s been working his way through it all night.

Most of the numbers are unfamiliar. Family and friends you see at Christmas, talk with, exchange sweaters and fruitcakes, and never really think of again for another year. People you have known your whole life, but never really speak to.

He listens to the phone ring, until someone picks up.

“Hello? Aunt Ethel?” He pauses. “It’s Wensley – Jeremy Wensleydale.” Odd. He’s used his full name more times tonight than he has in a year. It occurs to him that he might not like it.

He’s not quite sure what to make of that, what it might mean. But it isn’t important just yet.

“Yes, it has been a while,” he agrees. “I’m sorry to call so late, but I wanted to tell you, I really did like that book you got me for Christmas. It’s not the kind I usually read,” he adds, scrupulously honest, “but father said I should give it a try, and it really was quite interesting.”

Another pause.

“You’re welcome. How have you been?” His smile falls. “Oh. I’m sorry. How long were you in hospital?” He listens a little while longer. “That sounds serious.”

Wensley doesn’t know much about medicine. He likes science well enough, but his interests don’t lie that way. He is, however, more astute than most people think. He knows when someone’s upset, even when they try to hide it. He knows when someone wants to keep talking, but doesn't want to be a bother.

He’s felt these things himself.

“Actually, I’d quite like to hear more about the table tennis. I’ve only ever seen it on television, but it seems interesting. Did everyone at the hospital play?”

He sets down his pencil and puts the list aside. He knows if he stops to talk to everyone like this, it will take all night. But he doesn’t mind. Sometimes it feels good just to talk.

--

In a hotel near the airport, Harriet Dowling pauses on the way to bed, hearing the distinctive sound of a young boy trying not to cry.

She hesitates outside his door for a long time. It’s easier to get a nanny for these things. Nannies are trained, they know what to say. No one ever taught Harriet how to be a mother.

But, finally, she pushes the door open. “Warlock? Are you…do you need anything?”

“Shut up,” he snaps, sniffling in the dark. “Go away. I’m fine.”

Should she do what he says? Should she push back? “Honey…I know you aren’t fine. You can tell me. What’s wrong?”

“What do you think is wrong? I don’t want to go to – to stupid America. I want to go back to London, I want to see my friends again!”

“Warlock—”

“I want my Nanny!”

Silence fills the room.

“Warlock. Nanny is gone.” She hears him flump down angrily in the bed. Cautiously, Harriet steps forward, closing the distance. “I wish she wasn’t. She was a model employee, but she had to…” Her brain scrambles for a moment, unable to remember the circumstances of Nanny Ashtoreth’s departure. “She had to go home.” That seemed right.

“Why does everyone have to leave? Why does everything have to change?”

“I…that’s just how life is, Warlock.” No, that tone is all wrong. She tries again, softer. “Things never stop changing. We just…we do the best we can. We make mistakes, we adapt, we keep going.” She sinks onto the edge of the bed. “I know you miss Nanny. I miss her, too. She…she took good care of you, and I’m so grateful for that.”

“She cared about me,” Warlock snaps, accusing.

“I care about you, I’m your mother—” She takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I love you, Warlock, and…if you don’t know that, it’s my fault.” Harriet turns away, trying to hide her tears. “I wish she was here, too, but, well…it’s just me. But I’ll do my best.”

She doesn’t know what to say next, but Warlock grabs her, clings to her, cries into her shoulder like he hasn’t in years. Harriet feels the familiar wave of panic, and the ache, the need to find someone who can help her child.

But there isn’t anyone left but her.

So, uncertain, she puts her arms around her son. “It’s ok, Warlock. We’ll get through this. We’ll…we’ll find a way.”

--

The angel and demon don’t speak as they walk through the apartment, settle into bed. After six thousand years, some things don’t need to be said.

They reach out in the darkness, drawn together, warmth seeking warmth. Every touch of skin on skin is a comfort, a sign that nothing has ended yet, that the world continues to turn. They hold each other silently, pulling close, closer, as if trying to become one being.

The world around them trembles, and they feel every aftershock.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Aziraphale wonders, lifting his face from where it rests on Crowley’s shoulder.

“Who?” Crowley clings to Aziraphale, as if to absorb his strength, as if the angel were the last solid object in the world.

“Everyone. The humans. Earth.” When he sighs, the breath is hot on Crowley’s cheek. “If something happens to us, will they be alright?”

“Dunno. Not really up to us anymore, is it? You do your best, take care of them, send them out to live their lives, and just hope it all works out.”

Aziraphale nods, but he doesn’t feel any better. “They aren’t bad, you know. The humans. Yes they can be cruel and - and cold, and they’ve made mistakes but every one of them is capable of so much kindness. So much love. They just – they need—”

“I know.” Crowley runs a hand across his cheek. “If anyone knows, it’s me. And...yeah. I think they’re going to be fine.”

The angel pulls closer, burrowing against Crowley’s chest until he can hear his heartbeat, feel the rise and fall of every breath.

“But nothing’s going to happen to us, right?” The demon’s voice is as enthusiastic as he can make it, his fingers gently stroking through silver curls. “We’ll get out of this. We’ll be back. And then we’ll be able to do whatever the Heaven we want.”

“Ah.” Aziraphale watches his fingers curl along Crowley’s bicep. “Together?”

After six thousand years, it’s good to hear certain things out loud.

“Yeah. Together.”

--

Adam sits alone in bed, except for Dog, crouched by his feet and watching attentively. The boy moves now and then, reaching out a hand to scratch Dog’s head, but never opens his eyes. 

At the airbase he could see it. Could feel it. The world had gone wrong, very wrong; all day, all week. Some of the wrongness went all the way back to when he was born.

There’s no way to fix it all, no way to find every thread and put it back in place. That just disturbed other strands, and others, and others. And every one of those threads is a life.

Still, he keeps reaching.

A delivery man, safely home with his wife.

A telemarketer, waking confused from a terrible dream full of maggots and screaming, and a young child’s voice telling her she really ought to find another job. Tricking people into buying stuff is no good.

An ex-nun who didn’t deserve to have her business taken away over a misunderstanding with some guns.

A thousand people who’d been blasted with demonic power when they’d simply wanted to go for a drive.

One very loyal car.

Adam can’t put everything right. It’s too big a job, even for an Antichrist, and in any case who’s he to say what right is?

But he will fix what he can fix, and trust humanity to figure out the rest.

So, all through the night, Adam works; and all around the world, people hold each other a little closer, feeling afraid, feeling hopeful. Feeling loved.

[1]It won’t. The bus’s tank is full, and will remain so on the drive back. A miracle, but the sort that usually goes unnoticed.

--

Thank you all for reading!

[kiribakuficrecs]

hi!! i’m kinda sad rn, can you rec any really sweet, fluffy fics? hurt/comfort maybe too if possible?

hello there!! i’m so sorry you’re feeling sad, here are some of my favorite fluffy fics and hurt/comfort stories that come to mind

cotton candy hands by chonideno

Studying to become a hero requires knowing how to take care of yourself. Sometimes you might need help on the way so if your crush offers to do your hair for you or to give you a well-deserved back rub, it'd be stupid to say no.

A series of soft vignettes in which a love-struck Kirishima and a touch-starved Bakugou care for each other and it's definitely not making their hearts jump through hoops, they’re never this close to kissing, no, they're totally best friends bro

get tough, straight up by qactus

Then again, Kirishima never had this Bakugou Katsuki thing under control—probably everyone's known that, too.

what we deserve by aloera

“Never have I ever met my soulmate,” Uraraka says.

Katsuki freezes. Around the circle, a few people take their drinks. Deku and Todoroki both smile softly before sipping. Yaomomo and Kyouka grin and clink their drinks together, before sipping at the same time. It’s so fucking stupid, this is a dumbass game and he could most definitely lie and nobody would even know–

Drunk Katsuki takes a sip and the room goes silent. At his side, Eijirou goes rigid.

“Sorry, Katsuki, what?”

“Oh boy,” Mina whistles.

in which nobody has ever taught Katsuki that the foundation of most healthy relationships is not, in fact, weapons-grade emotional repression.

cranky-shima by purplepersnickety

"Oh, I just fell out of bed," Kirishima said, almost airily. He put one hand to the back of his neck. "But I'm good."

Katsuki squinted at him. "No you're not."

Kirishima's expression fell, and he looked down at the hand not on his neck. His fingers were trembling and he closed his hand up into a fist. "No, I'm not. Fuck it."

the knock-on effect by kiritime

Katsuki hated the sound of a knock.

From parents on his bedroom door to extras trying to coax him out - it all meant invasion of his fucking space.

Until it came from the other side of the wall. That knock? The opposite of unwanted company. It meant Kirishima was who wanted him.

-

red - im jus knocking

you - just knocking?

red - for when u dont want to talk to anyone

There was another knock, one that somehow sounded happy? It was upbeat at the least.

red - ill jus knock! red - n all u need to do is knock back so i kno ur ok

we’re a good match, so let’s start a fire by claus_lucas

Kirishima thought he’d mess with this guy by pretending to help him hunt down a dragon, but at this point Kirishima really likes Bakugou and doesn’t know how to admit that he is the dragon.

Maybe if Kirishima can get Bakugou to like him back enough, he won’t be told to fuck off forever.

shattered by toshichan

The hardest of rocks can break, the strongest crystal can shatter.

Still, nobody thought that Kirishima of all people, could be hurt in such a way.

easy now, with my heart (careful now, with my head) by multiclassmaps

Between kissing in the woods and arguing where others could hear, the only real surprise is how long it took everyone to figure it out. - “'Course there's nothing to worry about,” Bakugou grumbled, voice low. “You're here, right?”

an obvious patch by sweetsentences

In which Kirishima is hurt, Bakugo is stressed, and everything is going to be okay.

if i offer you my hand, will you take it? by bleukitsune

“Why?”

Kirishima leaned back on his hands, trying to create some space between them. Too close. The ash-blond looked really nervous, his usually arrogant and cunning demeanor gone.

“What do you see when you look at me?”

Kirishima is worried. Bakugou is hurting. After his confrontation with Midoriya, he finally reaches out to him.

help me get out of my head by popcap

“Don’t let go." "Deal."

when you’re in love with your boyfriend by ellieb3an

... and you live in different cities.

5 times Eijirou wished he and his boyfriend lived in the same city, plus 1 time they fixed that problem.

cold in the hands you left me by poetic_leopard

Bakugou forces his gaze level with Kirishima’s eyes—and he’s never been looked at so softly. Bakugou is not soft. If anything, he’s blood spat on concrete.

[or: it's been a month since bakugou's kidnapping & consecutive rescue, but he's still having nightmares. a series of 5 anxiety-peppered, surreal nights where kirishima's the only thing bakugou can allow himself to hold onto].

i also have alot more fics tagged under both hurt/comfort and fluff if you wanna check those out too! i hope you feel better soon and that these helped a lil ♡

[elbracco]

LiS2 Fanfiction recommendation list - updated

I updated the ff list I made a few months ago. As before, if anyone has any suggestions to add, I’m all ears. I divided the stories into three categories (Post-ending, AUs and Missing Moments) and all the ffs on this list are either completed or still actively updated.

POST-ENDING

Blood Brothers: To Puerto Lobos - And Beyond! by SerratedCucumber, in progress. It starts as the brothers break into Mexico and follows them as they try to build a life for themselves. I swear that I hear Gonzalo and Roman every time that Sean or Daniel say something: the dialogue is that good. 11,000 words for now.

*

Lone Wolf: The One You Feed by zeldanerdster, in progress. This work follows the "Lone Wolf" path immediately after events unfold at the border. Following that, it will chronicle Daniel's experiences for as far as they take him in an effort to reconcile the various open-ended resolutions of Life is Strange 2. Because LW didn’t break our hearts enough. 20,500 words for now. Lone Superwolf by Dreamprism, in progress. The ff begins with Sean’s death at the border and aims to show how Daniel got from the car to the “six years later” scene. The fanfic is written from the perspective of Daniel Diaz, similar to how Sean shares his internal thoughts with the player throughout Life is Strange 2. 17,000 words for now.

*

Parting Ways: After by koldtbold, one-shot. Sean gets to Mexico, Daniel doesn’t. Sean has a lot to do and think about. What I love about this story is that there’s much bitter and little sweet, but like in the game there’s an undercurrent of optimism, a feeling that tomorrow can still turn into a better day. 6,000 words. When There’s Nowhere Else to Run, by Autumnyte, in progress. It begins right after Daniel yeets himself from the car and follows Sean as he tries to build a life for himself in Puerto Lobos. I told Autumnyte that this story feels like a blanket: it’s warm and comfortable. No matter what issues Sean has to deal with, there is a pervasive undertone of "tomorrow will be better" that I think really captures the spirit of the game. He is done running, and he can now start to look to the future with hope. 31,000 words for now.

*

Redemption:

The Bravest Wolf in the World by RoodAwakening, 2 chapters left. Ask anyone for reading suggestions, and they’ll inevitably point you to this story, for a reason. Sean finds out he can use his sketches to time-travel, much like Max did with her photos, prevents Esteban’s death, and has to deal with the consequences as he tries to navigate the new life he made for himself. Wonderful characters, a realistic depiction of trauma, and golden dialogue. I love this Sean, I love the people in his life, I love his interactions with all the characters. 160,000 words (!) for now. A Howl in the Night by Bracco, one-shot. Sean is in prison, and Daniel is free: it’s everything that Sean had wanted when he surrendered. That means he can be happy… right? 28,500 words. Tomorrow's Horizon by AlariOdonell, in progress. A mysterious stranger recruits a post-bay Max Caulfield with the promise to bring Chloe back to life and to right a few wrongs along the way, like those suffered by two brothers. I am very partial to this story because it ticks every box in my list of narrative kinks: a well-written OC, an incoming threat, superpowers, misfits teaming up, IC characters, action and fuzzy feelings... 52,000 words for now, updated bi-weekly. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by DarkJaden825698, one-shot. After his sentence, Sean reconnects with some old friends and says some things he didn't get to say when he had the chance. This story is a warm, fuzzy thing where everything goes well for a change. I may also be very partial to the title: that song is tied to some of my fondest memories, so extra points to the author. 4,000 words. Spirit Realm: Road to Redemption by Sombraguerrero, completed. Sean has served his sentence, abbreviated by a lack of success on the authorities' part to attain burden of proof on the supposed major crimes. The public has run out of patience and has allowed Sean and Daniel to try and pick up the pieces, with as much help as they can get along what is once again a rough road. 21,000 words. Stay Strange by DarkJaden825698, completed. Dr. Bright is assigned to Sean Diaz as his therapist in prison, and walks him through his trauma while trying to find him a lawyer to challenge his sentence. Crossover fic between LiS2 and The Bright Sessions podcast - you don’t know anything about the podcast? Me neither, and it’s not an issue. 32,000 words.

AUs

And All These Empty Streets by Riona, one-shot. After the apocalypse, Sean and Daniel have a run-in with Joel and Ellie from TLOU. I think that this is the story that made me realize how I love Sean and Daniel so much that I’m willing to read the weirdest AUs and crossovers so long. It flows really well and it feels natural. 2,000 words.

Riona has written a lot of stories that start from an unexpected premise and draw a little vignette. They are all different from each other and I loved them all. Check out her AO3 profile! Can you give me a hint by Idnis, completed. Teenage Daniel/Chris. If you like “mutual pining” and “dumb idiots in love”, this story will make your day. It’s just... fluffy and sweet and innocent, a tiny bit of teenage drama that Daniel and Chris deserve after everything they’ve been through. 22,500 words. Closer to the Heart by darkjaden825698, in progress. After the shooting, Sean waits for the police to arrive. He’s cleared of all charges and sent to live to Beaver Creek, where he must come to terms with what happened and rebuild a life for himself. A teen drama where nothing bad happens to the boys and they get to live normal lives? Hit me with it. 4,000 words. Double exposure by Riona, completed. It draws inspiration from *Your Name*: Max and Sean begin swapping bodies at random. If the premise doesn’t turn you away, it’s a beautiful bittersweet story about two people trying to help each other while their own worlds are falling apart. 11,000 words. Faithless by HollowK, in progress. Six years after the failed heist, Sean wakes up from his coma and has a brother to find. Exactly: oof. 6,500 words for now. I Took Both Roads, series by owlmug. AU where Esteban isn’t shot. Sean/Finn (with some Sean/Cassidy in the first story). It’s a coming of age story, and I really loved how the author mirrored some situations that are found in the game by giving them a new twist. I won’t lie, these stories hurt, because they made me think about what could have been. The characters are spot on, and the interactions of the Diaz family are golden. Bonus points for having Sean behave like a teenage brat at times, because the boy deserved to have temper tantrums and getting into fights with Esteban over stupid stuff. There are also a lot of beautiful images across the series, a lot of lines that feel raw and powerful, and a lot of healing. At times it’s like having a heart-to-heart with the author. Sometimes I felt that the sex scenes were too long, and some of them I found unnecessary, but that’s just my personal taste. I really liked all the four stories, but the last one is my favourite for sure because it follows Esteban’s point of view and it’s *chef’s kiss*.

 1.       A Way to Reappear (https://archiveofourown.org/works/19096837), 18,000 words. Sean’s POV

2.       A Piece of the Puzzle (https://archiveofourown.org/works/19386670), 26,000 words. Sean’s POV

3.       A Little left Behind (https://archiveofourown.org/works/19852561), 24,000 words. Finn’s POV

4.       (I’ve Been Going Through) a Change (https://archiveofourown.org/works/20562086), 28,000 words. Esteban’s POV.

If I Lay Here by owlmug, completed. Diverges from canon after episode 3. Sean and Finn try to track Daniel down. Sean/Finn, 46,500 words. I can repeat here most of what I wrote for the earlier series: wonderful characterization, beautiful imagery, touching themes, characters that find themselves along the way. Something that makes you go “Please, sir, can I have some more?” at the end of every chapter. i just don’t know how i’m doing (i’m so curious about you) by Larrymurphycansteponme, one-shot. Another High School AU, another wonderful coming of age story for Sean. I wish I could make it justice without repeating everything I said about owlmug’s series: spot-on characterization, a beautiful narrative about growing up and finding one’s way, wonderful imagery. It’s the story of what Sean deserved to have, and one of my favorite ever. 28,000 words.

MISSING MOMENTS

A Night With Misty Mice by That_one_internet_lover, completed. It follows Sean and Lyla’s concert night that is mentioned in his phone chat in ep.1. It’s the first fanfiction I read after my endgame heartbreak: it gave me all the happy Sean I wanted, and even a bit more. The dynamic between him and Lyla is exactly what I pictured from their interactions in the game, put into words by someone who knows what they’re doing. 10,000 words. Astray by Riona, one-shot. Daniel leaves Sean behind after the events of Wastelands. It’s probably more of an AU than a Missing Moment, since it was written before Faith came out and so it’s not entirely canon-compliant, but it’s still a very good window on Daniel’s state of mind after the heist. I’m eternally grateful to Riona for filling some of the gaps that the game left in the development of these wonderful characters. 1,500 words.  Fire and Floods by Riona, one-shot. Sean and Daniel go on the run, and this fic covers the first day of their journey. A spot-on dissection of Sean’s feelings after the shooting. 1,500 words. life is strange 2 poems by Spotsuns, an ongoing collection of one-shots. These stories have all the oooffness of the game. The stories in here hurt. In the good way, but they hurt nonetheless. Beautiful character studies, and some heavy-duty, post-ending feel unpacking. 11,000 words. Never Stop Shining by CorazonDesnudo, in progress. During his stay in Away, Sean receives a letter from Finn with an offer to help him and Daniel cross the border. It’s a chance to come to terms with a lot of things he didn’t really process before. 11,000 words for now. Torchbearers by Riona. Ep.1’s Sean and Daniel run into Max and Chloe among the ruins of Arcadia Bay. I can definitely see this story being a moment of quiet in the game. 2,600 words. What Remains of the Diaz Family by That_one_internet_lover, completed. Lyla sneaks into the Diaz household after the brothers have disappeared. Heartbreaking oofness ensues as Lyla walks through their memories and faces her own pain. 6500 words.

[amerie-wadia]

jjmaybnk’s Kie’s Kook Year series [1/?]

starting this little series of mini fics/scenes/vignettes about kie and sarah during kie’s kook year because we NEED more wlw!kie content in this fandom and i’m too lazy to turn this into a real fic, so it’s just gonna stay like this for now.

Kie meets Sarah on the first day of school.

The Kook Academy has tall ceilings and extra wide lockers that could easily fit a whole person inside. It has state of the art computers and those white boards that are also projectors. The halls are quiet, the cafeteria has couches, and there’s courtyard with the most ridiculous fountain of some dead military general that Kie didn’t care enough to read the name of on it’s marble plaque. She straightens her tie when she hops out of her dad’s car.

Her uniform is stupidly beige and grey and Kie’s button-down has been ironed to a crisp so it’s stiff in the armpits and the elbows. Kie wrestles her backpack straps around her shoulder until the weight doesn’t feel like bricks in her shoes. All she had to do is take a step. One step and she’d be standing inside the doors of the school she’d begged so hard to attend.

“What the hell are you doing?” somebody asks and Kie spins around to see an aggressively tall white boy glaring her down. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone and his hair is coated in so much gel Kie wonders if a feather could snap it all off. “This is a doorway not your private lounge.” His voice is nails on a chalkboard.

“Shut up, Rafe. Don’t be such a dick,” spits another voice: a girl’s voice. The girl is shoving the guy to the side and brushes her hands against her skirt as if touching him had caused them to be dirty. She smiles at Kie and that’s all it takes for Kie to turn to jelly.

“Sorry about my brother. Just ignore him, we all do. I’m Sarah,” she introduces, glancing back at the guy and shrugging her shoulders. She steps through the doorway into the school and Kie follows her. The girl, Sarah, has so much confidence that Kie thinks she may just follow her anywhere.

“I’m Kiara.”

“First day?” Sarah asks, waving to some guy they pass in the hall and coming to a stop at one of the lockers. Kie stops too, unsure if she should or not. But Sarah keeps talking so Kie follows her lead. “There’s like fifty people in the whole school, you know? Word travels fast.”

“It’s the first day of the school year,” Kie comments, unsure why anybody would care about who the new freshmen are.

“Yeah but, like, we all went to middle school together and you didn’t.”

“Oh.”

“No,” she adds quickly, “it’s not like a bad thing. But you should know that everybody is going to be talking about you.” Kie can’t tell if that’s a warning or a threat. Sarah’s face is sharp and intimidating and that really makes it feel like a threat.

“Are you a freshman too?” Kie asks, even though she’s pretty sure the girl is.

“Guilty,” Sarah grins and slams her locker closed. “What’s your first class?”

“Biology with, uh, Feltzman?”

“God, he’s the worst. My brother had him and apparently he like never gives out A’s. Show me your schedule.”

It’s not a question, so Kie opens up her phone to the screenshot she has of her class list. She directs the phone toward Sarah, who takes it right out of her hand and zooms in with her manicured fingers. 

“Oh god. Ew. No.”

Kie wonders what about her schedule is bad. Sarah’s face is scrunched up but then it relaxes and she hands the phone back to Kie, grabbing a textbook from her locker and stuffing her backpack inside. 

“We have two classes together: Spanish and Intro to Drawing. Your schedule really sucks though, just a heads up.”

“Um, thanks?”

“You’re welcome,” she smiles and Kie doesn’t know how to respond because she hadn’t meant to actually thank Sarah at all.

A guy approaches them and presses a kiss to Sarah’s cheek. 

“Babe, stop,” she whines, squirming but leaning against his shoulder. 

“Who’s this?” he asks Sarah as if Kie wasn’t even in the room.

“I’m Kiara,” she states flatly and Sarah lets out a sharp giggle but elbows the guy in the stomach. 

“She’s new,” Sarah elaborates. “Kiara, this is my boyfriend, Jake. Jake, Kiara.”

“Wait, you look so familiar,” he comments, voice dull and scratchy as if he had just been smoking. 

“Maybe you’ve seen me around.”

“You from the OBX?” he asks and Sarah’s eyes widen. 

“Born and raised.”

“Wait, no way. Why haven’t we met before then?” Sarah asks, reaching out to touch Kie’s forearm for a moment and then pulls her hand back around her books. 

“I don’t know.”

“You live on Figure Eight?” the guy asks, tightening his hold on Sarah. She doesn’t look very comfortable but she’s not fighting the touch either. 

“Yeah, kind of.”

“Kind of?” Sarah asks. 

“I don’t spend much time there. All my friends live on the Cut.”

“You must have some shitty friends, then,” the guy cackles and Kie really wants to knee him. Hard. In the gut. Sarah slaps his chest. 

“Shut up,” she hisses under her breath, eyes narrowing before she looks back over at Kie with a what-can-you-do expression. “Well, there’s a back to school party this Friday night at my place and you should come check it out. Maybe make some friends who actually go to this school.”

It’s condescending and a bit pretentious, but Sarah’s smile is warm and Kie really could use a friend or two since she’s going to be sticking around for the next four years. The guy hanging all over Sarah makes Kie question her decision for a minute. 

“It’ll be chill, there’s not that many of us here anyway. More of a kickback,” Sarah explains further, voice softer. 

“Okay, then sure. That sounds okay.”

“Okay? Great, I can text you the information in Spanish!” 

“Thanks.” 

“The bell is gonna ring any second but it was nice meeting you Kiara.”

“It was nice meeting you too,” Kie agrees. 

“Yeah, whatever,” the guy says and tugs at Sarah’s hand. Sarah spins around and heads through one of the doors into a classroom. Kie misses the way her brown hair flutters around her face but she draws her attention to her schedule to figure out where the hell classroom 7B is.

[my-love-peterp]

Mistaken Chapter Seven

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE TAGLIST DROP ME AN ASK

please like and rb/comment <3

Word Count: 4268

THERE ARE NO ENDGAME SPOILERS, THIS IS A DELAYED UPLOAD FROM AO3

Fic Summary: Peter Parker has been given the responsibility of bringing in a new recruit. Now, as an adult, he realizes that none of the trashy YA novels he read in high school could have prepared him for this. There was a storm on the horizon, and all they could do from the Tower is watch.

Chapter Summary: So this is definitely a chapter on my list of necessary revisions HOWEVER,  I’m writing one from some other characters POV just to shed some extra light on the circumstances surrounding what happens in this chapter. I think for sure we’ll get some Tony vignettes and maybe Steve and Darcy as well, just assessing Kaida and Tony and their states of mind (fragile, not great) and get into some motivating factors. Also, I know it’s a long time in coming but the big bad is coming soon. It’s not just Kaida vs herself as the main conflict in this piece. 

Warnings: drinking, smut, the like

Chapter One   Chapter Two   Chapter Three   Chapter Four   Chapter Five Chapter Six

The next day, I was reading the next book on my to be read list when Peter came screeching into the common room. “Cranewood!!” He practically shrieked as he ran, hips first into the back of the couch I was lounging one. He miscalculated his own speed and toppled over the back, faceplanting right into my lap.

“Oh my god, oh my god I’m so sorry I didn’t-oh, Jesus, I’m so sorry I just totally invaded your personal space and literally put my face there and oh my god.” He cut his own self off and blushed so deep, the tips of his ears almost flowed red. Peter licked himself back up and adjusted his blue sweatshirt before running his hands through the hair on the back of his neck and refusing to make eye contact with me.

“Peter?”

“Y-yeah what’s up Kaida,” he managed to squeak out before coughing and clearing his throat, lowering his voice to compensate. I just stared back at him expectantly, dog-earring my page before slamming the book shut between my thighs. He blinked twice before shifting uncomfortably between feet. I swear, for an adult man, this boy sure acted like a gawky sophomore a lot.

“Oh. Oh yeah!!! We’ve met before. Cranewood School for Girls. Technically you and Spider-Man met but... I’m hurt that you were never even going to mention the first time I saved your life. What’s up with that? And also how did a Hydra ghost end up on Long Island at an elite prep school for upstanding young women and-“ I tuned him out unconsciously.

In truth, I had completely forgotten my run in with Spider-Man when I was 13. My sister and I were much too busy then still readjusting to a normal lifestyle we’d never had and covering our tracks while breaking enough laws to provide for ourselves, day in and day out.

Nadia had laundered enough money that We had more than enough for a down payment on a small apartment in the Long Island area and I was proficient enough in my mimicry and illusion work that we were able to enroll in school with a late start due to our “parents” and their extremely generous donations. It certainly helped that Nadia and I were both whip-smart.

I remembered the day Spidey was talking about. Some jack booted Hydra thug had stormed the grounds and held my class hostage, because his primary target, Anna, who was the daughter of a senator, was my classmate. Luckily, she sat about as far away from me as popular so the Agent was never able to see my face. I didn’t realize the whole upset was over until I had felt a large hand rubbing my back.

Of course, it was Spider-Man that came to my rescue. That day seemed to repeat itself over and over with no end sight. Of course, he was comforting me. His super hearing was the first power I’d ever assimilated by accident. We should test that more in the lab.

As I opened my mouth to finally suggest a battery of tests to Peter, FRIDAY started shouting instructions to be heard over the loud clang of the emergency bell.

Science could wait.

A few months later

The alarm cut through my concentration. It turned out to be just a bigger Code Green false alarm. We’d had two in the last week. I’m not blaming it on any specific individuals but there’s was something to be said in the 200% uptick in near Code Green’s since Dr. Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis, intern and mechanical engineer extraordinaire returned from Reykjavik. But who was I to complain? After the relocated to the Tower back in May, just three months ago, there were more Strawberry pop tarts in the pantries than I’d ever seen before in my life. And it was so relieving to have another ‘devil may care’ woman around the Tower.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Natasha for all that she is but she’s just a teacher to me. And Wanda read as more of a mom friend in my mind. Darcy is the kind of girl you make up desperate housewives drinking games with. We gravitated toward each other immediately, bonding over baking, needling Tony, and then bemoaning the lack of clubbing appropriate company. She also held no judgment for me about my past, which I couldn’t believe until I saw her and Bucky making googly eyes at each other from across the room, then it all clicked.

Darcy Lewis had become my best friend, big sister and closest confidant and just a week’s time. Now, a few months later, there were still no hydra threats and my probation was set to be lifted this evening. “The perfect time to go clubbing “ Darcy had declared it, before enlisting my strengths to remove, forcibly if necessary, the science squad from their labs. And then to force them out into the world of the living. The only member to straight up refuse was Tony, as was expected. We had been… Cordial to one another but never anything more. I am nearly positive he had Friday keep tabs on my location just so he could avoid me at all times. Inevitably, we would run into each other Coming and going from our quarters or as we made our way to and from our designated lab spaces. I still didn’t quite understand why Tony lived on the same floor as the rest of the Avengers when I knew damn well he had his own penthouse in the tower.

Anyways, my lab was certainly something to behold. The calling it my lab was a bit of a stretch considering I didn’t build anything really, I just tested my powers and checked my biological markers with gadgets that Tony, Bruce, and Dr. Helen Cho had come up with together. We were still waiting for a contact from a group called the guardians who would potential he be able to determine what part alien I am. But it was the world’s most high tech library/relaxation room/artist’s studio. All to make remaining in it all day for the sake of data aggregation tenable.

To say I was bored out of my mind at first was an understatement. But over time I began to have visitors. Darcy was a daily, and surprisingly, so was Pietro. Peter and Bucky also visited, if less frequently. And, oddly enough, Vision was there almost all the time. I asked him about it once and he shrugged (how does a former AI program shrug so effectively) and simply stated that my presence combed his mind. Whatever that meant.

In any case, I wasn’t as bored or lonely anymore. In fact, I could almost swear that something was developing between Pietro and I.

Earlier this week, as I was doing the Times word search and also project in my powers to deflect incoming projectiles, my hair was flipped up and into my face, causing my concentration to skip which led to a tennis ball smacking me right in the face. Above me, Pietro burst out laughing and DUM-E beeped apologetically.

“I don’t think I can forgive you for this,“ I deadpanned, reaching back to jab him in the kidney, which he promptly dodged, all the while still cackling. When his laughing fit finally subsided, he stood back up straight.

“I have an idea, “he announced proudly.

“Stop the presses everyone, and called the Vatican, Speedy here has an idea. It must be a miracle. First one in a decade. The world must be ending,” I replied, looking at him and trying not to smirk. I will give him props because the obscene shocked and hurt that filled his face moments later was almost convincing. He chuckled and moved to sit on the stool next to me. He said nothing, only staring at me.

“Okay Zippy, what was your big idea?”

“You haven’t tested your instinctual and biological responses enough. For example, the fight or flight instinct is recreated too imperfectly in simulated situations to be of any use to you. However, there is another way around that beyond throwing yourself into open combat.” I tilted my head, waiting for him to continue. He leaned forward placing his hands on my side and leaning closer. Hesitant but not opposed, my eyes fluttered chat. Instead of kissing me as I had assumed (hoped!) was his plan, I felt his lips brush against the shell of my ear. I shattered at the sensation, anticipating.

“I have a question “, he whispered. I mumbled my acknowledgment and it took me a few seconds to process what he had said and by that time it was already too late. “ are you ticklish,” he had whisper gently. Now he was mercilessly attacking my side with one, extremely quick fingers, whenever I moved to try to escape, he was there.

I collapsed to the ground, giggling breathlessly before I cut myself and put on my grumpy face. Pietro smiled lazily and shifted so his knees were on either side of my thighs.

“ if you tickle me again, I’ll scream,” I warned him.

“ I bet I could have you screaming my name,” he replied cheesily.

“ I actually hate you right now. I’m considering making you my official arch nemesis. I might make T-shirts. And badges. Definitely badges.”

“Who’s making badges? Didn’t you know nemesis badges are so last season? This is why you should consult the great and powerful Darcy on all things,” came the snarky voice of my best friend from the lab door. I urgently pushed Pietro up and off of me. But as was the theme of the day, I was seconds too late, and Darcy saw us in a position that looked extremely compromising without context.

She raised her eyebrows at me, cheeks twitching as she managed, for once, to hold back whatever retort she thought of once she saw me beneath Pietro. Instead, she readjusted herself and offered me a hand to pick me up off of the slightly dusty floor. I made a mental note to give DUM-E the Swiffer tonight.

After I was back on my feet and thoroughly dusted off, Darcy approached the silver-haired man who was currently leaning against one of my shoulder high bookshelves, jabbing her finger into his sternum. “You hurt my sister and I know an Asgardian who can make your life a living hell. And no, I’m not talking about Thor. Plus, you should be scared of me, I’ve bested him in combat once before and I can certainly take you. So watch yourself Maximoff,” she growled before stomping away, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me along behind her. “We’ve talked about this,” she hissed at me after her suite door slammed behind us. She’d been silent the entire elevator ride down to her floor. I loved Darcy but she was still a little paranoid about FRIDAY always being present and listening in.

“Darcy it wasn’t like that, he... tickled me?”

She snorted in disbelief. “Yeah, I bet he did. Looked like he wanted to do a lot more from where I was standing kid. I’m telling you he’s bad news. What do you see in him anyway?”

I scoffed at her insinuation that somehow, Pietro would be the rotten one between us. “Dee I was literally sleeping with Tony Stark a few months ago while I had intimate knowledge of his fiancés fate. Plus I’m not exactly innocent in literally any sense if the word...” I trailed off but she just glared at me, which was her way of telling me that we weren’t leaving until I answered all of her questions.

I sighed and plopped myself down on her cozy armchair, putting my feet up. “It’s just... he’s easy to be around Darcy. It’s not hard, I don’t have to think about anything twice, there’s no pressure. He’s funny, makes me smile, puts up with my shit. And he doesn’t want more from me than I’m willing to give. We’re as easy as breathing.” I blinked, shocked at the words that had just come out of my mouth. Sure, I would admit to having a crush on the guy, he was hot and snarky. I loved that. Wait, love? I really was losing my mind.

“You know what, forget anything I just said. Let’s go out clubbing like you suggested and find me a man to get under for the night. I have to blow off some steam. I’m delusional and sappy over here.”

Darcy shrugged, noncommittally. “What?!” I demanded, confused as all hell.

“If you really feel that way about him, you should tell him. He may not be pushing you to give more than you’re ready for, but is he going to be prepared to give you everything you want, or is he just here for the safe convenience of it Kaida? You two have been prancing around each other like orphaned fawns, afraid to let yourselves get hurt and calling it sacrifice for the other. Or maybe he just doesn’t care and wants to play dirty because you’re available and convenient. “

I was a little hurt at her words but I could see the truth behind them. It was time Pietro and I had a chat. But not before I went out and had fun with my best friend. I relayed that thought to Darcy who excitedly squealed as we plotted to get the Science Squad out and about with us.

That brings us to now. Several of us piling into the biggest limo I’d ever seen. Bruce, Jane, Nat, Clint, Thor, Wanda, Pietro, Sam, Helen, the super soldiers, and even Peter had elected to join Darcy and I out tonight. It was certainly going to be one for the history books.

Smushed as we were in the back of the vehicle, it was oddly calming. For the first time today I felt as though I had time to just think for myself. I brushed my hand along my inner left forearm and shivered as a chill climbed down my spine. The perfectly raised but horrifically off-kilter writing simply read ‘cereal?’ today. Not much to go on if I were actively looking for my soulmate. Not that I would.

Whatever being it was that decided that two halves, or sometimes thirds or fourths of the same soul, would be imprinted with the first and last words their counterparts said for that day, was a complete and total madman.

It wasn’t a whole lot to go off of. I knew they were older than me because I’d gotten the marking before I could speak and I was advanced for my age. I knew they were New Yorkers just by the way they’d mention certain places and things offhand.

But I wasn’t looking for them. It was fairly obvious to me, at that point, that becoming a fixture in my life was beneficial to absolutely no one. And, based on the blip of feeling or insight I’d get mentally from my soulmate bond, whoever they were had a strong sense of duty. Someone who felt duty bound to a person like me would only end up dead.

And yeah, maybe I was kidding myself and these were really just excuses to protect myself from losing more of the people I cared about but honestly who gave a fuck. There were millions of people in this city. What were the odds we’d even run into each other?

Too high. But there was nothing I could do about that.

And then, after what felt like hours, the car stopped and the group spilled out on to the sidewalk before scrambling to the door of the club, bypassing the line. It was one of the classier, more exclusive establishments in town but not too high brow to preclude any riff-raff.

Cue Darcy Lewis, the bane of all rationality. Darcy’s personality was that of an instigator. I, on the other hand, would never back down when challenged. That meant five tequila shots in five minutes in addition to getting three random numbers. Just for fun. A few shots later and Darcy hauled me on to the dance floor.

We writhed and twisted around each other, alternating between cackling at one another and concentrating on looking appealing and feeling sexy. Her hands roamed my body and rested on my hips as I playfully ground myself back into her.

I could see Natasha posted up in the corner, sipping a sea breeze and keeping her eyes open. Bruce stood a few feet away from her, nervously twitching but slugging back some whiskey. Clint was at the bar pounding back beers with Helen, Jane, Thor, and Sam. All seemed deeply invested in a manic take the Asgardian was telling, arms flailing and making weird shapes as he attempted to act out whichever feat of heroism was on tap for tonight. Wanda stood behind them but looked a little lost. That’s when I noticed that Pietro and Peter were both missing.

Peter was easy enough to find, he was perched next to the top of the stairs, keeping up surveillance of the entire place, the boy having no idea how to relax. I was about to mention Pietro’s absence to the brunette behind me when the wind rushed around me. Suddenly, I wasn’t on the dance floor with Darcy but back at the bar with Pietro.

“What the fuck dude,” I bit out, slapping his arm. “You can’t just speed someone without permission, it doesn’t work like that.” Pietro just shrugged and smiled lopsidedly. It was the kind of smile that got him off for everything. And now was no exception.

“But Kaida, you promised to show me what body shots were some day. I would like to do them now if that is okay. I still have not learned all of your silly American customs.”

I was just gone enough to nod eagerly while my body flushed hot. Body shot demonstrations were requested and so they would be done. We started simple, cleavage shots, I showed him with Darcy and then he practiced on me. His scruff scraped pleasantly against my overheated skin and I trembled. Then Darcy whispered salaciously in Pietro’s ear as I rested up against the bar. In a flash, Pietro‘s hands were squeezing around my hips and I was laying on top of the bar, shirt hiked up.

Tequila was poured and salt sprinkled around my Navel by Darcy freakin' Lewis, who, just hours earlier, had scolded both Pietro and I for our touching antics. But now, here she was, encouraging Pietro to haul me on to the bar. Before I could process that emotional whiplash, Pietro’s face was hovering over my stomach, a wicked smile filling his expression. I squirmed and he responded by dipping his head, using his tongue to swipe up the salt from my body before continuing down and sucking on my navel, slurping up all the tequila. My body was positively on fire. I opened my mouth in a breathless moan and nearly choked when my best friend shoved the rind of lime between my teeth. Her face was quickly replaced by Pietro’s. His eyes burned into mine, his pupils were blown, dark and hungry. He placed his mouth over mine, biting down surprisingly gently so lime juice with a hint of a taste that must be pure Pietro flooded my mouth. Icy fire burned through my veins as I completely forgot the discomfort of the hardwood bar pressing against my back. We were drawing closer and closer to each other as Pietro decisively removed the line from my mouth.

The trance was broken by a cough and a throat clearing. The Spiders Two, Peter and Natasha, were standing behind Pietro, arms crossed. Nat’s face was expressionless, but Peter‘s emotions were somewhat clear. He looked uncomfortable, annoyed and something else I couldn’t quite get a read on. My mouth fell open in a drunken grin, as I waved awkwardly to them, attempting to lift my head and slide off the bar and to my feet. Unfortunately, I was still more than a little boneless from the whole “Pietro‘s lips and tongue on my body“ situation, so, while I did manage to slide off the bar, landing on my feet and my high heels was a whole different story.

Long story short, I simply didn’t. Fortunately, when you’re friends with other enhanced people, their reflexes are typically pretty good. So I felt long, pale arms lock around my middle and stop me from falling. I grinned widely again at the feeling of thick ropey muscles encompassing me.

As I righted myself, the arms remained around me, hints of spicy cologne filling my nostrils when I slouched back into the warm body that stood behind me, closing my eyes and tilting my head back to nuzzle into Pietro’s neck. His breath caught and he let out a weirdly high pitched squeak in surprise.

“Oh shoot,” I stammered reflexively, looking down, “did I step on your foot or something? I know these heels can be a bitch.” It took me a minute to realize why what I was seeing felt so wrong. Instead of the tight black jeans Pietro had been wearing that night, my rescued had on dorky khakis and a blue button up. Peter.

“Fuck, Peter I didn’t know it was you, god damn I like almost assaulted you there. I’m so, so sorry. Jesus Christ, no more tequila for me ever.” I just kept rattling off apologies until he waved me away and Darcy took my arm to lead me out to a cab that was pulling up for us. It was time for me to go home, so Clint was being sent with me to supervise and make sure I made it back to the Tower in one piece and then he’d take one of Tony’s cars to drive back to his farmstead. “I’ve gotta take the kids to school tomorrow. Laura has a doctor’s appointment and I’m trying to be a good dad. You know, the whole nine yards. Or at least as good of a dad as a world-renowned assassin can be.” He ended up using the ride to babble on TL me about everything Nathaniel was getting up to at the moment and the big fiasco when he found out he was named after a girl and the killer meltdown when his parents rebuked him.

Clint deposited me in the elevator and hit my floor for me before he took off to the tunnel leading towards our parking garage. For the first fifth floors, everything was silent save for the occasional squeak of a gear or run of a pulley. Until the elevator stopped on one of the lab floors. I should have realized at that moment that all but one member of the Science Squad had been out that night, but it didn’t until I saw him step into the elevator beside me.

We stiffened simultaneously as Tony and I took the other in. Taking opposite corners, we studiously ignored each other as the elevator began moving. It was uncomfortable and deafeningly quiet, but that was probably more than I deserved. And then, as though whatever cosmic being had a direct line to my thoughts coupled with a sick sense of humor, the elevator froze, the lights went dark and an alarm started blaring, quickly followed by the emergency sprinkler system.

So to recap, I was trapped in a metal box, in the dark, being pelted with cold water, quite similar to what my parents used to do to Nadia and me.

It was at this moment that I had my worst panic attack to date. The sharp sense of panic cut down whatever buzz I had built up from the night before. Pure unadulterated terror flooded my chest as I collapsed to the floor, twitching. My chest heaved with silent sobs, my trauma reminding me that if I made a sound, Nadia would be punished and vice verse. Tears streamed down my cheeks and bile coated my throat. I could hear tony working frantically to desired the elevator panel and talking at me. I couldn’t hear what he was saying. It didn’t matter. I was too far gone.

Minutes, maybe hours passed. Before I could think clearly, I was entirely disassociated and then sleeping in a wet puddle on the floor of our stalled elevator.

When I woke up the next morning, I was in my own bed, drowning in an oversized hoody that I recognized as one I had stolen from Bucky weeks ago, that if I had to guess, he had originally stolen from Cap. It was royal blue number with a vintage style logo for the Brooklyn Dodgers, whose move was still a sore spot for Steve Rogers.

I sat up groggily, head pounding. As I finger combed my hair and stood to use my restroom, I heard gently snores coming from the plush sectional in my living room. Lo and behold, the Tony Stark was slumped over, not even under a blanket. The events of last night all came flooding back to me and I flushed a bright pink in embarrassment. I’d never shown just how deep that particular weakness ran for me. I turned back and tried to tiptoe out of the room and down to the communal floor for breakfast when Tony’s voice stopped me in my tracks.

“I think it’s time we had a talk.”

TAGLIST: @peeterparkr @private-bucky-barnes @laurfangirl424 @bucktitybarnes

[youngerdrgrey]

CHARMY? 1. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant? 2. Who reaches for the other one’s hand while driving? 3. Who leaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does it say?) 4. Who initiates sex? 5. Who wants kids? How many? 6. Who apologizes first? 7. Pet names or nicknames? 8. Who says "I love you" first? 9. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other's ear? 10. Who proposes? 11. biggest potential threat to their relationship?

(yesss anon, thank you for these, and since I haven’t updated this week, I wanted to answer these as mini-fics, but they all sort of blurred into one fic, as told by little vignettes. + read it on ao3 if you want bc this got a little long)

first time she got to a restaurant before him, all she could think about was standing him up on their first date. him, outside Vi’s, looking fine with some flowers in his hand, and her, on the other side of town, conniving with Lena.

but she gets used to it. they’re both busy, usually meeting up from wherever they’ve been, and she might be a workaholic, but at least she makes her own hours so she tends to beat him to their dates.

eventually, Charley starts sliding into booths without a second thought. she shifts her phone from her hand so it’s propped against her shoulder. says, “I hear you, Rah, just–one second.” She smiles over at the server. “I’m sorry, my partner’s still out. He got caught up in office hours. Just two specials for us, one with the egg over medium, runny’s fine for the other. Can we get an extra side of bacon and one coffee, one tea. Extra honey please, and the vanilla creamer, if you have it today.”

She smiles at Michelle a second time before going back to her phone.

Ralph Angel chuckles. “Partner, huh?”

+

normally, his hand’s on hers the second they’re out the parking lot. windows up, AC blaring, and the thrum of the car beneath them, but tonight, he could split his knuckles with how tight he chokes the wheel. his teeth grind loud enough that he turns on the music, and she watches the seconds on the song tick up. the rain beats at the windows. the road’ll probably be flooded by morning, so she shouldn’t jog tomorrow. jogging by the barracks doesn’t work as well anyway, so it’s fine. and after this fight, she’ll definitely be back home tonight.

not that she doesn’t like being home. she has her own place for a reason. Micah has a room there. she has most of her clothes there. she’s just gotten used to spending their nights together at his place, where the floorboards creak in greeting and the nightstand has her extra phone charger.

but she’s the one who started the fight tonight. she’s the one who corrected the waiter who called her his wife and said, “Not that Charley Bordelon-Newell doesn’t sound amazing, I just don’t know if I want to do that again.”

his eyes had frozen, pupils forcibly in place while the muscles in his cheek flexed. he’d blinked eventually, but even that came off disappointed. hurt even.

now he drives without looking her way, and she rubs her palms against each other. because she’s not wrong not to want to do that again. she’s not wrong for wanting to just enjoy the relationship without it having to become a marriage. Vi and Hollywood are the strongest, most stable relationship she knows, and they’re not married, so why do she and Remy have to be?

she can’t marry someone just because they want to marry her. she can’t become someone’s everything again only to find out that it’s just another word to them. just another contract worthy of breaching for a better deal somewhere else.

the light in front of them turns yellow. windshield wipers swish, and the song ends without fading into the next one. she’d never expected that Davis would hurt her like that, so she can’t know for sure that Remy won’t either. she can’t let herself be left again.

but she also really doesn’t want to go home alone. she only has the back up toothpaste at the barracks since Micah’s been with Davis for over a week now. she doesn’t even know if the creamer in her fridge is still good. it was for the seventeenth last she checked, and it’s at least the twenty-third, and if she goes home after a fight like this, if there’s no bridging a gap like this, then what have they been doing all this time? what does she have when the person she fought to be with isn’t the person she gets to stay with?

he eases up so they stop before the red light. his grip lightens enough that it’s almost like normal. when he’d drop the wheel and scoop up her hand instead.

so she puts her hand out there. fingers up and splayed, blood pumping loud enough that she can feel the pulse through each finger. and if she stares at her ring finger a little longer than the others, well, it’s just the subject of the night. just because he’s mad that she doesn’t want to marry him and she’s upset that he wants to marry her and they keep finding out that their differences might be stronger than any of the similarities that brought them together in the first place. her fingers jump, and she sighs. lets her eyes drop and flips her hand back over.

but the next song starts. and he slips his hand off the wheel and takes hers. his nostrils flare, but he doesn’t let go, and she shifts so their fingers can lock up again.

his throat croaks when he goes to talk. vocal chords still tight from clenching up. “Where to?”

“I would say your place or mine, but I don’t want to go home without you.”

he nods like that tells him all he needs to know. she only sees the green of the light as it reflects back in his eyes.

“My place it is.”

+

she’s gone by morning, but the coffee’s still hot in the french press when he wakes up. one of his grocery list slips pokes out from the mug next to it.

I’m not closed to the idea, he reads. Lunch?

but he’s got more meetings with collective members scheduled for his free hours today. so he writes under the note ( how about dinner instead? ) and snaps it to her.

she replies with a snap, already in her chair at the office. Too much to do here to be out all night again.

he doesn’t bother taking a picture, replying in the chat, I could drop by. then, to keep it light, he adds, meals beat mills.

her next snap’s just her laughing, eyes bright, teeth shining. “You’re stupid.” she’s always said it like I love you.

he takes a video back. lifts the camera up to hit the angles she’s been talking about. “I’ll come by once I’m done for the day.” he hits send and pours himself a cup of the coffee. adds another message, glad you’re not closed to it.

+

nights at her office always work out better than nights at his. her office sort of echoes. it’s got a bit of a warmth to it, but it’s like the bittersweet way they got together has stained the walls.

but his office? with the desks at just the perfect height for her to prop on top of?

she sucks her teeth when he suggests working out of there. says, “You know how you get.”

he plays innocent. says he just wants to work where his students could reach him if they needed anything. plus, all his designs are there. pretty much everything he needs to get her in there.

but they’re not there more than a few minutes before he starts leaning back in his chair. eyes hooded, lips slightly parted.

she rolls her eyes. “You’re not even gonna pretend you want to work?”

he points out, “You haven’t taken out your laptop.”

“So you can push it aside like last time?”

he has the decency to act like he’s sorry. while he lifts himself out the chair with two perfectly flexed arms and his head ducked down so his eyes blink straight up to hers. but once he stands to his full height, he towers over her, practically chest to chest, and he licks his lips just to watch her eyes follow his trail.

“Want me to apologize?”

fuck this guy.

(but also, fuck this guy.)

+

the whole family gets obsessed with the thought of babies. marriage isn’t a thing they talk about anymore, but kids have never been off the table.

he wants two more, he tells her. he thinks kids work well in threes so there’s always a bit of a balance there. nobody can clearly say that anybody else has more power or had it better.

being one of three, she snorts at the reasoning. but she wouldn’t mind doing it again, at least once.

“Not twice?”

she pecks him instead of answering. “Let’s try this one first, okay?”

+

she apologizes with soft kisses and takes months before the words start to come. she’s sorry for standing him up, or using up all the hot water, or the time she tells Nova about maybe being pregnant before she even thinks about telling him. but mostly, she’s sorry she’s not easier to love.

for his part, he’s sorry that he doesn’t always show how easy loving her actually is for him. he’s sorry that he speaks just as quick as she does but rarely takes anything back. and he’s sorry that he always seems to want more than she’s ready for.

but patience helps. and they get better at finding the words.

+

“Char.”

“Nope.”

“Charley.”

“I’m not doing this.”

“Charley, come on.”

“Saying my name’s not gonna change anything.”

he nudges her, forehead to forehead. “Please, Charley.”

“Fine.” she switches her phone to airplane mode. “We’ll tell him, but I don’t want to get his hopes up when there’s nothing real to say.”

“You’d rather surprise him when he gets back to see a nursery where his room used to be?”

“I’m not pregnant. And there’s not going to be a nursery at the barracks. I’m moving in before we get to that point.”

he hums. “Are you now?”

she hums. “I am. And we’ll fix up that swing on your back porch–”

“The swing’s great, it’s just–”

“Not built for two?”

“It’s built for two, just not the way we tried to use it.”

she rolls her eyes. he catches her lips before she can get annoyed with him again.

she groans against his lips. “Fine. I will tell Micah tonight.”

“Thank you.”

+

Micah rolls his eyes at the both of them. flat out, honest to God, rolls his eyes hard enough that his eyes just go white. “You had me come over here for this? Mom, I’m not stupid, okay, I knew you’d want to have more kids.”

“Really?” she hadn’t even known for sure she wanted to have more kids.

he shrugs. “I mean, you love me, and you didn’t mess me up too bad so–” he ducks the hand she shoves for his head “–I figured you’d want to do it again. and I mean, you love Remy so.”

she smiles and grabs his arms to pull him into a hug. he groans into it. even tries rolling out of her reach, but he holds her tight once he’s done acting tough.

“I love you, you know that?”

Micah nods into her shoulder. well, above her shoulder. seriously, when did he get so tall?

“He loves you too. He’s not like….” she can practically feel Micah’s internal fuck it before he finishes. “He’s not like Dad. I think it’d be good for you.”

she couldn’t work as hard. would need to eat better. might wind up spending extra time with her therapist to make sure she doesn’t sabotage everything. but she’d also get more time with Remy. more nights in their bed with their future clear in front of them. and Nova’s more than ready to cleanse and heal that house of his and have another nephew to spoil. or niece. with soft curls like Charley’s and kind eyes like Remy’s.

Micah snaps in her face. “Earth to Mom.”

“I’m here. I’m here.”

she texts Remy that night, while Micah’s pretending not to be texting Keke.

charley: He seems happy

remy: He’s a good kid. Why wouldn’t he be?

charley: I know, I guess I just didn’t want him to feel weird about it.

remy: He’ll tell us if he does. He’s not exactly shy about his feelings, Charley.remy: Not like you

charley: When have I ever been shy?

remy: With usremy: Shy to start, shy to say you wanted this

charley: I said I love you first

remy: You said you love this. I said I love you first

charley: I said “I love this. Being here, with you.”

remy: That’s not I love you, Charley.

“Micah, if I said, ‘I love this. Being here, with you.’ That’s saying ‘I love you,’ right?”

“I mean, kinda. It’s not the exact words though.”

“It’s the thought that counts.”

“But then saying, ‘pick up your clothes’ could be ‘I love you’ if it’s just the thought that counts.”

she huffs. “Watch the TV.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

charley: fine, you said it first.

remy: I know

charley: but I made the first move

remy: ehhhh

+

she toes her shoes off in the doorway at Violet’s. Remy clicks his tongue as he crosses the room to her. his eyes sear along her dress, and his fingers unfurl like they’re ready to follow.

“You know how I feel about this dress.”

she ducks her head behind her hair so he can’t see her smile. can’t catch the way her chest hitches at the bass in his voice. his hand catches her hip though.

“Hello to you too.”

“Last time you wore this,” he pulls her to him. she sinks back against his chest, his breath hot at her ear, “we barely made it past the door. Gave the workers a show.” because somebody barely has any self-control. she can hold herself tight, can keep herself together, especially since she can hear Violet talking in the next room over. but him?

“You really want to do this?” it’s a warning, but it comes off more like an invitation.

“Think they’d notice?”

nobody knows she’s here yet. with the music on, with the game going, nobody’s paying much attention yet. they could slip back out to the car, just–

“Remy! Who’s at the door?”

just nothing.

“Charley!” he calls out at the same time as she says, “Me, Aunt Vi!”

she slips out of his hold. starts for the living room, but he catches her hand this time to stop her.

his voice comes out different – still full of bass, but more like his serious one. like he’s been ruminating and waiting for the right moment to say something.

“Sun porch, twenty minutes. Okay?”

her heart starts in her chest. her breath snags. “Following up on your offer?”

he shakes his head though. “Twenty minutes.” then he walks off, leaves her with nothing but that empty doorframe and a promise of something more.

+

for some reason, Nova takes the rest of the family out back twenty minutes later. Rah and her want to show off some changes they made to True North, and Remy’s nowhere to be found. Micah won’t meet her eye, but he also went for ‘a walk’ with Nova earlier so he probably just doesn’t want to get caught high in front of his mom.

Charley pads along the house to get to the sun porch. the first time she ever gave in to Remy was on that porch. first time she accepted that she needed to let go and start over. first time she slid into his open arms and knew that this could really be something.

his lips pull a little too thin when he tries to smile at her. his breaths seem to get lost somewhere in the depths of his chest. he says her name, and he clears his throat right after.

she hasn’t put on chapstick in a while. she blinks at the thought. furrows her brow at it too. her lips are dry, and she hasn’t put on chapstick, and he watches her like he’s watching the whole of the universe fold into itself in front of him. he watches her like she’s begging him to love her all over again, like he’s been waiting for this moment forever.

“You and me, we haven’t always done great with putting our feelings into words. I think that, I know I put it best when I said that you were the first woman I wanted to know in years. And Charley,” he swallows so thick that she thinks they must have matching lumps in their throats, must have matching tears in their eyes, and his hands shake when they come up for hers. “Baby, you are the last woman I ever want to know. You are it. And these feelings aren’t done with me yet. And I don’t want a promise. I don’t want you to have my name. I don’t want this for any other reason than to be able to call you my wife. To not say partner like the business is the basis for who we are to each other. You said, the one thing we can control is our own story, and I want this to be a part of ours.”

her lips might crack if she says anything. and she can’t – she can’t stop blinking because the blinking keeps the tears from taking over her vision and blocking him out entirely. and the whole family’s definitely not looking at a boat, are they?

“Charley, will you marry me?”

+

it’s never easy between them.

the wedding doesn’t change that. the baby doesn’t change that.

the biggest threat to Charley and Remy will always be their pride. their need to be right and be everything for everybody all at once. but he holds her hand in the car even when he can’t look at her, and she says she’s sorry even when she can’t face being wrong, and sometimes, most times, that’s all it takes to really make it work.

+

Remy shushes their baby while pushing the menus over to Michelle. “Sorry, she’ll stop crying once she sees her mom.”

“Wife’s running late?”

and the baby’s cries get louder at that. “Yeah, just two specials. One egg over medium, runny for the other. Coffee, tea. Extra honey, and if you could just bring some ice cubes to run over her gums.”

“Charley’s or the little one’s?”

“Cute.”

“Just takin’ after y’all.”

he nods, smiles. “You know, we met at this diner. Me and my wife.”

“And you still drink the coffee? Even after tasting it?”

“Nothing a little sugar can’t fix.”

.

.

hmu with thoughts on any of these little moments. what y’all think about this?

[seenashwrite]

Again! Sorry for another question, and I hope this doesn't bother you... But I was wondering what a one-shot word count average is? I usually end up doing about 1000 - 1500 words as I get caught up in my writing hehe, but is that too long? Should I stick to around 500 or so? Hope this doesn't bother you too much!

Oh Spookster, you are not a bother in the least. I am glad you ask. Because I - and please, everyone sit down to hear this - did not know the complete deets on these by-word-count categorizations off the top of my head. I have a ballpark idea, of course, but still I tasked the interns with doing a lil’ digging.

Ah - while I’ve got ya - the interns [we’ll call them “Sham” and “Green”, the former who professed proficiency at research & the latter who appears to not know how to collate it at all] clarified some word vomit & added a point on Beta Readers which was left out in the answer to your first query. Moving on.

Let us take this moment to ask the fanfic writers of Tumblr their thoughts/what they were taught/what they’ve seen because TL;DR: there isn’t a formal, organized, academic-type fanfic-based collective with enough of a population of experts [and there would need to be criteria for what that means] for peer review and the like, ergo there cannot be any substantive consensus.   

WHEN authors label/categorize their work on word count around here, these are the ones *I* have personally seen + what the “sources” below have claimed -  

Drabble = 100 [some say “Exactly 100!” & to that Nash says “Suck it!”] 

One-Shot = N/A [it’s one-and-done, length is irrelevant]

Multi-Part = N/A [length of each chapter irrelevant; know your audience’s attention span, cater to that]

Series = N/A [reasoning same as above]

Poem/Poetry = N/A [reasoning same as above]

Big Bang = a minimum is given by organizers; may be 20K, may be 50K, point is it’s the… um…. biggest

Prose = ya got me, because “prose” is just “story”, it’s not some special sub-type [”the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse”. And, PS? A secondary take can also be “dull, ordinary, commonplace, plain”, even “tedious”. I’d hesitate to call something of mine “prose” unless it had a qualifier like ��melodic prose” or “poetic prose” or something] 

This was a nutters hunt, right up there with crazed insects & sperm-donor poor-excuse-for-amazon daughters & the like. And you’re talking to a deep-diving, source ‘em if you got ‘em, just-the-facts-ma’am research hound. If it’s to be found, I can more often than not sniff it out. 

My nose might have gotten bent on this one. 

First things first: in the field of academia to which I am accustomed, anything at the five-year mark is pushing it, anything beyond that should likely stick to referring to it in a study/article/etc. as a “here’s what we knew then” sort of thing, in order to set the scene for the current hypotheses/results/etc. That’s why I include the dates when able, just FYI.

⦁ Trickster.org - “symposium article” from 2006 - “When Size Matters: Story Terminology as Determined by Word Count” 

Opener: “Drabbles are a bit of a hot topic, and I’ve run across a few debates started by people who don’t like them. Now, this is nothing unusual in fandom, there seems to be at least one person who doesn’t like any given thing, and I usually just shrug my shoulders and move on. The problem with the drabble debates, however, lies in how people are defining drabbles.” 

[Nash Note: Seems to be a transcript of a speech, but it was a horrific, rambling eyesore, I’d never recommend anyone go through it, and the fact that this person was considered expert enough to give commentary on the topic of writing is bone-chilling disturbing. I am not exaggerating this, it is one of the most poorly-conveyed run-downs of what current standings/thoughts are in a given field that I’ve ever come upon. I hope there were some kickin’ visual aids.]

C&Ping the main points that were stated with some sort of conviction:

A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words 

“It’s debatable as to whether or not the title is included but the limit itself is not debatable” 

“the common definition I’ve seen allows for one to fifteen extra words for the title ”

[Nash note: in various spots, they then proceed to tell about how these things *are* debatable in the fanfic community - much as they noted right off in the intro. Which is the topic. Fanfiction. Not “pro-lit”. Which should’ve been there just for touch-and-move-on comparative purposes. Not the bulk of the talk. Which it was.]

A drabble and a half is exactly 150 words

A double drabble is 200 words, and anything over that really stops being a drabble, but in fandom, any story in increments of 50 words is often still referred to as some permutation of drabble, i.e. double drabble and a half, triple drabble, triple drabble and a half, quad-drabble, etc. 

Even in fandom, however, the key is that your word count is exactly on that 50 word increment mark, otherwise you are not writing a drabble of any kind

“In the pro-lit[erary] world…”:  [just knock me out now]

any story under 500 words is flash fiction. 

fic under 500 words that is not exactly 100 words, the term you want is flash fiction. Or even flashfic, or minute fic, or sudden fic, postcard fic, fast fic, quick fic, and a few others. 

none of those alternatives are drabble.

over 500 words, but under 1000, is generally known as a short short. 

Some magazines and anthologies actually use short short and flash fiction interchangeably, because of space constraints

1000 and over, up to 17500, is a short story

“So, just to review….”  [sigh]

100 words = drabble

500 words and under = flash fiction

500-1000 words = short short

1000-15000 words = short story

17500 = novella/novelette

40000 = novel

vignette = nothing to do with word count; typically under 1000 words; the significant thing is theme - meant to give illumination - one character or the relationship between two or more characters; typically don’t involve a lot of action; some have limited dialogue

[Nash co-signs “vignette” definition]

⦁ Save the Drabble - 2005/6

This one has 2 sources and one of them is the person above - the other is another LJ community. This is a circle-jerk. No new info given. We move on.

⦁ Fanlore

This is a hodge-podge that made my eye twitch a bit, but at least they have more info and background on the terms.

They re-hash the “drabble debate” of it having to be precisely 100 words.

They are the first that brought up another term I see around T-Town which is Big Bang 

“A Big Bang is a specific type of challenge usually involving long fics and accompanying artwork.This type of challenge is a reprise of the old zine tradition of collaboration between artists and writers for internet fandoms.” 

They note that back in ‘zine land it was a minimum of 50K, then in another place they say “the consensus” went to a minimum of 20K

[Nash Note: I gotta eschew my formatting, I’ve met my allotted time for this answer, as more peeps lie in wait for their Dear Nash to be addressed! I linked the blogbelow the other day because It. Is. Fantastic. This is what I was able to find for fanfic related terminology on lengths, threw in a couple other goodies, too - go over there and see if you have better luck pulling up with other search terms, entirely possible I wasn’t hitting the nail on the head with mine]

Writing Questions Answered - Tumblr

One result for “drabble”:

http://writing-questions-answered.tumblr.com/search/drabble

Doesn’t talk about length

One result for “one-shot”:

http://writing-questions-answered.tumblr.com/post/45179836171/fan-fiction-how-to-write-a-one-shot-fanfic

“A one-shot fanfic is a standalone story that is one chapter long and focuses on a single situation or event, usually from just one character’s point-of-view. There is no official length for a one-shot, but typically they are between 1,000 and 8,000 words long.” 

Length in general in the published world:

http://writing-questions-answered.tumblr.com/post/108997534333/advice-short-chapters-not-sure-about-word-count

Target length depends on what you’re writing:

Short Story - 1k - 7500 k

Novella - 20k - 50k

Novel-

Middle Grade 25k - 40k

Young Adult 45k - 80k

New Adult: 60k - 85k

Adult 65k - 120k

….and reinforces that nobody should or really does [in the pro world] care about chapter lengths - depends on what’s going on in the chapter. Nash side note on this? Know your audience. The younger they get, the less attention span - not that they can’t or won’t knock out a big book in the long-run, but you don’t want them to grow frustrated along the way, possibly checking out or worse, stopping altogether.  

Talks more about standards for professional lengths:

http://writing-questions-answered.tumblr.com/post/62254683880/advice-story-feels-rushed

Really good piece on “nevers” and “always” when it comes to “dos” and “don'ts”.

http://writing-questions-answered.tumblr.com/post/147225002823/a-quick-psa-about-writing-rules

I agree. And for me, there’s certainly lots of good advice out there, you’ll find some of it is objectively true, but on the other hand, it may be worth trying your hand at various things to see what (a) sticks with your target audience, and (b) speaks to your personal style. 

Plus - in my experience - there’s some “nevers” that I suspect got popular due to propagation by people who just don’t do whatever it is terribly well. [shrugs]

Chuckspeed, my friend. So sayeth the Nash, so say we all.

[kittyaugust]

2016 Fic Writing Round-up

I was tagged by one of my favourite multi-shipping SPN smut-smiths, the wonderful @mayalaen you can check out her much more impressive round-up here.

Total 2016 Word Count:  81,372 (+10k~ in unrevealed non-AO3 fests) Total 2016 Hits: (AO3 only) 20,431 Other 2016 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 1282; Comment threads: 181; Bookmarks: 184; Subscriptions: 91. About 15/1 hits to kudos.

Total 2015 Word Count: 177,649 Total 2015 Hits: (AO3 only) 66,429 Other 2015 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 4357; Comment threads: 400; Bookmarks: 444; Subscriptions: 113 

Links and titles to 2016 works

Of Hunters and Hellblazers 

(Hellblazer/Supernatural Crossover)

Those Boys With The Demon Blood (12,815 words)

She drags my world awake (17,097 words) - WIP

Supernatural

1 x DeanCas Secret Santa - TBR

Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Incubus Affair (9179 words) - Harry/Draco. Explicit. Incubus Draco (HP Creature Fest)

Bed of Broken Roses (3702 words) - Harry/Draco. Mature. Warning: Torture. (HD Hurtfest)

Happily Ever After (6605 words) - Ginny/Luna. Teen. Time travel. (HP Timetravel Fest)

Witchfire (1586 words) - Hermione/Slytherin Girls. Explicit. Warning: Graphic Non-con. Dead Dove: do not eat. (Femslash Kinkmeme)

Familia Est... (4426 words) - Harry/Draco, Teen. Lucius Malfoy POV. Family Fest Fluff. (HD Family Fest)

Snakes and Ladders (4085 words) - Ginny/Astoria. Explicit. Epilogue Compliant (ish). (Interhouse Fest)

Firewhiskey Kiss (807 words) - Ginny/Pansy. Teen. Warning: Implied Drunk Sex. (HP Rarepair Shorts for @digthewriter)

Plus 8 Harry Potter fics still to be revealed:

3 x HD Owlpost Fics - 3 x Harry/Draco

1 x @hd-erised​ Fic - Harry/Draco

3 x Mini-fest Fics - Mystery Pairings (Femslash, Het, and Slash)

+1 extra mystery fest tba!

Comics

Reckless: 5 Times Under Mistletoe (2516 words) - MCU: Steve/Bucky, Teen. (@stuckysecretsanta2016)

Captain America doesn't do blood magic... (2098 words) - DC/Vertigo x MCU: Dr Strange & John Constantine, Steve/Bucky. Teen.

Martha and Martha (496 words) - DC: Gen.

Tender Tendrils (1447 words) - DC: Harley/Ivy. Explicit. Warning/Kinks: Plant Sex, Enthusiastic Consent. PWP. (Femslash Kinkmeme)

Late Nights (1375 words) - MCU: Jeri Hogarth/Pam. Explicit. PWP.

Other

Teen Wolf: The Huntress' Heart (1374 words) - Lydia/Allison. Mature. Modern Greek Myth AU.

Buffy: Combat Baby (640 words) - Faith/Buffy. PG. ( @whedonsecretsanta for @angelandfaith)

Favorite Fic: Don’t make me pick between my babies! Harry Potter and the Incubus Affair was the most fun to write, because I got to play with the tropes a lot. But I am also really pleased with Happily Ever After (Ginny/Luna Time traveling femslash) for similar reasons, and with Snakes and Ladders.

My very favourite is still unrevealed though so... tbc! 

Hardest Fic: Maybe my @hd-erised fic. I still have two unfinished false starts sitting in my draft folder.

Otherwise, Familia Est... I actually still don’t like this fic. I was hard to the deadline and cut about 7k of other POV scenes to get something with an ENDING handed in on time. In retrospect I should have just dropped out or given in to the string of vignettes this thing wanted to be. 

Also, the final chapter of She drags my world awake is still 500 words from finished and has been for months :-/

Do You Plan to Take Prompts in 2017? Yes. But as usual I’m not sure how many I’ll fill. I only took two this year (he Huntress' Heart and Late Nights). But I did do a LOT of fests which is a similar challenge.

What was the best thing about 2016? Probably falling hard, fast and head over heels for the Harry Potter fandom. I’ve made some great friends, stayed up late writing all the words with the HD Writers Room, and generally rediscovered and uncovered new ways of reading one of the books I grew up on. Also, I found out my spouse reads fanfic! Harry Potter fanfic specifically, not sure if it is nice or scary... tbc!

What was the worst thing about 2016? Apart from, you know, 2016? Writers block. I know it doesn’t look like it, but at the start of the year I really wasn’t feeling any of my usual outlets (which sucked even more because I needed them). I can’t believe I’ve left H&H fans hanging for 6 months! I love you guys, sorry for being the worst!

Any last thoughts for 2016? Nah. Bring on 2017. And my latest obsession - the DC verses and superluthor pairings! All the Lena Luthor/Kara Danvers and Lex Luthor/Clark Kent smut - coming soon, from a Kitty near you!

Goals for 2017

I signed up for @gywo​ - so write 200,000 words!

Write my novel (lesbian space pirates!)

Finish She drags my world awake so I can start publishing the fics that come after!

I’m Tagging: @sapphywatchesyousleep, @angelandfaith, @morethanonepage, @endellionaeternus, @fandom-madnessess, @callipygianspud, @therothwoman, @thechosenone305, @samanddeaninpanties, @sappypotter and anyone else who sees this and wants to play!