#I mean if you have good fic recs

[gremlinshipper]

This Hunger Games Renaissance is trying to trick me into reading the books again to see Katniss and Peeta’s relationship development but I am NOT crying today it’s NOT going to HAPPEN please keep those books FAR FROM ME

[mostlyihyperfixate]

WrightWorth Fic Recs II: Legal Boogaloo

I've had some upper respiratory goop for eleven days and I woke up with a pounding migraine, so it's time for this month's fic recs while I wait for my medication to kick in!

I'm sure most of you guys have already read this stuff, so I'm not, like, doing this because I think I'm gonna introduce anything special. I just like to gush a lil' about stuff that makes me happy.

As always, feel free to offer me recs yourself in some capacity!

The Things We Agree to Believe are True by actual_goblin

Rating: Teen Content Warning for amnesia, angst, blood, and implied/referenced suicide Status: Finished

Recommended to me by @starsarestaringatyou.

Someone really said, "Well, if one character with amnesia is good, what if they both had amnesia?" And I love every minute of it. I sat down and read this entire thing in one fell swoop. I could not stop. It's weird, but completely internally consistent, so everything is very easy to follow. I've lost track of the number of times I've reread this. I'm afraid if I say more, I'll spoil things. It's very, very sweet, and if amnesia fics interest you even a little, I highly recommend this one!

This man is not your boyfriend by its_ok_inside

Rating: Teen Content Warning for amnesia Status: Finished

Also recommended to me by @starsarestaringatyou.

A very cute amnesia one shot. This one is a bit unusual in that there's no angst! So if that's what keeps you from this sort of story, I recommend this one. There's just a bit of pining on Miles' end, and the rest is two bros chillin' in a legal office one foot apart because they're definitely gay. It's very fluffy, and I reread this one a lot, too, when I want a quick hit of cuteness.

Legal Partners by Miggy

Rating: Teen Content Warning for miscommunication Status: Finished

This one is a little rom-com-esque, but the characters themselves (especially Ema) are well aware of that. This is the story that first allowed me to think of Klavier as having some depth. It is the level I hold all semi-seriously written Klaviers to now. There's a little bit of Klavier/Ema and Klavier/Apollo in here (both ships I like, and I hardly ever get to see the former), but ultimately Klavier ends up with something he needs more than a romantic relationship, and I love this fic for that. Everybody gets enough attention that their inclusion in the story doesn't feel obligatory. There's also the added bonus of a well-written case for Apollo and Klavier to handle throughout the story!

It Would Feel So Good To Make You Mine by hi_its_ellis and lowbatteryhealth

Rating: Teen Status: Finished

Just randomly picked something from my list last Saturday and wound up reading this throughout the day. Reread it again sometime this week. It's cute. There's established Fran/Maya and Athena/Junie as well, if you're into either of those ships. Words cannot express how wonderfully adorable this entire thing is. If you want something that's got enough conflict to keep you reading without there being any real upsetting tension or angst at all, this for you. There's no big miscommunication; just Miles and Phoenix driving everyone around them crazy with their unique brand of stubborn idiocy.

How to Court A Fool in Under Three Months by snowyrunes

Rating: Teen Content Warning for miscommunication Status: Finished

Pure, 100% rom-com goodness. This has everything you would expect out of a rom-com movie, and it's written spectacularly well. There's some established background Fran/Maya. I love seeing Fran successfully interact with kiddos, so her relationship with Trucy in this especially makes me happy--not to mention I prefer my Frans to like Phoenix in some capacity, and that's here, too. I admit that I haven't been able to get very far into the (unfinished) sequel due to the sheer amount of second-hand embarrassment I feel, but I highly recommend the first story for sure!

Pride & Prejudice & Turnabout by paintedkneecaps

Rating: Teen Status: In Progress Content Warning for Pride and Prejudice AU

On the sliding scale of cynical to sunshine Phoenix, this is firmly at the sunshine end. If you are very, very particular about how people work with Pride and Prejudice and that time period (like, to the point where you can't stand the Kiera Knightly movie, for example), this is not going to be the story for you. It's, as the author puts it, a "vibes only" AU, which I think is really a strength in this case. I've read too many "AU"s that are just slapping Ace Attorney characters names over the originals. This has a lot of thought put into the characters, and the quotes from the original work feel like friendly little winks instead of being awkwardly shoved in. I look forward to every Thursday when I get another dose of this!

[zeivira]

no rest for the wicked...

pls more

this shit is hilarious

like what are the others thoughts on this "illness" like garfiel, we've seen a bit of otto but i want more of him cuz he's best boi.

i imagine him going on full mama/big bro mood lmao

also that ficrec abt the crack fic by scissors? LMAO thx my parents knew im awake at 3am

point is

i like you now

so im gonna stalk- ahem- stick to you like a leach 🥺🌹

feed me more

The Cap’n's rule about everyone being strictly forbidden from watching him sleep—something about Garfiel being exactly like Rem but without pretty girl privilege—never actually stops the members of the camp from keeping an eye on him while the Cap’n's rests. 

The camp is nothing if not resourceful, and it’s not like they need to be inside the room when he’s sleeping to make sure he stays safe. Waiting a few feet away from the only entrance is just as effective. 

That's why when Garfiel smells a person approaching the Cap’n's room, during a time he knows he is asleep—they spent the last few days traveling to Pristella, like Hoshin traveled the desert to Banan after all—he rushes into the hallway and grabs the visitor's wrist right before it gets to knock at the Cap’n's door. 

"—the hell do ya think yer doin’?" Only after he finishes talking, under the dim hallway light of the mansion-like inn, he takes notice of the visitor's red, flame-like hair. A sharp horror, the one he had felt hours flooded through his entire body, as he realized whose wrist he grabbed. 

For a second, all is still. 

"Hello again, Sir Garfiel," the Sword Saint greets him, smiling as if they were pals and he hadn't evaded Garfiel’s senses and stopped his punch with a casual block a couple hours before. As if he weren’t the main obstacle between Garfiel and the title of Strongest. "I apologize if my presence alerted you, but all I wish to do is talk to Subaru." 

"W-well isn’ that convenient.  Anythin’ ya might need ta tell the Cap’n, ya can tell my amazin’ self instead." Big fat lie. There is a reason why the Cap’n is the Cap’n despite being borderline comatose and apparently not that much older than him. But Garfiel can’t trust anyone stronger than him, and as much as he hates himself for it…

The difference between him and Reinhard van Astrea is like a newborn Earth dragon and the Divine Dragon themself. 

His mere presence makes Garfiel's rawest instincts scream—tell him to either fight-or-flight. Garfiel doesn't want to be anywhere close to Reinhard, but much less he wants Reinhard anywhere close to the Cap’n when he sleeps. At least not until Garfiel proves himself a stronger shield than Reinhard. 

Even if the Cap’n is not defenseless—at least, not usually— he is useless while he isn't awake. And that means Galfield has to fight for both of them.

"I see," Reinhard's lips tilt downwards. "I do not mean disrespect, but what I would like to discuss would be related to something personal, unrelated to our respective camps..." 

Right. Garfield's eyebrow twitches. Right. The Cap’n said they were friends. 

"...the Cap’n's asleep," his voice sounds hoarse even to his ears. Maybe if he makes his tone drier than the Augura Sand Dunes, he can get Reinhard to give up and leave?

Reinhard's eyes widen. "Is that so. From what I gathered he mostly slept during the night." 

Garfield scowls. Of course the Sword Saint knew that much. "The Cap’n does, but he couldn' sleep during the trip, as we moved without pause, just like the Emperor of the Briar who never knew rest," Garfield crosses his arms. "So he is sleeping now and won't wake up in a while." 

"I see..." Reinhard says, and an uncomfortable silence falls between them. His gaze felt so heavy that if Garfiel moved carelessly, he wouldn’t know what his fate would b— "I wanted to ask about my father, actually—” Reinhard spoke up, breaking the silence. “I heard there were some issues close to Lady Priscilla's domain that involved Subaru and him." 

It takes Garfield a second to realize what he is talking about. His joy over learning the one and only Sword Saint's father was joining Emilia's camp to help Subaru stop the Argyle healer evaporated the moment his eyes actually lied on the man. After a couple days he just became Old Man, a skilled drunkard with a sob story, rather than a member of the family his mother used to read him stories about. 

"Issues,” Garfield snorts at Reinhard’s choice of word. “Tha's one way of sayin’ it." He makes a face. "Yeah, I was there too. The Old Man made us go lookin’ for a stupid chalice with the power to cure all sickness, but in the end it's only power w’s turning water into booze. Big ass let down." 

Reinhard’s shoulders sag. "So that’s what happened…” Reinhard’s eyes finally looked past Garfiel and looked at the still closed door, an unreadable thought reflected in them. “...I am glad father was with Subaru and you nonetheless. I can't imagine him taking another disappointment well..." 

How could any member of the group that went after the dumb cup not be disappointed? The chalice would have been able to cure not only the Old Man’s wife, but the Cap’n too. As the camp’s shield it’s his duty to protect everyone from everything—including hereditary diseases. When the Old Man mentioned the rumors, he was the first to tell Emilia they absolutely needed to go.

Still— the entire conversation leaves a bad taste in his mouth. The Cap’n was already carrying enough on his shoulder, with being the Hero that defeated the Archbishop of Sloth, the White Whale and the Great Rabbit— did he really need to trouble himself with family drama when the man ain’t even dead? “Why?” 

Reinhard blinks. “Well, it has been many years—” 

“—no, not that.” Garfiel’s scowl grows. “Why do ya need to imagine it? Yar dad’s alive, you could ask him.”

Reinhard just stares, before a bitter smile covers his lips. “Although true, my father doesn’t enjoy my company, so I wouldn’t like to impose myself when unnecessary.” 

But he is alive, is what he wants to say. “My mom’s dead,” is what he says instead. Because damn— he saw the Old Man, the even Older Man and him talk during dinner and how Ottobro almost lost his head trying to stop Old and Older from killing each other, right before Priscilla arrived saying this was the most amusing shitshow she had seen in weeks. The Old Man genuinely didn’t want to be with Reinhard and his dad.

But he is alive. All three of them are. They can talk. While Garfiel's mom is dead and gone and he can't tell her how much he loves her. "Just because your father is with us, and the Cap’n is strong enough to carry the weight of yar family drama, doesn't mean he should."

Reinhard's eyes widen again. "I—" 

"The Cap’n sleeps longer when he overworks himself," Garfield cuts, his words stronger than any punch he ever did. 

And Reinhard's mouth shuts with an audible click, expression shifting into one of horror— as it should. 

"He carries everyone's problems on his back— no matter how tired he is...!" He clenches his fists. "The Cap’n is so cool, cooler than the Sage and Reid! But precisely because he is like that is that we need to push ourselves harder. Be the people the Cap’n wants us to be, even if he is too shy to tell us. Because— because...!" 

“—will you two please SHUT UP?!" The Cap’n's door parts open with a bang, and the Cap’n appears in the doorway, rubbing his eyes while scowling. “Some of us are actually trying to sleep around here!”

Garfiel rushes back to his room only minutes later, but also doesn't miss Reinhard walking in direction to the Old Man's room rather than the hallway he originally came from.

beta read by @daemonerik

[carlyraejepsans]

saw your most recent post about really good fics that contain uncomfortable kinks and i immediately thought "ah, biscia must be reading the mpreg soriel fic" and almost left a reply talking about it but i stopped myself because i realized that would be an insane assumption to make. needless to say i felt so vindicated when i saw you link it in an earlier post.

like. HELLO?

HELLO???????

[sharknark]

⬇️rant about a really good hengren (reverse renheng) fic i read. link at the bottom give it a whirl

i've never read a fic so well-catered to my tastes before in my life and the best part is that i was so caught off guard by how good it was cuz the tags and summary had me like "right this is some omegaverse-esque, rawr XD mating shit"

but from the very first paragraph i realized it wasn't just ao3-typical possessive mating shit it was (dare i say) IN CHARACTER possessive mating shit. underappreciated dan feng lore is the two hearts shit, duty expects him to smother his own empathy and perform cruelty obediently (and that being in his dragon form literally numbs his empathy towards mortals) but then it's flipped around and he's criticized for being too heartless

there aren't a great many english fics that take advantage of the 'numbed empathy' thing, so this fic using that to explore the toxic codependency that drove dan feng to making yingxing immortal in the first place is so!

dan feng's dragon heart prioritizing it's own indulgence and power, his human heart screaming against it for empathy and restraint, but both hearts united in this possessive adoration of yingxing... dan feng is possessive to the point of harming his partner, forcing them to take his affection, inherently contradictive to the protective impulse to see the other unhurt.

dan feng makes yingxing immortal in a really sketchy operation, despite knowing that yingxing is literally defined by his pride in being a short-life. he wants yingxing to be with him so badly that he does the one thing that would hurt yingxing the most, too blinded by possession, this sickly overbearing affection, to empathetically respect yingxing's death.

yingxing lived cramming every second he could into his craft and his goals precisely because he has so much less time than all the immortal species around him, but when he's forced into immortality, his hands are scarred and ruined past the point of ever crafting again. he suddenly has so much time, all this time he would've cherished as a mortal, but is totally useless to him now that his purpose for living and passion is gone.

so there being a scene in this fic where dan feng is moping "yingxing doesn't wanna fuck because he's glued to his workshop", being followed up with a scene of dan heng fucking blade while kissing his scarred hand and crying that he's "so sorry", yeah no shit asshole, his dragon heart got what it wanted, blade has all the time in the world to fuck and nothing competing for his now limitless attention and no one's happy about it.

as arrogant about being a short-life as yingxing was, it really is compensation for the discrimination he faced for it. other immortals looked down on him, so having dan feng, THE top dog, be so deeply enamored with him stirred his own toxic codependent urges. he was so desperate to have dan feng's eternal regard that he's willing to die for him (as in the sedition), his death being the force cementing his place in dan feng's heart forever.

so the fic having yingxing ruminate on this, that he had hoped for dan feng to love him even centuries after he inevitably died, only for the fic to end with:

yeah yingxing... you left an impression... he made you immortal.... everyone's upset by this

(that's what makes dan heng forgetting blade was ever yingxing to begin with all the more painful because, you went and turned him immortal and when it backfired horrifically you went on and fucking forgot, bitch i'd be pissed to the point of centuries long bloody pursuit of vengeance too.)

here's the fic go read it and leave kudos and a comment, technically porn but i got so invested in the character study that part barely registered. also yeah if you hadn't realized already super dead-dove:

blah blah "renheng is toxic" sorry that's why i like it

[pigtailedgirl]

Due South and a Canadian White Girl North-ish

I'm so nervous. Addition: Perhaps some trigger warning for abuse and illness talk?

So I read this great Due South fanfic.

BLESSED

I think it's going in my top ten. And I have a bunch I like that deal in the same theme. In Fraser's fit of himself in the city versus northern Canada and how he finds something in the contrasts.

Still this fanfic, though it does a neat re-examine overall, and others, have an image I guess that is put out by Fraser, by the narrative, of Canada that just does not work for me.

EXAMPLE

***

"Think about being somewhere else," Cleve told him as the strings began to vibrate again. "Anywhere but here."

And he did. Where did he want to be? Anywhere but here. Yes, Cleve had indeed answered the question for him.

The MacKenzie River, strong and swift, slicing through the spruce and pine, cutting a path between the snowcapped mountains.

The frozen, inhospitable Beaufort Sea, where a man could see his own breath turn to ice on the air and blow back to his face, clinging crystals of ice on his skin and lashes.

The mighty forests of tamarack and poplar that covered the western slope of the coastal mountain ranges. The warm, gentle breezes of heady lodgepole pine scent. The soft hiss and crackle of campfire, mellowed by a handful of cedar bark.

"There you go," Cleve decided at last in a quiet, satisfied voice.

Ben smiled until his face hurt, not quiet ready to open his eyes and let go his vision just yet. The strings felt good, like the strips of cedar bark he had imagined for the fire, the neck of the guitar a more than adequate rendering of the canoe paddle the MacKenzie demanded. The smooth, time worn wood of the box pressed into his belly, a body that complemented his, perfect in its unyieldingness, yet matching his every bend and twist.

Stella the True.

Ben would have given her another name.

His eyes opened then, noticing first how the world seemed to have blurred in more ways than one, and that the smile had faded away as the memories had faded in upon him. The world was only blurry for a few seconds more, until he realized that once he blinked the beginnings of tears from his eyes, the world became amazingly clear. So much became amazingly clear.

"Don't give up on yourself, son," Cleve Abernathy's voice came from somewhere very, very far away. Fraser gave his saturated eyes to the man who had spoken.

***

"Where I come from, people help one another. If one goes without, then all go without equally, so that everyone has a chance. You don't let your neighbor's coal run out in January. You don't let their stomachs go empty when your kill is plenty. When their children don't return from the trail, you go looking for them. That's just the way it is."

***

It's beautifully written, but feels wrong to me. Feels like lies to my lived experiences. Being from a small place like Fraser, this is a beautiful sentiment, and not at all true to it's realities.

When Fraser, Due South's narrative and comedy, and fandom view the otherness of the wilderness or northern Canada, make big deals to study it, never mind just mark Canada different in broad... It feels othering. Othering in a way I think is really important to how Fraser doesn't fit in if he's got this perspective too.

I've grown with stories about people and family who lived the same kind of lives as the Fraser family. In modern ways my home here still is like this. I even lived some like this and I'm baby in comparison.

Remote and isolated. Lots of nature to be in. Law, education and medicine as tiers in the community that are mostly outsiders to the community either brought in short-term or recurring.

Even those who live here permanently now, have founded themselves career wise, and have to, going away to do it or having been born and raised elsewhere. Christ, we have to basically leave after high-school more than 1000km away. HAVE TO.

And there is a definite disconnect between this group who are outsiders and the what I would call settled persons in the emotional connection to the place and town and the ability to fit in.

If it's a truism to me, this idea of grand north, natural beauty or isolation in a small town, with the people, to get in touch with an emotional growth is the biggest lie I have ever witnessed done by people to themselves. And this is an idealism of outsiders. You don't come out into isolation or live it to get NEW emotional needs met. You don't grow yourself thinking this is something special or the true way or will fix you.

Those that say living like this is a personal spiritual ride are:

1. High on their own supply as it were, aka, either tapping what they had dormant before or pretending.

2. Doing so off the backs of those who just don't think too much about it and are where and what they are.

If I had a dollar for every doctor or therapist I met who came here and were enamored by the place, the seas and freedoms and kind people and opportunities in solitude, expected it to change the people here and them, and then ran wild because they were always dumbasses, or took advantage, or after a year of seeing it day to day still wouldn't or didn't understand how to live with it and ran or got burnt out...RICH.

Because the truth is that small communities and remoteness don't make special or perfect people or places. We aren't magic, we aren't even that different, we just face a different or smaller reality.

I'm struck by the story One Good Man paints of Fraser's grandmother, who faced early trauma, and to me tells a reality you maybe don't want to embrace fully but should reflect on before concluding the nature of life here. A young woman who saw her town burn, who saved some of the children in it, but watched the others and adults die and was also horribly physically and probably emotionally scarred by it. Who only had an idea, and with it, bravery in the face of that moment, and after the strength to hang on as her backbone tip of surviving. Any wonder then, the tough it attitude and gift of wisdom was maybe her main survival and emotional mantra. That what tied her there to keep trying to give knowledge to people and how she pushed that above emotion on her grandson was this.

I think canon does a good job of highlighting an undercurrent of why Fraser and family still didn't fit in and why Fraser and Due South is a story of growth as a person and finding his home/community is going outside. His emotional needs weren't here. That's alright to find elsewhere when you need it.

@juniperpomegranate made a really great point of difference of Fraser's north, so often idealized in show or fic, and how it isn't actually like a town. It's not imagined or filled or understood in the reality of a community. Which is hella important. Because your community and relationships is how you really fit in a place like that or in my home.

And that's people. People to connect to. People who aren't wildly different. Experiences only seem wild to outsiders. Perfection or an image of better peeps is only lauded to cover in my opinion.

We face hardships and issues. We don't face them mythically. Nature is pretty and it requires work and understanding of it, learned only from experience and listening or knowing others who have, to survive and thrive in.

The reason we have outsider law or medicine or education come in is...

Well it can be real fun when the town is faced with say influenza and has no resources, or knowledge about it. Where you have to be cajoled to get immunized by your sister dressing up in the nurse's coat and leaving, to trick you into coming out of hiding. Where Dad tells stories of my great-grandma who plastered everyone with coal oil for cures as the rock of the town. Or where, when you have criminal stuff or domestic violence or mental illness and you can't treat or stop. A woman who hurt her family for decades because she was sadly untreated and unknown Schizophrenic. When another woman my dad's age wrote of her harrowing experience of childhood, of her mom dying from cancer and her father putting her to work as a teenage girl to care for the siblings and home, and then not providing any of his income or the support people gave him for them, until she and her siblings were literally found starving. Cause he fucked off to the neighbors. Cause the whole town knew it was happening, but there was no alternative, this was just their monetary and work survival versus that family and that family's lack of social capital paired with no place to go. Where solution was when law finally came in an forcefully moved the minor kids to different fosters in villages 100s of kilometers away, this was just a daily continuation of life though for most here.

See law, as external resource, can't even do much beyond come in twice a year and judge people. Punishment for crimes is more social than moral and depends on taking a person out of the community most times. Bob Fraser, Mounties and cops who ship around to different spots, if they are good get then respect sure, but they were and always have to stay detached to not bias too. It's a hard one. It's you can have impact and respect, for example the priest use to come a couple times a year and get the good dishes out for him, but you don't build the emotional connection of say staying for the weddings after-parties of music and dancing all night. Of people crossing islands to visit each other at the end of weeks' work.

In this vein I'm not surprised Bob had a great reputation and a lot of "friends" he didn't know.

And education. Where it's people come to knowledge at you, or knowledge from you. Where it's students come to study you like you are a tropical native of the 18th century. Write their papers and go back and take your history and skills to sell and forget the here left behind. Or come dodging the drafts of the States. All our stories or archives are in a "local" museum we can't even get to without a plane ticket yo. Or again those who come to give wisdom like they are the holders and we are heathen plebs. With maybe a one in ten being someone or something honest or decent. Though I'm a little bias here. My mom was a teacher who came here in the 70s and spent her whole life teaching grade school. Literal one room school house start. Who met and married and stayed with my Dad here. Some people do catch. Some, I think like maybe the example of Fraser's grandma, which I have soft feeling for probably because of this, just really want to impart shared knowledge and get happiness from seeing it grow and having that personal shot to help it. In a small community that seed growing outwards, to see it, is freaking awesome. But key is shared. You got to learn from too.

Finally, small isolated communities need and foster their connection through the people. Who you know. How you are all related. The meme of does everybody know everyone in Canada hits lol. But that's got the inverse too. There is no privacy. Loners be seen and judged. Again, social fit and capital being supreme.

That's why the nature loner or lover is myth too. Drop you off on a pretty snow covered lake. Pretty yes, magical and just for you, no. You still need the community knowledge to know where the fish, which direction is inland or sea, where is best shelter, where is Indians in the country to help you trap, when does the supplies boats and airdrops come. Nothing is done alone okay, trust me on this. You go out to snowshoe alone on a clear day, and weather strikes and you die.

I guess my point I keep trying to rope back into is maybe the experience or place or people sound different, or magic, but it's superficial. It's no different than how stories of history or cities sound to some. Emotionally I think we run the same. I think the true beauty is in seeing that reality. That you can't be the best stuck in an unreality or hiding from finding your fit. And again the true charm of Due South and Fraser, is his going south grows himself to see it. The show gets us to play and have fun seeing it.

And that the best of people or place, Canada or States, small town or city, outsider or no...is accepting and acknowledging that difference and sameness is the way to grow. Is the best beauty.

It's how my community did grow out of most of it's struggles imo, and hopes to go further I tell ya.

So here are my recs on the wonder of difference and sameness in Due South. Again like the fic above, can't rec enough.

Here are a small sampler of finding yourself near and away.

Stars, I Have Seen Them Fall (squidge.org)

Smaller Gods - arrow (esteefee) - due South [Archive of Our Own]

Our Dancing Days - sdwolfpup - due South [Archive of Our Own]

Also, does anyone have a link to an old ds flashfic of Fraser wandering Chicago in a power outage? I loved that one.

[silverwhittlingknife]

Idk if you read ao3 but if you do…….. got any Dick fics to share?

afdsf You have come to the right place. I read so much ao3, anon.

Dick Grayson Fanfic Recs

General notes: This is a mix of fics I associate with Dick, so some are straightforwardly "this is Dick's POV and a story about him" (like a soft place to land) whereas some are more loosely "this is the POV of one of his siblings who's just thinking about Dick a lot." Post-Crisis is my favorite continuity/tone, so everything is post-Crisis unless otherwise noted, but I happily read nu52/Rebirth or WFA-style fics when I like the authors, so there are some of those in here too.

I just skimmed through my bookmarks and picked out some fics I have fond memories of, so I tried to add content warnings when I remembered, but caveat lector - check the warnings in each individual fic before you read! (Mostly: be advised that there are both Good Dad Bruce and Bad Dad Bruce stories.)

Things I like include plotty long fics, timeline shenanigans like de-aging (and broadly, anything that emphasizes change over time), angst and hurt/comfort, characters with flaws and interpersonal tensions and misunderstandings (and reconciliations <3), explorations of trauma and grief, and Dick and Tim's relationship. So, uh, this rec list is going to be pretty shaped by those preferences.

Okay! Let's do this.

Organization:

Plotty ensemble fics with Dick in a lead role

Dick & Tim fics

Dick & Bruce fics

Dick & Jason fics

Dick & Damian fics

Fics that didn't fit into the other categories

Plotty ensemble fics with Dick in a lead role:

Exactly How This Grace Thing Works by irnan: Dick gets de-aged. You'd think this would be a routine thing. This fic is so great, you guys.

How Far Love Goes by flybynightwing: This one isn't just about Dick - it's an ensemble fic with great plotting and great writing for everyone, especially Steph - but at its heart is a very careful consideration of Dick and Bruce's relationship in all its complexities, from the bonkers highs of Golden and Silver Age comics to the darkest parts of post-Crisis and new 52. (cw: parental abuse, read the content warnings carefully)

from the till-then to the ever-since by kieron_oduibhir: This isn't precisely Dick-centric so much as it's mostly Dick-POV, but it's really good! Everybody meets their younger selves, and I especially enjoy the contrasts between Robin!Dick and Nightwing!Dick.

'no' and other four-letter words by a_good_soldier: Dick reassessing everything with Catalina, much later. (cw mentions of rape)

the man with guns for eyes by 8sword: Dick comes back from the dead. New 52 continuity, post-Spyral. Angst.

bad signal by prismatic-et-al: Not Dick's POV, but it's a great ensemble fic with Dick at the center. Hard to say more without spoiling the plot.

Dick and Tim fics:

a soft place to land by bitimdrake: Tim gives Dick a gift on the One Year Later cruise. Possibly my favorite Dick and Tim fic in the history of time ever. Perfect character voices, perfect story, perfect everything. <333 I reread it regularly.

long distance by bitimdrake: AU where Bruce is really dead and Dick finally gets a phone call from Tim. It's so sad and lives in my mind rent-free. (I also really love pain/release, which is hurt/comfort for Tim.)

Holding the Line by birdchild: Dick having anxiety dreams and getting comforted by Tim. ;_; Very canon-conscious with lots of thoughtfully-integrated references. Part of a really wonderfully-written Tim-and-Damian-centric series, and you probably have to read the series in order to understand this one-shot - and if you like those characters at all, you should!

When It Rains by vellaphoria: After Cass and Tim return from Paris, something seems… wrong. Dick investigates and ends up facing memories of his own. Really nice balance of dealing with ignored-by-canon traumas but the characters still sound like themselves (cw mentions of rape)

We've Taken Different Paths, Traveled Different Roads by sohotthateveryonedied: A moment of reconciliation post-Blackest Night ;_;

The Center Cannot Hold by kieron_oduibhir: Dick having a bad day and getting comforted by Tim and Bruce. New 52/Rebirth continuity.

the oracle at delphi by kieron_oduibhir: Future fic. The POV characters observe Dick and Tim. Hard to say more without spoilers. Trust me, it's very clever!!

Choco Bombs by lurkinglurkerwholurks: Tim POV, but the focus is on a moment of Tim comforting Dick in the Red Robin era. Mostly WFA-style but with post-Crisis influence. (The same author also has some excellent longer ensemble fics where Dick plays a minor role but is consistently well-written when he shows up.)

wake me up before you go go by incogneat_oh: short one-shot: Tim sneaks into Dick's apartment, Robin-era. General note - I only picked out two one-shots, but this author has done a bunch of WFA-style fics which are universally charming and lots of fun.

there'll always be a few things, maybe several things by incogneat_oh: short one-shot: Dick seeks out Tim after a nightmare, Red Robin-era. ;_; Low-key angst.

Road to Damascus by irrelevant: dark AU where Batman kills Zucco and Dick's parents don't die. Fascinating world-building and great character voices. (cw: explicit sex scene between Dick and an OC early in the fic - it's not important and you can skip it but just generally think of this fic as an r-rated movie)

There in the sudden blackness by camsthiSky: Dick and Tim tension in the Batman: Reborn era. Dick and Tim POVs.

things that don't kill us by polsvoice: This one's really Tim-centric but it's all about Tim missing Dick ;_;. After the events of Batman #71, Tim makes a visit to Ric. Nu52/Rebirth era, Tim POV.

and the shapes that you drew may change beneath a different light by popsunner: Tim-centric but I think of it as being about Dick because his absence is the hole that the whole fic's shaped around. ;_; Nu52/Rebirth era, Tim POV, Tim and Damian bonding in the aftermath of Dick's death.

spill of the war by 2012bookworm: "You dosed yourself. With Joker venom." Tim-centric, but Dick is a major character, trying to fix Tim while not-so-secretly crumbling himself. Dick's a barista, but not done in the way you'd expect. Very angsty.

exit wounds by Shari Deschain: very short one-shot in the very early days of Tim-as-Robin

Dick and Bruce fics:

almost right by bitimdrake: Bruce-centric, but it's about his relationship with Dick. (cw mentions of parental abuse)

in the dark of the night by fanfictiongreenirises: Dick & Bruce, through the years. AU where Dick gets adopted last.

deep roots are not reached by the frost by fanfictiongreenirises: in a future where everyone gets along, Dick gets de-aged to several different ages and has to process how the world has changed. I love how different the various incarnations of Dick feel. (cw mentions of rape and parental abuse)

shoulder to shoulder by lurkinglurkerwholurks: Dick and Bruce at Janet Drake's funeral.

the lower and coarser soul by dustorange: absolutely perfect slice-of-life with Dick, Bruce, and Tim (cw mention of Bruce punching Dick)

Dick and Jason fics:

Recollect, re-collect by Ptelea: A spell gone wrong leads to Jason reassessing some things. Jason-centric, but it's mostly about his relationship with Dick. Fantastic writing and plotting. New 52/Rebirth continuity (Spyral, Tim's close to Jason instead of Dick, etc.).

The 70 Days After Groundhog Day by Ptelea: Fascinating concept - Jason experiences a traumatizing Groundhog Day, but the whole fic is from Dick's POV in the aftermath as he pieces together what happened - and wonderful slow-burn writing. New 52/Rebirth continuity. (cw: mentions of rape).

Dick and Damian fics:

the primacy of personal conscience by birdsofthesoul: Brilliant concept (a wishing well that grants wishes - but it might be evil!), whirlwind plot, and a great take on Dick that doesn't lose his edge. Damian is a minor character but an important part of Dick's motivations. Read if only for my favorite take on Talia ever in the last chapter. New 52/Rebirth continuity.

3:16 by partingxshot: With faltering steps, Dick and Damian become Batman and Robin. Lovely writing. Canon notes: closely tracks Morrison's B&R and Leviathan.

Fics that didn't fit into my other categories:

It's a Wonderful Earth-218 by flybynightwing: I asked for an It's a Wonderful Life-style fic starring Dick and then I GOT ONE, proving that miracles are real and flybynightwing performs them. <3

If you just call me by flybynightwing: Dick and Donna, through the years.

continuous tense by batofgoodintent: Fix-it for the Mirage plotline. DickKory.

Let Us Be Brave and i want to wake up (i hate this dream) by camsthiSky: One-shots with Dick-as-Batman, depressed and grieving.

Don't You Forget About Me by sohotthateveryonedied: Everybody forgets Dick. ;_; One-shot.

touch starved by envysparkler: Dick is touch-starved and then gets hugged a lot. WFA-style.

feast by envysparkler: The Batkids are magical creatures that feed on pleasure from cuddle piles. Gen ensemble; ch. 1 is Dick & Jason and ch. 4 is Dick & Tim. WFA-style.

Also, I write stories about Dick & Tim sometimes, so, uh. If you're interested, there's

the WIP where Dick meets Tim for the first and second and third time and finds him really annoying,

the one where they spend Christmas Eve together and inch closer to being brothers,

the one where Tim is a wimp,

the one where Dick catches a falling Tim in RR 12, and

the WIP where Dick's trying to solve a mystery and everybody's mad at each other (this one's gonna be heartwarming eventually I promise!! later).

Snippets: Tim's imprisoned in fantasy!Russia and Dick has to disguise himself as an interrogator to rescue him, outline of an angsty fic of Dick and Tim in a world with soulmarks.

In conclusion

Dick is the best blorbo ever to blorbo. There are more fics in his character tag than for any of the other Batkids and yet there will never be enough <3

[whinlatter]

reading | listening | writing | summer '23

sulking in bed with tonsillitis - never had it before, thought i was built different, crushed to discover i am, in fact, built the same (sickly). so thought was overdue a share of some of the fics i have loved that i've read these past few months (even though my TBR remains colossal), as well as some tune/travel updates, a lil writing check in, and a lil sneak peek of chapter eight of Beasts because the ex boyfriends are back, baby!!!

Reading

Bookbinding by @saintsenara (Myrtle/Tom Riddle, AU, 35k, multi-chapter, completed)

look. this is how it's going to go. i'm going to say myrtle/tom riddle AU, you're going to say 'are you right in the head you're a canon compliant girlie kindly get a grip on yourself'. but then you're going to click the link, and read it, and then you'll be chuckling and filled with boundless delight and want to read this stonkingly well-written properly funny rich magical little fic all over again as soon as you've finished and you'll have me to thank for it. it's a rom-com, people. dare you not to be enchanted. their ship name is literally tyrtle? the tag is 'she said: I can fix him! and she's right'. (and then you're going to read this hinny one, also by @saintsenara as a gift to me as a delectable chaser and lose your mind!)

everything i am is yours by @brightlybound (Hinny, AU, 4k, oneshot)

remember when i was like, AUs, not my bag! and then i read a load of AUs and realised i was talking out of my arse? weird. anyway, here is a lovely little hinny AU that i've gone back to a bunch because it's just really beautifully written and deeply charming and actually does something a lot of muggle AUs don't always do, which is play with harry's characterisation ever so deftly to say, hey, harry is harry, but if nothing bad had happened to him and james and lily lived, he'd be a little bit different, wouldn't he? this harry is our harry, but he's just that bit more confident, that bit more capable of digging an active flirt out of his back pocket. and that makes me happy!

The Last Something That Meant Anything by anonymous (Percy POV, Percy/Audrey and Percy/Oliver, short multichapter, 21k, completed)

i have a lot of percy thoughts these days. fanon percy, steeped in weasley bashing, doesn't do very much for me, so i really loved this belter of a percy character study that considers him both within and apart from his family in a way that attends to his trauma and inner life, but also shows the truth: he's not doing well, he does fuck up with a big moral lapse, and then he has work to do - interesting, deep, personal work - to make it right. please check the tags with this one, as it does contain reference to SA, but really do recommend a read if you feel able.

haunted mansion by @bronzeagepizzeria (Sirius-POV, 1.5k, oneshot)

this brilliant short fic really left me with so many sirius feelings: it just gets the claustrophobia and the grief of sirius' last year alive exactly right, and it just has these fabulous cameos that have detonated a thousand deep sirius thought bombs in my head forever. l o v e d it

perpendicular by akissinacrisis (Hinny, AU, 4.5k, oneshot)

harry/ginny AU, where harry goes to stonewall high and meets ginny at a party. it's so tender and beautiful and stiff and sad and understated, and it's really stayed with me. also it does what all good hinny fics must do (have them chatting. just talking, hanging out, shooting the shit together. they just love to chat, those two lil magnets snapping to each other).

empire builders by she-crow (Prongsfoot, possibly canon-compliant but technically AU I guess, 25k oneshot)

i read this laid out beside a lake and needed at least four more days of lying by a lake to think about it. it's a) one of the most beautiful fics i've ever read b) rip your heart out and staple it heart-wrenching and good and c) some of the best sirius and james characterisations i've read that really serves as a manifesto for playing around with marauders multiships to really different characters in such different lights. the other beauty of it is that it could be canon-compliant? like it could be read as a fabulous doomed tragic love affair between two boys completely infatuated with each other and not sure where to put it. and i think that's kind of gorgeous. so yeah uhh big fan

Notes from the Ravenclaw Bulletin Board by lostrobin (Gen, 11k, completed)

this is a fic told through (very funny) little notes on the ravenclaw bulletin board. been thinking a lot about different house dynamics atm and this a) made me laugh out loud and b) really think, you know who is really sound? those ravenclaw kids. love those bookworms. the crookshanks and fred and george cameos really make this, too. you'll zip through it and you'll giggle. there's nothing more to it!

Listening (while out and about)

i listened to things like this:

pink light by muna (saw em live, lost my mind!) | space invader by the national (anthemic) | mountain by the joy (they're too good) | the greater wings (album) by julie byrne (literally stunning) | gorilla by lil simz (best beanie man sample of all time?)

Writing

other than this birthday microfic for mr potter, a bit of tinkering and dawdling with other misc projects that i pick up and put down over and over again, and my usual meta nonsense, i've just been writing Beasts! put four chapters out since last check-in, and am hard at work on chapter eight, which has some of my favourite scenes in the fic so far. we're gearing up for some chapters away from the castle (writing the winter break chapters in august. what am i like!) and some scenes i've been sat on for ages and some others that i'm having so so so much fun writing. i'm a michael corner stan now? who knew?

She lugs the trunk off the bus at the final stop and traipses around the warren of streets in Soho for a while, looking for the address written on the piece of parchment clutched in her hand. Finally, she finds the building, battered door with the doorbell hanging half off, and stands awkwardly in the street, catching her breath, until the machine crackles and a familiar deep voice says: ‘Hello?’ 'Hi, it’s me.’ She clears her throat. ‘It’s Ginny, I mean.’  ‘Oh, hi. Come on up.’  The hallway has an unmistakably damp, squat-like feel about it. Loud laughter spills out of the flat on the first floor, and a group of uni students, squabbling amicably among themselves, parade past her on the second floor staircase as she rings the doorbell and loiters in the corridor, feeling hopelessly out of place. ‘Your hair’s so nice!’ one girl with thick black boots and a face full of piercings says admiringly as she passes by, just as the door to the flat swings open.  ‘Oh, good, you found it. I wasn’t sure you’d be able to.’ ‘Why wouldn’t I be able to?’ Michael rolls his eyes. ‘You know, Ginny, seen as it's Christmas, maybe we could try not to argue before you’ve even set foot in my flat.'

okay, one more 🕺

THE BOYS OF 12 GRIMMAULD PLACE INVITE YOU TO  THE NEW YEAR’S PARTY OF THE CENTURY Eight til late, BYOB because we’re skint THE THEME: ‘MUGGLE MAGIC’ (BRING OUT THE MUGGLE IN YOU -  BECAUSE MUGGLES ARE MAGIC, TOO!)

[rotisseries]

since we seem to be starting up a bit of a jealous will moment, I NEED to promote one of my all time favorite fics, cheer up, baby by @perexcri, based on this post of mine! everyone go read it!!

[comfortlesshurt]

Skyler's October 2024 AO3 Recs

Boysssss, I have been slacking with sharing other people's fics, so I'm gonna work on being better with that. Below the cut is a non-exhaustive list of fics I've started/finished in October 2024 (i.e. all the ones that didn't get too buried in my AO3 history page and aren't PWP) that I enjoyed. I tried to sort fics from least to most traffic, so the higher on each list, the more it deserves some attention!

I didn't read a ton this month, so we've got a pretty short list. Expect the same in November, but December is usually a big reading month for me.

I enjoy stuff others find triggering, so particularly in the whump-focused section, make sure you read the tags first. I didn't relist triggers that the authors already noted on the stories.

More Whump-Focused

Since October's weird because of Whumptober, I'm just going to link to my whumptober reblogs tag to knock all the Whumptober fills out! I liked all of these, but there are far too many to go into detail on. You'll find a lot of shorter fics under this tag because I mainly follow people who tried to complete every day. It's mostly VLD in there, but I know a few FMA fics made it through! If you're as much of a Keith stan as I am, definitely hit all of @perpetuallylatetothefandomparty's posts under this tag. There are more than what I reblogged for everyone in this tag as well, so follow these people for more! I just burned out halfway through the month and needed a break from oneshots. You'll see 'em reblogged later though.

Swoon by Le_Tournesol: pre-Klance. short oneshot. chaotic dumbasses keith and lance, my beloved.

Even the People in Your Dreams Will Lie to You by popering: Klance, but the ship's not so much the focus imo. LONG. technically, I did NOT find this in October but I haven't hyped it up nearly enough yet, so here it is anyway. also, I re-read it in October, so maybe that counts. follows keith and lance being rescued from galra captivity. the author describes it as a science fiction mindfuck and that is so accurate. plenty of angsty content, but not like... over the top. like it all has a plot purpose. this may have usurped my previous all-time favorite fic... unfinished but I have no reason to believe OP won't come through with the rest, and it is close to complete. catch me in the comments as I work on my re-read.

The Future Freaks Me Out by gghostnebula: Klance. longfic. I forget how long ago I found this, but it COUNTS because I read it again this month. (I say as though I don't reread it every few months obsessively.) when I say my ideal fic... very Keith-focused. lots of hurt/comfort. slowburn Klance with fake dating. painful backstory that gets resolved. somehow takes a couple tropes I hate and makes me love them. heavily inspired something i'm writing now, so if you don't like it, you're gonna have a bad time following me in a few months... if this fic has no diehard fans then i am dead.

More Ship-Focused

To Whom It May Concern by heavily_caffeinated: Klance. short. a follow-up fic to Dear Reader in the relatively near future! modern AU. Cute & a nice little chance to get back into that AU for a bit. Strongly recommend reading Dear Reader first, but I guess you don't have to.

to breathe in this mirage by existwound: Klance, but pre-slash (sort of). there's time travel, so technically it's also not pre-slash, but you see the vision here. pushing that border between what I consider medium and long for a fic. canon-verse. this is 1) adorable, 2) just that little bit of angsty, and 3) so fucking well-written. (am I biased bc I love existwound? yes, what of it?) unfinished but I trust Astra with my life, so the other chapter will come.

A King and His Fisherman by heavily_caffeinated: Klance. long and finished! modern AU. sold me on dad Lance (coming from someone who typically hates fics involving child characters).

it's you that's haunting me by perfchan: Klance. long and finished! this is the first fic, but it's a whole finished series. ghost-hunting AU (I know, I also didn't think I liked those but this is different, I swear). I binge read this whole series in like... 3 days?

And just in general, here are my AO3 bookmarks for everything else I loved but didn't read this month. The include and exclude filters are your friends, so pls no bully for what I like thx. I think we've all spotted my weird niche by now.

[lavenoon]

Lave-san i need help i desperately need fics where the DCA does not like you initially/straight up dislikes you and avoids you. Bonus ppints for mechanic y/n

So I'll lead with the disclaimer that I crowdfunded this reply because I am a pitifully slow reader, which translates to me actually reading only very few fanfics. However, I trust my sources (from the Sleepy Cove Server <3), so I'll wholeheartedly recommend these!

First the two I have actually read:

Our Orbit is Elliptical by @sycopomp and @madame-mongoose

The Daycare Attendant is very protective of his role in the Superstar Daycare; he was made for this job, after all, and he finds it insulting that management seems to think he needs help. They insist on saddling him with human assistants, over and over, no matter how many quit. Not that he does it intentionally, of course... but if they can't handle the stress, then perhaps they aren't fit to be working with children. Hmph.

You are the new Daycare Assistant at the Superstar Daycare! Despite some reservations, you're determined to do your best and prove-- mostly to yourself-- that you deserve to be here. You're inspired by Sun and the ease with which he gets along with the children, and you hope to impress him with your go-getter attitude and unflappable confidence! (Even if both of those things are about as flimsy as construction paper...)

aka: Sun is passive-aggressive to his new assistant, whom is so determined to do a good job that they're too oblivious to notice.

Almost Human by @vilz

“I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.” ― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis

---

You get a new job. It's a struggle.

And now the ones that make me wish I could read faster or simply have more time in the day:

Two Choices by @thelonereni

You chose this.

There was regret of course, but turning back wasn't an option anymore. You couldn't lose this new game you found yourself in, and somehow you managed to feel more and more alive the longer you played...

You have worked in sanitation since the pizzaplex opened, but that all changed when you had a bit of a mishap in the kitchen. With the only real option left being an assistant in the daycare, you decided it couldn't be worse that your previous position.

Between the surly daycare attendant, bosses breathing down your neck and the corporate overlords coming for a visit, your starting to think you make really shitty life choices.

What's The Moral Here? by @/siquieres on ao3

Your little brother is invited to a birthday party at Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, hosted inside the Superstar Daycare. The Daycare Attendant takes a disliking towards you, or at least, that's what you think it is. Despite this and the violent nightmares of a sun god that plague you, you keep letting your brother bring you back. You keep coming back.

A sort of mean-spirited take on the Sun/Reader dynamic. Reader is often injured, intentionally or not.

What's It Called When Light Hits A Prism? by @/TooManyPsuedonyms on ao3

The PizzaPlex has been running--and the Management needs a new operator for one of their salvaged animatronics.

You are just trying to live independently, so of course, you'll take the job.

You have no idea what you're in for. Granted, you never really know what you're in for, but this can't be much different than working with regular human people… right?

And perhaps one where the DCA doesn't outright dislike Y/N, but the premise still causes tension in their dynamic (and you get mechanic Y/N!):

It's Curtains For You! by @muzzlemouths

|| “You will be befriending, then dismantling the animatronic,” he gets right to the point, “and you’ll have about a month to do it.”

You're not here to make friends. You're here to earn what you can, smile and nod with simple Yes Sirs, and keep your head down low. An open position as the Daycare Attendant's newest 'mechanic' doesn't change any of that. You're on a tight schedule with the disassembly and you can't afford to be getting attached.

But what happens when you do?

[atopvisenyashill]

let’s play a game called everyone guesses what my [dead dove don’t eat] ship is from a few clues winner gets idk a graphic. one i put effort into. a fanmix.

[iwaasfairy]

hello friends it’s been said before but I think it bears repeating: content creators are already doing all they can to add to fandom.

me and I’m sure a lot of other writers often get the question “any fics similar to yours/any writers who do more of what you do/hey please recc people or fics” and,,, I hope you can see that all these sort of asks are asking for more things to consume, more to read, preferably exactly like what they like about you as a writer -and while I don’t get upset over these messages- I also don’t love them. ༼ ் ▽ ் ༽つ

because the truth is that writers read less than readers. seems pretty obvious hhahshdh . we’re writing for you all, so we don’t have time to go dig through the tags and find new fics or writers we like. so getting messages like this just reminds me that when I’m actively making content for others, I don’t get the time to enjoy fandom. luckily I enjoy writing, so it gets lifted somewhat. but I would like to say this:

if you want more of a certain thing, how about instead of taking more, you try to give? it’s so so rare to receive back as a content creator, and it’s honestly pretty draining. it kills fandoms. genuinely. you guys have to understand fandom is a two way street.

if there’s a fic you really like, send it to a writer you think will enjoy it, and maybe that writer will get inspired. if you know someone likes a certain topic, send them some blog recs! If someone’s having trouble writing, send them an ask about an idea they might enjoy. It’s really really not as hard as you guys seem to think it is to make fandom more enjoyable for both parties. Because I promise you, I promise you!! If a writer is inspired and happy, you will get a lot more content to read too, than when they’re not. It benefits you to interact with, and help out your fav writers.

unless someone specifically has a rule not to, help us (writers) out a little. and ofc this isn’t calling out people who already interact, and reblog, and leave nice comments on fics. yall are little muffins whomst I love the most. but I wont answer asks that want more, because one, I don’t know many other writers to rec and two, it’s not fun to know you’re sending another writer a bunch of readers who will just pass by to read everything they’ve poured hours into, and then most likely ask them the same thing and move on

[blastlight]

i have no idea how to effectively search out this genre but i keep accidentally finding really good horror fiction on the internet and then barely being able to recommend any of it to people

[elizabeth-mitchells]

hello who has some wenclair fic recs?? pls pls

[andiv3r]

With the way my ao3 reading list is looking nobody would ever be able to tell I hc the ineffable husbands as asexual ...