#Check please fic

[doggernaut]

Fic: Unconditional

I'm so happy to finally share a fic I've been working on for literal years. Yes, It's a Check, Please fic, but unlike all of my others fics this one is focused on Alicia Zimmermann. The @wipbigbang finally motivated me to complete it, and @mapleapplepiee contributed two absolutely amazing art pieces that bookend the fic. Here's one of them!

Check it out on ao3!

Unconditional by RabbitRunnah

[foxesjostens]

you spent your whole life trying to be tough (because your parents married pain to love)

Dex never claimed to be good at hiding how he felt about things. Some would say that he was a hot head. Others would say that he didn’t always think before he spoke. He would say that he wore his heart on his sleeve, even when he wished he didn’t. So, it wasn’t a surprise when everyone on his team realized how he really felt about Nursey.

Read on AO3 here!

[deckthehaus]

Thank you to everyone who participated in Deck the Haus 2023! Without further ado, here are our wonderful creators!

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advent by montrealmadison ( @montrealmadison )

Alone This Holiday by EarlGayTea711

call of the champions by nostalgicplant ( @ohyoufool )

Can You Crash a Party If You Have an Invite, How to Go Home with a Man, and Other Things in Kent Parson's Search History by hwaelweg ( @thoughtsofthegirlwiththecurl )

Cardinal by iknowwhyulikeoscarwilde

(Do It on My) Twin Bed by hwaelweg ( @thoughtsofthegirlwiththecurl )

Early Memories by Lutzgocelly ( @lutzgocelly )

Holiday Spirits by bonepicker ( @siocliath )

I’ll Be Home For Christmas by RabbitRunnah ( @doggernaut )

“It’s Just a Little Snow…” by coluanprime ( @abeansblog )

It Started at the Office by JustLookFrightenedAndScuttle ( @justlookfrightened )

Merry and Bright by iknowwhyulikeoscarwilde

Pre-Christmas Epiphany by JustLookFrightenedAndScuttle ( @justlookfrightened )

Safe Places by EarlGayTea711

so, kiss me by cricketnationrise ( @cricketnationrise )

[podfic] The Pond, Jan. 25 by misswhimsy ( @missanniewhimsy )

The darkest evening of the year by Lutzgocelly ( @lutzgocelly )

The Gift That Keeps on Giving by bonepicker ( @siocliath )

The Mating Rituals of Samwell Men’s Hockey by iknowwhyulikeoscarwilde

Ugly Christmas Sweater by impulsewriter ( @transwicky )

We’ll tell our stories on these walls by Lutzgocelly ( @lutzgocelly )

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Please let us know if there are any mistakes on the tumblr handles so we can update the post! Happy New Year!

[porcupine-girl]

As promised (or implied, at least), chapter 6 of Bad Idea is up! Three chapters to go - I’m not allowed to post 7 until I’ve finished the extra scenes in 8, so wish me luck.

[succulentsofa]

a silly little fic featuring mildly jealousish bitty (not in the way you’d think) & a nhl rookie with a baking hobby. first canon compliant (ish) fic for this fandom woo!

[iboatedhere]

Thanks @liminalmemories21 for the tag.

I have a bunch of holiday themed fics from my Check Please era.

--

Cookies And Conversations - Jack and Bitty spend Christmas in Georgia.

Down On The Waterfront- The waterfront is packed. Jack has never seen this many people along the bank of the river. He didn’t even know there was this many people in Providence.

You Can Count On Me-“Hey, Bits. You’re probably still asleep. It’s quarter after five here so that means it’s what….seven-fifteen in Rhode Island? The time differences have been screwing me up all week but I’m pretty sure that’s right. You’ve definitely hit the snooze buttons a few times at least. Anyways, I’m just calling because I’m still at the airport. There’s a snowstorm coming into Denver and they’ve delayed a ton of flights. It sucks but I promise I’m going to make it in time, okay? You don’t need to worry about it. A promise is a promise and I’ll be there even if I have to Trains, Planes, and Automobiles my way home…….shit. They just delayed us again. But I’ll be there. I love you. Both of you. I’ll call you when we start to board. See you soon.”

Let Your Heart Be Light -“Jack. Sweetheart. If these cookies don’t work out,” he drops his voice to a whisper, “I’m going to have to bring store bought cookies to holiday parties.” “I won’t let that happen.” He pats Bitty’s butt and tells him to get going.

Christmas In The Air-Snowflakes swirl around them as Jack follows Bitty through the maze of trees.

Mistletoe Kisses -Shitty hangs the mistletoe in the entryway to the kitchen and it feels like a personal attack.

Snowmen and Snowball Fights- Shitty flings his bag towards the porch and dives into the snow. “C’mon Jack. The kids grow up so fast.” He points at Bitty and Bitty gasps in offence. “We have to enjoy the time we have with them.”

Do You See What I See?- Jack might have one eye on Tater but the other is on Eric Bittle, Head of Public Relations, who is standing very close to him and smells very good. Like vanilla and sugar and the spice of the mulled cider that he’s ladling into his cup.

Beneath The Winter Moon- Bitty has checked his phone every two minutes for the past hour and the only thing that ever changes on it is the time. There’s never a new text or a missed call that he didn’t hear over the sound joyful sounds of kids and adults laughing and singing as they skate around the ice. The minutes tick by, there’s no stopping them. There’s no stopping the feeling in the pit of his stomach either. He got stood up. There’s no way around it.

Love And All The Other Intangibles- Eric Bittle's fraught and opaque relationship with Christmas.

Warm Your Bones By The Light Of My Fire -Jack heads out to check on the team in the middle of a blizzard. Bitty stress bakes.

Every Time A Bell Rings- Jack gets injured during a game and when he wakes up in the hospital he's pretty sure he's looking at an angel.

[madisonandmore]

Well, hello there, honey! Fancy meeting you here!

The weather is (finally) warming up in the Samwell area and we're extremely pleased to announce that Madison & More, a new Check, Please! prompt fest, is now happening!!!

Here are some important details:

☀️The overall theme is Summertime, which could include Madison-based works (timely, since we figure Madison may be on people's minds now that the comic is appearing in mailboxes around the world now!), however prompts and works can be related to any characters or ships doing anything summery (hence the 'More' part of the fest name)!

☀️Prompting will open on AO3 beginning Monday, May 22nd at noon EDT. More on prompting guidelines will be posted here closer to that date!

☀️Prompts will be open for two weeks (until Monday, June 5th) at which point prompts may be claimed.

☀️All types of fanworks are welcome as prompt fills: written fics, podfics, filk/vids, any type of art or handmade fanwork, etc!

☀️Finished works will be due Friday, August 18th at midnight EDT so you'll have pretty much all summer to write, pod, draw, create!!

☀️Works will begin posting the following Monday, August 21st for everyone to enjoy as summer comes to a close.

We had so much fun bringing you @omgauplease in the spring, we just couldn't wait to do it all over again! We hope you will join us for Madison & More!!!

[omgauplease]

Hey y’all! Today’s the day: creator reveals are here!!

A sincere thank you to everyone who participated in this fest! Prompters, creators, readers, listeners, rebloggers, etc - you all made this a HUGE success!

Without further ado, here are our incredible creators for AU, Please!!!

(P.S. if we got your tumblr name wrong or missed it entirely, please send us a message and we’ll update the post)

🎭 DAY ONE 🎭

Subtext & Symmetry by bonepicker (@siocliath)

Triple Bee by thesleepyskipper (@thesleepyskipper)

Flying, Fears, and Falling in...Something by VampireGalileo (@vampiregalileo)

*bleep* Late Night Radio by iknowwhyulikeoscarwilde

fond by Local_Queer (@a-very-gay-disaster)

[Podfic] It's an Emergency! A Romance Emergency! by RattleandHum (@thirdeye1234)

🍺 DAY TWO 🍺

A Blessing in Disguise by WrathoftheStag (@wrathofthestag)

siegfried, you are not my savior by TheElectricSpecter (@zimmerdouche)

Center Ice by maanorchidee (@forabeatofadrum)

Those Tangled Olive Threads of Fate by McBangle (@mcbangle)

shall i compare thee to a summer's day? by dairaliz (@schitthappens)

Multitask Magic by StarDryad (@lutzgocelly)

💥 DAY THREE 💥

A little bit of a misunderstanding by sweaters_in_the_summer (@sweatersinthesummer)

Haus of Leaves by HowOldAreWe

your ivy grows by Tufted (@pinkviper)

There Have Been Five Kisses by cricketnationrise (@cricketnationrise)

for whom the bell tolls by ThirdEye1234 (@thirdeye1234)

[podfic] Just Spit It Out by dairaliz (@schitthappens)

🫧 DAY FOUR 🫧

Call Incoming... by Local_Queer (@a-very-gay-disaster)

things got weird (when we made out) by inyourblackheart (@intothenightosphere)

Even Doubt Can Be Delicious by petrodobreva (@petrodobreva)

hold me like you'll never let me go by hullomoon (@hullomoon)

The Sunset Haus by bonepicker (@siocliath)

Welcome Aboard the Samwell by McBangle (@mcbangle)

💊 DAY FIVE 💊

What You Will by cricketnationrise (@cricketnationrise)

Won't Eat Crow (But It Might Eat You) by Thunderhel (@dexondefense)

nobody knows the trouble i've seen (glory, hallelujah) by queenofthestarrs

the whole world is all yours tonight by dessertwaffles (@dessertwaffles)

[Podfic] Special Delivery by cottagepodfics (@cottagepodfics)

🍎 DAY SIX 🍎

Dream of the Pale Blue Lobster by ThitherStarling (@breatheinpurejoy)

Et Cetera by milou407 (@shipalltheboats)

out of tune by feuertatze (@elgoeshollywood)

Samwell Acres by iknowwhyulikeoscarwilde

And I'd choose you by StarDryad (@lutzgocelly)

[sits-bound]

Lil book is done!

I wanted to try binding a shorter fic, and so I had to go small. Turns out, little pages are not proportionally easier to deal with, so the text block is less than perfect but you know, it was fun. And it is pretty cute.

Fic is move together, by @kirkaut, which I also podded. Just looking at the words while doing the typesetting made my chest hurt from the A+ angst.

[thesleepyskipper]

Just posted a very fun project I completed with @petrodobreva​, who did an incredible podfic of my new work, which was inspired by @lutzgocelly​’s art for @omgauplease​! Bitty the Kitchen Witch has been in the back of my mind ever since I first saw him! 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47404624

[foxesjostens]

i love you (it’s ruining my life)

Derek Nurse is not ignoring his best friend. How can you avoid your D-man partner when you live and breathe the same schedule? No, Derek Nurse is not ignoring William Poindexter, and William Poindexter definitely did not try to kiss him last night. Nope. To recap, Derek Nurse is definitely not ignoring his best friend for trying to kiss him.

read here

[deckthehaus]

It’s getting cold outside! Time to curl up with Day 1 of Deck the Haus reveals!

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Early Memories (art)

Itty Bitty baking with his Moomaw! She's teaching those first precious lessons

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advent (13,416 words)

n. 1: a coming into place, view, or being; an arrival; 2: a time of expectant waiting and preparation.

In 2039, the annual Bittle-Zimmermann Family Holiday Baking Day takes on a little more significance than usual. After all, it's hard for things to feel normal when the baker himself is absent.

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Can You Crash a Party If You Have an Invite, How to Go Home with a Man, and Other Things in Kent Parson's Search History (3,570 words)

"Kent desperately doesn’t want Mashkov to come talk to him because Mashkov is frankly unfairly handsome and the one time he’d bodily picked Kent up by the back of his jersey during a fight on the ice was the single hottest thing Kent had ever experienced. But also he’s pretty certain Mashkov fully hates him. So he can’t talk to Mashkov.

Mashkov does not get this psychic memo."

Or, a Patater holiday meet-cute at the annual Bittle-Zimmermann Winter Holiday Extravaganza.

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so, kiss me (1,120 words)

“Dude, you’re on the Kiss Cam.”

Will looks up from his phone as the guy on his left nudges him. His heart falls as he sees, yes, he and Chad are on the huge screen, surrounded by a frame of cheesy animated hearts.

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Merry and Bright (876 words)

Jack and Bitty's daughter brings her partner home for Christmas. Bitty tries (and fails) not to act like his mom.

[sweatersinthesummer]

[Podfic] Pucks and Recreation

I am a master procrastinator, but coupled with the fact that my recording time is fairly limited, it took me all the way up to the deadline to finish my podfic for this year's @fandomtrumpshate auction.

I was absolutely delighted to record one of @doggernaut's fics, and I chose this one. As a fan of Parks and Rec and Check Please, it was really a no brainer.

This is also my longest ever podfic to date, and I hope someone will remind me in the future not to wait until I'm completely done recording to edit.

[Podfic] Pucks and Recreation (T, 5:18:44)

Eric Bittle is the director of the City of Samwell's Parks and Recreation department. He loves everything about his job, including overseeing the city's municipal ice rink, where generations of kids have learned to skate. Unfortunately, a citywide budget crisis has put Eric's proposed rink renovations on hold, and out-of-town auditor Jack Zimmermann is insistent that the best course of action would be to shut it down entirely. Too bad Eric isn't willing to give up his rink without a fight. He's got a plan. And he may just melt the heart of Samwell's iciest auditor along the way.

[flowerfan2]

I can't believe it's Halloween... I haven't written anything new for spooky season, much to my dismay. But I offer up for your reading pleasure this lovely Halloween fic from a few years ago.

Love Is Kind of Crazy (With a Spooky Little Boy Like You) M, 28 k. Jack/Bitty.

Jack is contemplating what to do after retiring from the NHL, so he and Bitty take some time off to enjoy autumn in New England. They hadn’t counted on the scary stuff that would happen, both of the Halloween variety and of a more personal nature.

Chapter 1

Bitty spreads newspaper on the kitchen island, and carefully lays out their carving tools and his second best knife. Jack is going to be home any minute from a Halloween event with the Falconers, and he had promised to bring home two of the best pumpkins for their own carving session.

It’s been a difficult time for Jack lately. Ever since deciding to retire from the Falcs, he’s been at loose ends. He had never fully recovered from a knee injury in his fourth season that kept him off the ice for six weeks, and after limping (literally) through the rest of the year, he had come to the conclusion that he would never recover fully enough to play professional ice hockey again the way he wanted – needed – to be able to play. 

Bitty remembers with a wry grin a conversation over drinks with Bob and Alicia, outside on a warm summer night in the backyard of their Montreal home. Jack had been so worried about the whole discussion, his hands clenching nervously in his lap.

“This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, Jack,” Bob said, glancing quickly at Alicia, who nodded in agreement. “I know you have interests other than hockey, much as you might try to hide it from the world. Now you can spend more time on something else.”

Jack looked helplessly at Bitty, who laid his hands over Jack’s and gave them a squeeze. “That’s what I keep telling him,” Bitty said encouragingly.

“I just don’t know where to start. I’ve been getting calls and offers ever since the news broke. It’s…”

“Overwhelming,” Alicia said. “I remember those days. Isn’t Melinda helping you?”

Melinda was Jack’s agent-slash-assistant; when Jack came out, he had enlisted her help, wisely realizing that it might be of use to have someone not on the Falcs’ payroll helping him navigate the shark-infested waters of the media. She’s been called in on various occasions ever since.

“Yeah, but she wants to know what I want to do so she can narrow it down. And I don’t know what to tell her.”

“You don’t have to decide right away, son,” Bob said, leaning over to refill Alicia’s glass, which had been drained rather quickly.

“I know, I told her I’d let her know by the end of the week. But-”

“A week? That’s not exactly what I had in mind,” Bob replied, a smirk growing on his face.

After further discussion, Jack and Bitty had decided that he would take six months, more or less, before committing to any other long-term obligations. So Jack had continued to help with Falconers publicity events, sat in on board meetings of various national organizations, been a guest coach for hockey leagues large and small… and still didn’t know what he wanted to do. Lately Bitty had been sending away for brochures for masters’ programs in history and photography and teaching and leaving them lying around their apartment, and while Jack accepted them good-naturedly, he hadn’t expressed any interest in finding out more information.

Bitty doesn’t want to rush him, but he thinks that Jack’s indecision itself is starting to upset him. He really hopes something strikes Jack soon, before he worries himself into a complete inability to make up his mind.

“Honey, I’m home,” Jack calls out, a smile in his voice as he shoves open the front door with his hip. He’s carrying two gigantic pumpkins with ease. His knee doesn’t bother him much most days, at least if he doesn’t push himself too hard. Jack sets the pumpkins down on the kitchen island before accepting a hello kiss from Bitty.

“Lord, those are big boys,” Bitty says, and flushes when Jack winks at him. “Shush, you. You know I meant the pumpkins.”

“Fine.” Jack presses Bitty up against the counter and kisses him again.

Bitty winds his arms around Jack’s neck, happily obliging. Jack seems much cheerier right now than he has of late, and the words pop out of his mouth before he can stop them. “What’s got into you, sweetheart? Weren’t you just carving pumpkins for hours with elementary school kids?”

Jack laughs and steps back. “Yes. But all the way home I kept thinking of you, getting ready to draw your pumpkin face for the year, that little frown crumpling your eyebrows…”

Bitty regards Jack curiously. “You were thinking of me while playing with the kids?”

“After I was done playing with the kids. And yes, I was.” Jack leans in for another kiss, prim this time, and then motions to the counter. “So, which one do you want?”

Bitty considers his options. “This one.” Bitty points to the slightly narrower pumpkin. “I want to do a scary face this time, and this one seems scarier.”

Jack doesn’t question his decision, although Bitty has no idea why that pumpkin seems scarier to him. “Okay.”

They get to work, cutting around the stem on the top of each pumpkin and scooping out the insides. Bitty gathers up the seeds for toasting; he’s going to use them in a pumpkin seed granola recipe he found online last week. 

“How was today’s event?” Bitty asks, as he searches for a better pencil with which to sketch his design.

“Same as last year. Except they had a different story for me to read.”

“Oh?”

“Yup.”

“What story?”

Jack pauses with a paring knife in his hand, and looks at Bitty. “Any chance you know what the origin of ‘Jack O’Lantern’ is?”

“Um, who’s the history nerd here?”

Jack makes as if to flick a pumpkin seed in Bitty’s direction, but continues. “There’s an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack. He invited the devil to have a drink with him, but didn’t want to pay. Things went downhill from there-”

“I can imagine.”

“And so when Stingy Jack eventually died, the devil wouldn’t let him into hell. Instead he sent Jack off into the night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish took to calling him ‘Jack of the Lantern’ or ‘Jack O’Lantern.’”

“Well, that’s not a very nice story to read to kids.”

Jack harrumphed. “I know, right? But I guess the idea is that people started to carve scary faces into turnips and potatoes and eventually pumpkins, and put them in the window to frighten Stingy Jack and other evil spirits away.”

“So the kids all made scary pumpkins to scare Stingy Jack away?”

“Exactly.”

“Still sounds like a bad story to read to kids.” And not a very nice story to make Jack read, either. He’s no evil spirit, whether he quit the Falconers or not. Bitty can’t imagine that the Falcs publicist meant anything by the choice, but he still doesn’t appreciate it. And he has the feeling Jack doesn’t either.

Bitty looks at the pumpkin in front of him and starts to rub off the pencil lines. “I changed my mind. I’m making a happy face this year.”

Jack doesn’t say anything, and when Bitty looks up at him, his eyes are wet. “What?” Bitty asks. “I can change my mind.”

“I love you, Bits,” Jack says, his voice low.

Bitty puts down his knife, wipes his hands on his apron, and takes Jack in his arms. “Love you too, sweetheart. Always."

Read the rest of the chapters on A03 here.

[roromir]

Quit twitter and realized I lost all of my cover photos so I redid them. Again. So anyway, read my first ficlet ever published to AO3:

A Moment's Grace

[succulentsofa]

more of hocsoc / british uni au! featuring : a second hocsoc social, wotsit-consumption world records, shit-shirt day and fresher initiation‼️