#WICK'S END AU: GENDERBENT

[eightyuh]

MAGICAL GIRL GLEN — WHEN???

went a little overboard w/ this one ....

glen would be formerly a part of a crew of magical girls and somehow miraculously survived being wiped out w the rest of the team by the big baddie. used up all their power to hold them back and burnt out of magic / retired as a result. harry would be the team's mascot / magic critter companion! has a human alt form (like luna from sailor moon)

in the process realized glen as a magical girl would just be sayaka miki haha

[wicksend]

Wick's End Masterpost

Set in a fantasy RPG, selfless soldier Glendale cheats death at the cost of living on with a curse. Now 6" tall, he quests with his personal servant Harry (a dog that has mysteriously turned human) and comrade Freya to find cures for their respective ailments.

▭|═══════ﺤ

A lighthearted fantasy adventure story that transforms its zany premise into a meaningful exploration of the burnout experience. Wick's End is SFW and for all audiences, with occasional themes of substance usage.

( Webcomic by @eightyuh - Professional inquiries: eightyuh @ gmail)

Pilot Chapter 1 (Canon remake of pilot - Coming next) Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 (Coming soon)

Please refer back to this original source of this post for updates!

What was your inspiration to make this? The story is based off of a dream that I had.

When will the comic be updated? There are 10 planned chapters total, but it will only be updated when I feel inspired to do so.

Can I draw the characters? Yes! Just keep it SFW.

What kind of dog is Harry? He’s an Australian Shepard!

NOTICE:

You are welcome to submit Tumblr asks to the characters!

N*S*F*W / K*NK DO NOT INTERACT

Glendale Goodwyn (Toyhouse) (Artfight)

Harry (Toyhouse) (Artfight)

Freya Ferguson (Toyhouse) (Artfight)

Glen and Harry pre-story (2)

Bathing

All Alternate Universe depictions are tagged under #WICK'S END AU

Genderbent (2) (3)

Tiny Harry AU (Comic) (Hashtag)

As Dogs

Dungeon Meshi Crossover (2)

Bodyswap

All fan-creations can be viewed under the tag #WICK'S END FANART

Majora’s Mask, The Dark Crystal, Princess Tutu, Ranking of Kings, Project .hack, Angel's Advocate, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Spotify playlist: I play this while working on the main comic :) Mostly dungeon synth, RPG videogame OSTs, fantasy instrumentals -- and some Pogo thrown in too!

[mythuzalasheir3]

Can you give me a little more context on what Once Upon A Time is about?

What fairytale character do all the Hatchetfield citizens align with?

How closely does your AU follow either of its inspirations/what has it changed?

Once Upon A Time basically starts off with the Evil Queen cursing all the other fairytale characters to live in the miserable real world where the only happy ending is his own (and kind of rumplestiltskin's). The only person who can save the day is Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, who was sent through separately so she wouldn't be trapped in the curse. She gets roped into it when the son she gave up for adoption, Henry (who was adopted by Regina/The Evil Queen), seeks her out on her 28th birthday.

It goes off the rails even further each season and they have a really good musical episode in season 6 (Wicked Always Wins and Love Doesn't Stand A Chance my beloveds) If you want to know more, I will ramble in DMs until the cows come home if you want :)))

I've mapped out seven seasons worth of characters, so I'm only going to do the main ones:

Emma and Henry are original characters, that are literally just them with a new coat of paint, called Helen and Sammy, respectively.

Snow White is Pete, and Prince(ss) Charming is Steph. The Evil Queen (King) is Solomon Lauter and Rumplestiltskin is Ted.

I have had to adjust the lore because of this change. Initially, Regina had it out for Snow because young Snow couldn't keep a secret from the Queen of Hearts (Regina's mum) and got Regina's true love killed. However, because Evil King Solomon is related to Charming, not Snow, his vendetta against Pete is to provoke Tedplestiltskin (trademark me, myth) because Ted killed his wife instead of Steph ,as was the original deal.

I have also genderbent a couple of other characters, like Pinocchio is going to be Alice, when she shows up, and Wilbur Cross and Howard Goodman are Maleficent, and Maleficent's kid respectively.

I have simplified the chaos of the Swan-Mills-Nolan-Gold-Cassidy-Jones family tree as best I can by splitting some of the characters' functions in the story up. Like Pete, as Ted's brother, takes on part of the role of Baelfire, Rumple's son, as well as Snow White, and narratively the Darlings in Peter Pan, while I have another original character (the son of Jenny and Andy Kilgore, who will be Captain Hook), to take Bae/Neal's role as Henry's father, and later on, part of Captain Hook.

I am also killing off Solomon early, instead of my Neal OC, and giving Regina's redemption arc to Becky Barnes, who's acting as the Wicked Witch Of The West, because I said so.

And it's just changes that ripple off of these, mainly.

[anghraine]

[long rambling post about the f/f Darcy/Elizabeth fic that periodically occupies my brain]

I’ve written a lot of genderbent fic, made a lot of photosets etc, but the one nearest my heart has probably always been First Impressions’s Catherine Darcy (f!Fitzwilliam Darcy). Even though the fic is het (Elizabeth is also genderbent), a lot of my closeted lesbian feelings etc went into it—mostly into the portrayal of Catherine. And, of course, I periodically wonder about how Catherine/Elizabeth would go.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been very different, since First Impressions was meant to be a re-telling of P&P rather than a “what if”-based AU. OTOH I probably would have solved some of the difficulties involved in f!Darcy in different ways (the big ones IMO are friendship with Bingley and the first proposal). And even with a similar plot, the gender dynamics would be different, since First Impressions does emphasize that Henry(m!Elizabeth)’s perceptions of Catherine are influenced by their respective gender roles, even when they break them.

At the end of the day, though, I’m not terribly interested in writing “First Impressions but femslash.” The re-telling approach would be cool for an adaptation or something, but as far as fic goes, I did a re-telling, I’m fond of what I did despite its flaws, I don’t need to do it again. The f/f Darcy/Elizabeth P&P that does interest me (writing-wise) isn’t a re-telling but an actual what-if that’s set in some approximation of Austen’s world, where their story and arcs are influenced by the realities of that world while remaining basically recognizable.

So it’s like ... Catherine isn’t even at Netherfield. She has a casual acquaintance with the Bingleys, but doesn’t like Bingley’s sisters well enough to spend that much of her time with them, and isn’t in company with Bingley enough to form the canonical attachment. Wickham mentions her in passing as part of his sob-story, but doesn’t make as much of a production of it without her there, and Elizabeth, while still attracted and inclined to make excuses for him, isn’t influenced by the insult/consolation to her vanity. Bingley’s sisters try to run interference with Bingley/Jane, but without Darcy to back them up, Bingley ultimately decides to propose to Jane anyway and she happily accepts.

The Mr Collins situation winds out in largely the same way as canon and Elizabeth goes to Rosings. Colonel Fitzwilliam and Catherine are still close (though in a different way than in FI, where their relationship was influenced by the shifted ages; here they’re closer in age) and they still travel to Rosings. That’s where Elizabeth and Catherine meet.

There may or may not be an explicit initial insult without the context of the assembly, though I think Elizabeth and Catherine still get off on the wrong foot (I could probably work “tolerable” into things in some capacity, though I’m deciding if I want to—e.g., Elizabeth could overhear an early conversation between Fitzwilliam and Catherine in which Catherine dismisses her). Catherine gradually falls for an oblivious Elizabeth, who has her canonical flirtation with Fitzwilliam but keeps mysteriously crossing paths and wits with his beautiful haughty cousin.

For Elizabeth, it’s confusing and aggravating but also energizing, even exciting, in a way that’s difficult to exactly pin down (she doesn’t think too hard about this). For Catherine, it’s both better and worse: she actively enjoys being around Elizabeth, looking at her, talking to her, everything, she’s rarely felt anything like this at all and never remotely on this scale, but also, obviously, it’s high-octane forbidden. I think she’d be much (much, much) less likely to perceive Elizabeth’s behavior through an “obviously she’d accept me if I did offer” filter (and of course she can’t offer marriage), which is the biggest change here, though she’s still arrogant and it comes through in other ways.

At some point, Elizabeth connects this Miss Darcy to the villain of Wickham’s story. I’m still deciding if that resolves before Elizabeth’s departure. It probably works best if it does, but it may be somewhat forced and this AU is trying to get away from forcing things onto the P&P rails Just Because. OTOH, as far as their character development is concerned, it is helpful to find a way to get things out in the open where possible.

My earlier idea was that Catherine finds some sort of pretext for writing to Elizabeth and they end up having this very strange (to Elizabeth) correspondence for awhile. Then Elizabeth goes to Pemberley, and *waves hand* stuff.

Semi-tangent: I think I had an idea at one point that Catherine’s arc takes her from urging Fitzwilliam away from Elizabeth out of both snobbery and repressed alarm, to forming a genuine friendship with her, to valiantly trying to be a Good Friend and help her make connections that will lead to a Good Match even though Catherine would rather walk over hot coals than see that actually happen.

And Elizabeth does like some of the worthy young men she meets through her friendship with Catherine! But somehow the prospect of marrying any of them is just increasingly repellent, and when one proposes, she realizes that she doesn’t want to be mistress of some dude’s estate etcetc, regardless of who it is, she wants to stay with Catherine and—oh. Oh. And, linking back up to P&P, this leads her to say something that gives Catherine enough hope to actually declare herself and they babble happily through figuring out how to make it work, but it does.

I’m not sure if I would actually veer that far afield for the resolution—I do think the Lydia disaster would still happen (I don’t buy that it had anything to do w/ Darcy), so the resolution of that would need to be worked through and, well, there’s plenty of stuff to deal with. But at the least, the early Jane/Bingley marriage gives Elizabeth some breathing room and she’s able to ultimately nope out of the conventional het marriage that she expected for herself, and no matter what the route ends up being, they end up happily ever after at Pemberley together.

[transromansanders]

Roman’s Writing Masterlist

A Witch, A Prince, A Necromancer, and A Bard Walk into a Bar

A series of poems set in a fantasy AU that tell the story of four “friends”, and an evil wizard

Pairing(s): Prinxiety, Logicality, implied LAMP/CALM

Status: Complete

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Brotherly Distaste AU

A Familial DLAMP AU where Patton ends up fostering four boys, and antics ensue. Posted as non-chronological drabbles

Pairing(s): Platonic DLAMP/LAMPD, background Remile

Status: Ongoing

Secure

The Things That Brought Us Here

An Ice Cream Kinda Day

Home for the Holidays

First Snow

The Beginning

Braces

AO3

The Colors of Us

A soulmate AU drabble in a universe where you see an aura around your soulmate.

Pairing(s): LAMP/CALM

Status: Finished

Link

Flowers for a Special Occasion

Fantasy AU Logince angst with no happy ending

Pairing(s): Logince, could be read as LAMP/CALM

Status: Finished

Link

Ground Control

Analogical cuteness (kinda angst? With a happy ending) based on the song Ground Control by All Time Low ft. Tegan and Sara

Pairing(s): Analogical, background Royality

Status: Finished

Link

Heartless

Logince piece based on the song Heartless by Jacob Tillberg.

Pairing(s): Logince, background Moxiety if you squint

Status: Finished

Link

Crispy

Logan tries to make sweets. It goes very wrong. Patton thinks it’s hilarious.

Pairing(s): Platonic LAMP/CALM

Status: Finished

Link

The Lottery Ticket

Virgil is out with his son and buys a lottery ticket.

Pairing(s): Prinxiety, familial Analogince

Status: Finished

Link

Cotton Candy Hair

“What did you think would happen while you’re walking late alone?” Patton saves Logan from a dangerous situation.

Pairing(s): Logicality

Status: Finished

Link

Bath Day

Deceit’s scales are shedding, and he gets some much deserved tlc.

Pairing(s): platonic DLAMP/LAMPD

Status: Finished

Link

Time Travel AU

A collaborative effort between myself, @under-the-blue-moonlight​, and @urielthealienboio​ in which Virgil, Patton and Logan’s son, travels back in time and meets his parents before he is born.

Pairing(s): Logicality, Prinxiety, oc x oc

Status:The original is complete. The sequel is ongoing

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Sequel:

Part 1 Part 2-Incomplete

Whump Prompts

Prompt List Untitled (familial Moxiety) Frozen Veggies (Royality) The Story’s Climax (Prinxiety) Waiting (Prinxiety) No Matter What (Analogical) Start Over (Logince)

How Warm and Far AU

Warm and Frostbitten

Another Analogical whump prompt

How Far Away the Stars Seem

Sequel to “Warm and Frostbitten” in which Virgil and Logan are living their happily ever after.

Pairing(s): Analogical, background Royality

Status: Finished

Hero x Villain Prompts

No Escape (Royality)

I Win (Logicality)

Oblivion (Moxiety)

Just Like That

Meant to be the first part of a Pirate AU. We’ll see.

Pairing(s): Platonic Anxceit, nothing else so far

Status: To Be Continued?

Link

AU Prompts

Avian AU (see next listing) Angel/Demon AU Accidental Marriage AU Arranged Marriage AU Forbidden Love AU Fake Dating/Engagement/Marriage AU Porn Star AU Alien AU (see two listings down)

Avian AU

A collaborative effort with @urielthealienboio, winged!sides.

Pairing(s): Platonic DLAMP for now, subject to change.

Status: Ongoing

Link- incomplete

The Man from the Stars

Virgil is suspicious of his new neighbor, Patton. Done in very short parts.

Pairing(s): Moxiety

Status: Discontinued

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Roman Hood

Robin Hood AU

Pairing(s): Prinxiety

Status: Discontinued, might rewrite into a oneshot

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Bonus: Chapter 1.5 + art

Special Day

Virgil congratulates some friends on a very special day.

Pairing(s): Logince, background Moxiety

Status: Finished

Link

Your Ex-Lover is Dead

Based on the song of the same name by Stars

Pairing(s): Past Sleepxiety, implied Remile, implied Analogical

Status: Finished

Link

Fluff Prompts

All Untitled

(Prinxiety) (Analogical) (Logicality) (Logince)

Disaster Magic AU

Bullet Fic, Genderbent Sides, Moxiety with Vampire Payton and Witch Violet

Pairing(s): Moxiety, possible others

Status: Discontinued

Character Info Baby Violet Art Baby Payton Art Baby Ramona Art

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Made of Tin

The Steadfast Tin Soldier AU. No happy ending.

Pairing(s): Prinxiety

Status: Finished

Link

The Case of the Pining Detective

An AU where Roman is a police officer and almost arrests Virgil. Almost. Instead he finds himself too emotionally involved with Virgil and his brother.

Pairing(s): Prinxiety, brotherly Moxiety, platonic Royality

Status: On Hiatus

Masterlist

More AU Prompts

Coffee Shop Prinxiety #1, Library AU Logicality, Coffee Shop Prinxiety #2, Fake Dating Prinxiety, Fake Dating Logicality

Angst Ficlets

Cursed (Prinxiety), On My Hands (Prinxiety), Patton angst

Soulmate AUgust

Prompt List

Day 1 -Pineapple Day 2 -Violet and Blue Day 3 -Nerd Day 4 -Knowing Day 5 -His Voice Day 6 -I Understand Day 7 -Sharing Day 8 -3, 2, 1 Day 9 -Constellation Draco

Afraid

Unsympathetic Patton Human AU with Victim Virgil

Ship(s): None, could be read as Virgil x Deceit x Remus

Status: complete, probably

Link

No Good Deed

Wicked AU

Ship(s): Roceit (and side intrulogical/Lomus and one-sided Prinxiety, if I ever write that far).

Status: Unknown

Link

Dinos

Little!Virgil likes his dinosaur book. A lot

Ship(s): Platonic Anxceit

Status: Complete

Link

Prince of the Sea

A collab with @hitmewiththatfanart33. A Prinxiety AU in which Virgil is a runaway prince and Roman is a pirate captain.

Ship(s): Prinxiety, background Logicality, background implied Dukeceit

Status: Complete

Part 1 Part 2

I Only Have One

My first commission. Intruality Punk!Patton ad Pastel!Remus Promposal fic.

Ship(s): Intruality

Status: Complete

Link

The Dark Prince

A fic by the lovely @hitmewiththatfanart33, but on which I have been coauthor for a couple chapters now. Prinxiety Snow White AU

Ship(s): Prinxiety, Logicality, Remus x OC, past Loceit

Status: Ongoing, on a small hiatus

Masterlist Link

24-Hour-Diner AU

A bullet fic. with vampires.

Ship(s): hint of Loceit

Status: Complete

Link

Star-Crossed (But Not Really)

A ThVi Romeo and Juliet AU

Ship(s): ThVi, Intrulogical, was gonna have Moceit and Rosleep

Status: Discontinued

AO3 link

A Sticky Situation

Toddlers Logan and Roman discover Crofter’s.

Ship(s): N/A

Status: Complete

Link

Squeaker Shoes

Toddler Patton makes an equally small, very anxious friend.

Ship(s): N/A

Status: Complete

Link

Untitled Zombie Apocalypse Moceit

Patton. Cute Dogs.

Ship(s): Moceit

Status: Complete

Link

Roses

Prinxiety ficlet, Virgil is a prince who takes comfort in the company of the gardener.

Ship(s): Prinxiety

Status: Complete

Link

Floor is Lava

Brotherly Prinxiety ficlet

Ship(s): Lomoceit, brotherly creativitwins + Virgil

Status: Finished

Link

Never So Much Blood

An AU concept based on the Ludo song The Horror of Our Love. 

Ship(s): Roceit, Pintroverts

Status: To Be Written

Concept Roman Backstory Pintroverts Art

Logan’s Humans

Angst. Pure angst. Lots of character death. Beware.

Ship(s): Platonic DRLAMPT

Status: Complete

Link

[the-knights-who-say-book]

November 2017 — I finally read the Grisha series and i’m so glad I can stop wondering when I’ll get around to them haha. also watched a lot of youtube, which really says more about how unmotivated I’ve been feeling than anything else. literally failed every writing goal i set for myself this month, i’m so ready for november to be over.

REVIEWS

Shadow and Bone — ★★★★☆

Siege and Storm — ★★★½☆

Rosemarked — ★★★★☆

Autonomous — ★½☆☆☆

Ruin and Rising — ★★★★½

Searching for Dragons — ★★★★★

The Wicked + the Divine — ★★★★☆

Furthermore —  ★★★☆☆

Binti — ★★★½☆

BOOKS READ

Hath No Fury (arc) — ★★★☆☆ (review up next month)

Calling on Dragons — ★★☆☆☆

Mask of Shadows — ★★★½☆ (review up next month)

An Enchantment of Ravens — ★★★★☆ (review up next month)

The Princess Saves Herself in this One — ★★★½☆

Because You Love to Hate Me — ★★½☆☆ (review up next month)

WRITING

An Enchantment of Ravens and a Court of Thorns — a comparison essay of the two books + romanticisation of violent masculinity

Chapters 12 through 14 of the assassin wip

Muddling through a follow up story for Witches Against Normalcy but it’s just not going anywhere yet

OTHER COOL STUFF (the rest of what i’ve been watching/listening/reading) below the cut

Podcasts

Hey YA — two book nerds discuss YA as a genre/specific books

Youtube

Lizzie Bennet Diaries — Pride and Prejudice modern au! I had mixed feelings on the earlier episodes but ended up loving it

Frankenstein, MD — genderbent Frankenstein modern au. I liked it but it ended very abruptly so it feels a little hollow

Sailor J — uh. makeup channel? social commentary? both, but hilarious. idk watch her

Ross Taylor Woodworks — listen, don’t ask me why I’m suddenly watching woodworking youtube. i don’t know how this happened either

Paige Turner — booktube channel

paperbackdreams — more booktube

WoolfsWhistle — yet more booktube

Rayna Lidell — lmao guess

Shows

The Good Place season 1 — I blame every single person who ever reblogged a gif set of this show onto my dash

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — remains a show that alternates between amazing and cringey. finally finished the first season!

Rewatching Brooklyn 99 — needs no explanation

Still Star-Crossed — Hulu took it off while I was in the middle of the season so it’s now my Enemy

[wordsaremything]

The Spring Court– Part 2

Summary: Feyren is trapped, but not a prisoner, as he becomes a familiar face around Tamsin's lovely manor. She gives him the first rose of spring, and he hears the word Calanmai for the first time.

Part of Feyren and Friends genderbent AU series.

4076 words.

The halls were silent and empty, strange for such a large estate. The High Fae females had mentioned others before, and there was evidence of cleanliness and things like cooks and stable hands, but I’ve seen no one in my exploring. However, walking around the Spring Court was admittedly nothing short of pleasant. The breeze floated through the open windows –did they ever close?– and brought with it the scent of various flowers and the sounds of birdsongs.

Alix had found me early in the morning after my failed attempts of escape. I had ruined the curtains in my room trying to tie them together, after ripping and ripping to try to make a rope long enough. Truthfully it was only half-hearted… it seemed as though Tamsin was trying.

She started to give me pathetic little compliments if I ever ran into her during the day. She commented on my hair looking washed, bruises from drawing a bowstring healing on my arms, clothes fitting well. Although they didn’t quite make me feel complimented, per say, they did tell me that she wasn’t entirely wicked. She didn’t bring me here to torture me or to leave me with a faerie to devour. I was trapped, but I was no prisoner.

When I asked Alix what I was supposed to do with the rest of my mortal life here, he just laughed at me and said I should try taking a walk. If he was being serious or joking at my being wound-up was yet to be determined.

Before I left I asked him what this place was. Where it was. He said it was safe and that was all I needed to know. Tamsin’s power and protection only goes so far, so I should keep my wits about me.

My walk was more than something to stave off boredom now; it was a way to glean some sense into my surroundings. Maybe there was someone here who would plead my case to Tamsin. She said she was helping my family but she would not go into details about what kind of help she provided. And it was making me crazy.

I was almost to the grand staircase when I noticed the paintings.

I hadn’t let myself look before, when I was so on edge, but now in the empty hall with no one to see me… a flash of color amid a shadowy, gloomy background made me stop, a blossom of color and texture that compelled me to the gilded frame.

It’s just a still life, I told myself, but couldn’t help it when I reached up to run my hand over the canvas. It was just a green vase of drooping flowers with a black background. Some would call it boring, but an artist would know the talent it took to craft this. Every blossom was different– not only in flower type, but in color, size, and shape. Roses, tulips, morning glory, goldenrod, peonies… white peonies.

I hadn’t painted anything in a long time. It’s been years and years since we could afford things like paint, except for the one time Elaric had splurged at the market and come home with paints for me. I had put personal touches all over the cottage that week, like tiny murals. But even that was ages ago.

I could have stared at the painting for hours, or at any of the others hanging on the walls, but I had plans. To scope the gardens. The grounds.

I moved on. Seeing all these paintings made me feel off . Too comfortable. Art was too… human. Even if the High Fae were gentler than I had been led to believe my whole life, I still didn’t belong here. Maybe there was a way to convince Alix that it was wrong of the Treaty to summon me here. Perhaps he had some sort of sway or knew of any loophole to get me out of this debt–

“You,” someone said, and I halted my steps. In the light of the open glass doors to the garden, a shapely female figure stood silhouetted before me.

Tamsin. She wore those warrior’s clothes, cut close to show off her toned body, and three simple knives were now sheathed in her baldric– each one enough to look like it could shred me just as easily as her beast’s claws. Her blonde hair was tied away from her face, revealing those pointed ears and that strange, beautiful mask. “Where are you going?” she said, more of a demand than a question. You– I wondered if she remembered my name.

It took me a moment to focus again. “Good morning,” I said flatly. It was a better greeting than You. Tamsin lifted her chin. “You said to spend my time however I wanted. I didn’t realize I was under house arrest.”

Her jaw tightened. “Of course you’re not under house arrest.” Even as she bit out the words, I couldn’t ignore the sheer female beauty of the full lips, rosy cheeks, the richness of her golden-tan skin. She was probably lovely– if she ever took off that mask.

When she realized I wasn’t going to reply, she grit her teeth. “Do you want a tour?”

“No, thank you,” I managed to get out, conscious of my every awkward body movement as I edged around her.

She stepped into my path, and ended up so close she conceded a step back. “I’ve been sitting inside all morning. I need some fresh air.”

“I’m fine,” I said, casually dodging her, “You’ve… been generous enough.” I tried to sound like I meant it.

A half smile, not so pleasant, graced her features. “Do you have some sort of problem with me?” I was taken aback by the sheer command in her voice. No metallic tang, so she wasn’t using any magic there, she was just compelling. No doubt unused to being denied.

“No,” I said quietly, and walked through the doors.

She let out a low snarl. “I’m not going to kill you, Feyren. I don’t break my promises.”

I stumbled a bit on the garden steps, and I would have eaten concrete if I hadn’t been careful. I turned and stared at her. She stood there at the top, her hands folded behind her, looking solid and statuesque. “I heard you. But I don’t think harming is part of the Treaty. Is that a loophole in your plan? One that Lucia might use against me– or anyone else here?” I added.

“They’re under orders not to touch you.”

“Yet I’m still trapped in your realm, for breaking a rule I didn’t know existed. Why was your friend in the woods that day? I thought the Treaty banned you from our lands.”

She just stared at me. Perhaps I’d questioned her too much. She took a step down, closer to me, and fear shot unwelcome through me. For all the game I talked she could get a rise out of me with a mere fluid movement. And I think she knew it.

“The Treaty,” she said quietly, “Doesn’t keep us from doing anything, except enslaving you. The wall is an inconvenience. If we cared to, we could shatter it and march through to kill you all.”

I might be forced to live in Prythian, but my family… I dared to ask, “And do you care to destroy the wall?”

She looked me up and down, as if deciding whether I was worth the effort of explaining. “I have no interest in the mortal lands, though I can’t speak for my kind.”

“Then what was Andra doing there?” I continued, more confident that she hadn’t shut me down. She hadn’t answered my question.

But then, Tamsin stilled, if that were possible. Such unearthly, primal grace, even in her breathing. “There is… a sickness in these lands. Across Prythian. There has been for nearly fifty years now. It is why this house and these lands are so empty; most have left. The blight spreads slowly, but it has made magic act… strangely. My own powers are diminished due to it. These masks” –she tapped hers– “are the result of a surge of it that occurred during a masquerade forty-nine years ago. Even now, we can’t remove them.”

Stuck in masks– for nearly fifty years. I would have gone mad, would have peeled my skin right off my face. “You didn’t have a mask as the beast. Neither did your friend,” I said.

“The blight is cruel like that.”

Either live with a mask or live as a beast. “What… what sort of sickness is it?”

“It’s not a disease– not a plague or illness. It’s focused solely on magic, on those dwelling in Prythian. Andra was across the wall that day because I sent her for a cure.”

“Can it hurt humans?” My stomach twisted. “Will it spread over the wall?”

“Yes,” she said, “There is… a chance of it affecting mortals, and your territory. More than that, I don’t know. It’s slow moving so your kind is safe for now. We haven’t had any progression in decades… it’s been weakened by our magic.” That she’d even say so much to me spoke volumes of how she imagined my future: I was never going home, never going to encounter another human to whom I might spill this secret vulnerability.

“A mercenary told me she believed the faeries are thinking of attacking.”

A hint of a smile, perhaps surprised. “Do you talk to mercenaries often?”

“I’ll speak to anyone who gives me valuable information.” I said. Her smile widened. “Is it related?”

She lifted a shoulder, the most casual thing I’d ever seen her do. “I don’t know.”

I swallowed and nodded mutely, and then turned away. Flowers, gardens, a walk. I had something to do. I didn’t hear her behind me, but she did say, “I might take an animal form, Feyren, but I am civilized.”

So she did remember my name. But I looked pointedly ahead of me.

She knew I wasn’t going to reply. “I’ll see you at dinner,” she snapped, and then it was followed by the sharp slam of the garden door.

It wasn’t a request. I strode off between the hedges, not caring where I was going, only that she didn’t come with me.

A sickness in their lands, affecting their magic, draining it from them. We’d be defenseless against it. And the High Fae didn’t seem to care.

At dinner one night I was alone with Lucia. I had been keeping careful count of the days I’d been trapped here– thirteen. Just under two weeks. Tamsin’s been gone for the last three. No one would tell me where she went.

Alix said the house was safe, but warned me to keep my wits about me– to a point. What might lurk beyond the house that might be able to use my own senses against me? Just how far would Tamsin’s order not to harm me stretch? How much authority did she hold?

Lucia paused, a goblet halfway to her mouth, and I found her smirking at me, making the scar even more brutal. “Were you admiring my sword or just contemplating killing me, Feyren?”

“Of course not,” I said softly.

She snorted and finished off all her wine. “I would be more inclined to believe you if you said you were admiring my tits,” she commented.

My cheeks turned pink and I stared anywhere but at Lucia. I was no stranger to the pleasures of a woman, but I never, ever, considered looking at either High Fae in that way. Some human women got testy when men looked at them the wrong way, I couldn’t even imagine what faerie females would do.

Steps echoed into the room. “Do you really think so low of him?” Tamsin crossed the room, startling me, and Lucia’s shoulders squared. The former plopped into her usual chair and grabbed a cup to fill with wine.

She took a sip and looked at the redhead. “Well?”

“He’s a male human,” Lucia said, “They don’t have a society like ours. Their world is run solely by kings, you know.”

Tamsin moved her emerald gaze from her emissary to me, and a rock settled in my stomach. “I don’t think he sees us as conquests,” she said softly, and I looked over to meet her gaze, “This is our land. He knows it. No matter how deadly he thinks it is.”

Lucia turned her head and sized me up. I forced myself to look away from the High Lady and to her. Her red hair glowed in the firelight, and her slight form was hugged nicely by her choice in clothing, but it was true. She was a fox and I was… a worm, but her standards.

“At least you’re not a pig,” she admitted. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. That was almost a compliment. I looked over at Tamsin, and she was already smiling. Less vicious, more lazy, as if she was expecting this conversation when she walked in. Act civilized, behave, possibly win her to my side… I could do that.

Tamsin broke the silence. “Feyren likes to hunt.”

“I don’t like to.” I should probably use a more polite tone with the whole winning her over thing. “It was necessity. And how do you know?”

Tamsin’s stare was incredulous. She pulled her hair out from its confines on the back of her head, and it fell in straight golden locks down the back of her neck, across her forehead. “What else were you doing in the woods that day? You had a bow and arrows in your home. When I saw your father’s hands I knew he wasn’t the one doing anything. You told him about rations and money.” She waved one of her own hands and adjusted herself so that she was now lounging in her chair. “Faeries may be many things, but we’re not stupid. Unless your ridiculous legends claim that about us too.”

I hadn’t felt like anything but a based man until that moment. Back to being just another human. Ridiculous, insignificant.

I went back to staring at my plate. I could have bought so much with just one of the fine china plates– a house, a field, draft horses and a plow. Disgusting.

Lucia cleared her throat. “How old are you, anyway?”

“Nineteen.” Pleasant, civilized…

She tsked. “So young, and so grave. And a skilled killed already.”

I tightened my hands into fists. She talked to me like I was a child, and though we looked to be all from the same generation, compared to her I was the same age as a child. An immortal at the age of nineteen might still be suckling for all I know. I wanted to fight back but… docile, unthreatening, tame. I was pleasant. I was thankful for their hospitality.

“So is this what you do with your immortal lives? Spare humans from the Treaty and have fine meals?” I gave pointed glances to Tamsin’s baldric, the warrior’s clothes, Lucia’s sword.

Lucia smirked. “We also dance with spirits under the full moon and snatch human babies and replace them with changelings–”

“Didn’t…” Tamsin interrupted, her voice surprisingly gentle, “didn’t your mother tell you anything about us?”

I loosened my fists and instead balled them in my tunic. “She didn’t have time to tell me stories,” I said quietly.

Lucia, for once, didn’t laugh. After a rather stifled pause, Tamsin asked, “How did she die?” When I lifted my brows, she added a bit more softly, “I didn’t see signs of a woman in your house.”

Predator or not, I didn’t need her pity. But I said, “Typhus. When I was eight.” I rose from my seat to leave.

“Feyren,” Tamsin said, and I half turned. A muscled feathered in her cheek.

Lucia glanced between us, the metal eye roving, but kept silent. Then Tamsin shook her head, the movement more animal than anything, and murmured, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

I tried to keep myself from grimacing as I turned and left. I didn’t need her condolences or her pity or her anything. I could be pleasant. I was doing well at being pleasant. But we didn’t have to be friends.

I wandered through the sunny gardens one morning after breakfasting by myself. The two High Fae females had been gone for two days now, where they wouldn’t tell me, but I guess I really didn’t need to know. I have learned that I was completely clueless about how their world worked, and they must know that I didn’t have to trust them to stay here. Pleasant had got me less probing.

It was dangerous outside the manor. But I had been here long enough now to know that Tamsin and Lucia weren’t going to do me any harm.

“There you are,” said a voice from above me, and I was so startled she started to laugh. Lucia was lounging in the tree branches right above me, her arms crossed and one leg dangling into the open air below her. “Tam’s been looking for you,” she told me. She looked out of place among the vibrant green leaves. She wore a dress, a long one, like a lady would wear, but it was hitched up past her knees. It matched her fox mask perfectly.

“What does she need me for?”

Lucia shrugged. She plucked a green leaf from the tree and then watched it flutter from her hand. I stepped out of the way so it wouldn’t land right on my nose, and she laughed again. Then, in a fluid motion, she jumped down from the tree and stood before me. I wondered what she was up to today, wearing a burnished gold dress and her hair braided carefully away from her face. None of the usual tendrils in her eyes. Now that she was close to me, I could see that her face was painted too. Khoal around her eyes, red coloring to her lips.

“When did you get back?” I asked her.

“This morning,” she replied and sneered, looking away. That simple motion told me that her frustration was not at me. “Unfortunately just in time for a meeting. Logistics, nothing special.”

That was new information. Neither she nor Tamsin had ever shared any of their work with me, besides the small number of patrols with Lucia I had rode on. I tried to hide my surprise. “Um, logistics for what?” I dared a question more.

“Calanmai,” said Lucia, “Only a couple more weeks away.”

I furrowed my brows. I had never heard that word before. Lucia looked back over at me and studied my confused expression, then she rolled her eyes. I gave her a look, now letting myself be openly annoyed whenever she went back to the stupid human mentality. “Fire Night. The official beginning of spring. It’s a holiday, and the Spring Court takes it very seriously for obvious reasons. Some lesser faerie lords are coming today to talk some things over with Tamsin.”

“Here to the manor?” I asked her, panic blooming in my chest. No lesser faeries knew about me, save for the few villages on the border I’d seen with Lucia.

She shook her head. “No, there’s a meeting place beyond the grounds, an old temple no one uses anymore. Tamsin wasn’t about to have any of those fools in here with you around.”

Oh. If I’m interpreting Lucia’s words correctly then Tamsin had taken my safety into account. It wasn’t just to keep me isolated like I would have thought when they both disappeared again.

“Lucia.” We both were drawn to the soft voice at the glass manor door, and Tamsin was there. Looking at her was like a swift punch to the gut. She had also ditched the warrior’s clothing, and now wore a gown of rich green the same shade of the emeralds on her mask. Her hair was curled delicately around her face, and a small golden crown sat atop her head. “Check with the stable hands to make sure our horses are ready. Please,” said the High Lady. And she really did look like one, standing there dressed as she was and silhouetted in the light from inside.

Lucia nodded once. Surprisingly, she turned to me and gave my arm a little squeeze with her hand before walking away. It was an effort to tear my gaze away from Tamsin’s radiance to even acknowledge the other female, but I managed, and when I looked back at her she was approaching me. Her hands were folded behind her back as she did.

“Horses,” I said, my throat dry, and one corner of her mouth turned up, “Didn’t you just return on them?”

She shook her head. “No. We have other ways of transportation, but it’s polite to meet with those of lesser status without showing off our magic.”

I nodded slowly. “Of course.”

“I don’t expect you to understand,” Tamsin said, and her tone of voice suggested no malice in the statement. I didn’t know where to look at her. Her dress was modest, no plunging neckline and sleeves all the way to her wrists, but the fact that she was wearing one at all was too different for me. I felt like I was violating her. And locking eyes… that was a trap. I would never look away until she released me. It felt too intimate.

“Lucia told you about Calanmai,” she continued.

I lifted a shoulder. “Only a bit.”

“I wasn’t planning on telling you. It’s more than a holiday and… well, you’ll see when it comes.” She drew in a breath, I watched her chest rise and fall, and then she brought her hands out from behind her back. She held one, long-stemmed red rose. “First one of the season,” she explained, “Lucia and I found it while we were gone. I thought you should have it.”

I stared at her. I did like flowers… peonies were my favorite. But I didn’t expect her to know that. I loved helping Elaric trim the bushes in his garden, if only I could have a few blooms to use as references to paint. “Why?”

Tamsin simply reached for my wrist, and I didn’t pull away. She lifted my hand up and placed the rose in it. “I just want you to know that not everything that occurs here has to do with death,” she said. I looked up to her face just as she did the same. “Sometimes we cultivate life too.”

I swallowed and closed my hand around the stem of the rose. I expected her to walk away then, but her hand started to move from my wrist, up my arm. Her other hand moved up to gently touch my chest, over where my heart thundered. Her left hand ran over my elbow and up towards my shoulder as the right went south, and I couldn’t breath. She had never touched me before. Her left hand caressed my cheek, barely there, just a wisp of something tracing my cheekbone. Her right hand settled on my stomach.

“You’ve gained weight,” she commented. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing would come. She just smiled and nodded to herself. There was no insult. I had been starving not even a month ago. “I’ve done my job well.”

Then, Tamsin released me and turned to go, presumably to find Lucia and then ride off to their meeting. It did truly feel like she had released me from a spell, though I tasted no magic. That moment, her giving me a rose, her fingers touching me through my shirt and tunic, had made me forget everything I was intending to do here.

“Oh and Feyren.” Tamsin paused just a few feet ahead of me. I looked back up at her, only at her eyes, and she met my gaze when she turned her head over her shoulder. With the flowers nearly blooming all around her, and her green gown matching the trees in the background, I suddenly wanted to burn this scene into my mind forever so I could paint it.

“Yes?”

“Don’t be afraid to look.” And with one more small smile she turned and continued on her way, the hem of her gown brushing the manicured lawn with every step.

[beaniegender]

Fandom Fic Rec Days - My Personal Favorites Fic Rec List!

In honor of #ficrecdays (happening Feb. 10th, 11th, and 12th), and my stupidly long ao3 bookmarks page which is a pain to go through, I want to make this list of the best of the the best of my favorite fics - the ones that make me gasp or laugh or cry and just generally ache at their beauty each time I read them. I hope you’ll read and enjoy them too! I encourage you to try something even outside a fandom you know well because all of these works are great fiction in their own right.

This list includes a total of 24 fics or series from nine fandoms: James Bond (3 works), The Martian (1 work), Marvel which is mostly Captain America (5 works/series), Soccer RPF which is all FC Barcelona RPF (4 works/series), Star Trek (2 works), Star Wars (1 work), Supernatural (2 works/series), True Blood (1 work), and The West Wing (5 works).

Some of these fics are already wildly popular, but in order to promote less popular fic a bit more, within a fandom works are sorted from least to most ao3 kudos. Read on and discover my absolute favorite fanfics!

James Bond

Search and Seizure by @kryptaria00q and @stephrc79 (16670 words, James Bond/Q/Alec Trevelyan) - After two assassination attempts on MI6 executives, the British Secret Service now requires self-defence training for all high level employees. Bond and Alec have taken it upon themselves to help keep their lover safe, no matter how much Q might hate them for it. Too bad they never seem to be able to stay on track. (a.k.a. frisking porn with plot)

basically trust porn along with being real porn. everyone’s POV gets shown off and it’s just so much fun watching these boys interact when they so obviously care for each other!

Treasons, Traitors, and Treachery by kryptaria and @zooeyscigar (63245 words, James Bond/Q) - All James Bond wanted was a quiet holiday on his luxury motoryacht on the Costa del Sol. Time to recuperate and think about his future with MI6. But his plans get hijacked when a traitor to the crown returns, bringing news of an even greater threat to MI6. And the traitor isn’t working alone. Thankfully, neither is James.

every single character in here is written flawlessly, and the OC is one of the BEST OCs to ever OC. There’s sass and hilarity, believably written government intrigue, and a very realistic level of depth in all the characters.

so you were never a saint. by @paperclipbitch (12319 words, gen) - “I think Bond’s trying to be your friend,” Eve tells him. “…well,” Q says slowly, “this is a new and disturbing development.”

the asexual!Q epic that defined a lot of my Q headcanons. also a lot of my MONEYPENNY IS AMAZING headcanons! it’s sort of an ensemble fic and sort of a character study and it just makes me like MI6 so much.

The Martian

You Know You Have a Permanent Piece of My Medium-Sized American Heart by tricatular [on tumblr but I’m not able to tag them, sorry!] (9151 words, gen) - “Hey Hermes!” The ambient suspicion level in the Rec ratcheted up significantly. Kapoor was disturbingly cheerful. “We’ve sent you some mission updates in the data dump, but Mitch and I wanted to personally let you know—” Mitch visibly rolled his eyes in the background. “—That thanks to some…strong suggestions from the White House, and on Annie and Director Sanders’ recommendation, we’ve started releasing Watney’s Mars logs to the public.”

deftly mixes standard narration, transcripts of recordings, and social media posts to show what Mark’s journal back to Earth would have been like both for him and for everyone who cared about his story (ie. the whole planet).

Marvel / Captain America

Walking Far From Home by TaleWorthTelling (6222 words, various Sam-centric pairings) - Sam’s relationship with birds starts early and inexplicably.

basically, Sam Wilson’s whole life. as the author’s note says, “Sam is the only person with his shit together, but he got there the hard way.” and then we’re treated to 6000 words of what that path was like, including stellar input from Sam’s OC family and the familiar MCU favorites. and Sam can talk to birds!

The Murder Ballads by BetteNoire (160839 words, 3 works, Steve/Bucky) - Something wicked is coming for Steve Rogers. Luckily for him, something even more wicked stands in its way: the unrepentant, unbroken Bucky Barnes. A murder-mystery/action thriller with violence, magic, and several big MCU guest stars.

like most CA fans I’ve read a stupid amount of post-winter soldier fic, so the first praise for this series is that it has a completely original take on that subject. and that take - the plot complexity, the multi-layered characterizations, the sequel - made me fall in love with Bucky all over again and permanently changed the way I think of him.

your blue-eyed boys by Feather (123233 words, 4 works, Steve/Bucky with sides of Pepper/Tony, Bruce/Betty, and Clint/Natasha) - Steve has no plan. Not because he hadn’t tried to make one. He’d tried to make lots of plans. Plan, adapt, plan again, tried to think of every contingency. And then he’d thrown them away, because there wasn’t much point. What could you plan for? He couldn’t guess the possible contingencies, the situations, the potentials. And he sure as sure hadn’t figured on what’s happened now, on coming back to his place and finding Bucky here. He hadn’t even hoped for that. He hadn’t realized he could. [post-Winter Soldier recovery fic]

if you’d like a slightly more typically-plotted approach to your post-WS fic than “The Murder Ballads” you absolutely can’t go wrong with “your blue-eyed boys”. it’s the most realistic version of Bucky’s recovery that I can imagine - heartbreaking and sickening and real. and the love between Steve and him and the team as a whole is obvious. DON’T MISS the associated verse, which is 450000 words (and growing) of shortfic in the same timeline, and which incidentally has the best OCs in the entire fandom.

Hollow Your Bones Like a Bird’s by @scifigrl47 (95514 words, Clint/Phil) - In the wake of the Chitauri invasion, Clint Barton wakes up in a world that he very nearly had a hand in destroying. And confronting a loss he might not be able to cope with. The Avengers always needed something to avenge, but once the crisis is past, what keeps them together?

I have yet to see a better representation of grief in fanfic, and that’s only maybe half of Clint’s problems in this fic. maybe you’ve noticed I like realism when fic deals with hard topics, and this shies away from nothing - and Clint will treat you to excellent analyses of his friends, as well as many bird facts, along the way!

Ain’t No Grave (Can Keep My Body Down) by spitandvinegar [on tumblr but I’m not able to tag them, sorry!] (107076 words, Steve/Bucky) - It’s six in the morning, and Steve is heading out on a run when he nearly trips over a bouquet of sunflowers on the front steps of his brownstone. For a second paranoia takes over, and he kicks the flowers a little, waiting for them to explode. They don’t. They also came with a card, which he picks up. The front of the card has a tasteful picture of the Brooklyn bridge at sunset. It’s very nice and sedate, like the kind of card you would buy to give to your boss. On the inside someone has written a short message in big, shaky block letters. I AM SORRY FOR SHOOTING YOU. Steve sits down hard on the steps.

ok yet more wonderfully detailed post-ws Bucky trying to recover fic, except in this one Bucky is homeless and a drug addict and ADOPTS THE BEST OCS with the BEST POVS EVER, oh my GOD. also Steve is smart and kind, Sam is long-suffering (and smart and kind), and the whole thing is hilarious.

Soccer / FC Barcelona RPF

only the children (know what they’re looking for) by therestisdetail (7253 words, gen) - I drew a picture of him, later, but I shall not show it to you for it is a sad demonstration of what will happen if you stop drawing when you are six, and certainly much less charming than its model. He wore a shirt that was too large and had soft dark eyes hiding beneath dark, indecisive hair; it did not seem to know if it was short or long, or what shape it wanted to be. He was very pale, very slight, had no shoes, and held a battered football beneath one arm with an air of pride. (Le Petit Prince redone feat. FC Barcelona)

a young Andrés Iniesta meets an even younger Leo Messi, and they quite simply tear my heart in two. no knowledge of The Little Prince required, but the fic is just as understatedly beautiful as the original.

Like a Hand Grenade by @meretricula (20430 words, 2 works, Cesc/Messi) - Cesc Fabregas is born a girl. She still loves football.

full disclosure, I do not care about Cesc Fabregas. I didn’t care about Cesc Fabregas even before his career got, frankly, weird and dispiriting. but BY GOD these works make me care about genderbent!Cesc and everything she could have been. the sequel is particularly nice for some cameos from other well-loved players!

Go Gentle by @ferritin4​ (20977 words, eventually Xaviesta) - Things change, but only some things. In which Barça is indeed més que un club, no one stays on top forever, and it all comes back to Andrés in the end.

hands down my favorite football rpf. uses the A/B/O trope and the idea of pack dynamics to tell the story of the last decade of Barcelona football, which makes a hell of a lot of sense, and although Andrés is quietly the star, the different POVs let a lot of people shine.

It’s Going to Take a Lot to Drag Me Away from You by meretricula (31296 words, 10 works, Xaviesta, Fabregas/Messi/Pique, and Messilla) -  Everybody knows Barcelona’s midfielders are psychic anyway. (Soulbonding AU)

try to tell me that a soulbonding AU isn’t the most logical thing in the world for Xavi and Iniesta, just try to tell me that! there’s also a good look at how the politics of this system could get messy quick, which, let’s be real, just makes sense for barça-centric fic.

Star Trek

How Many Roads? or, 27 Times Jim Kirk hit on Nyota Uhura by Deastar (8806 words, Uhura/Spock) - After the bar fight, Nyota thinks to herself that if this is what being hit on by Jim Kirk leads to, she’s very glad she’s never going to have to see him again.

Uhura and Kirk’s relationship goes from the dumpster fire it was in Iowa to the professional respect we get throughout the movies, but we never really see how it happens. this fic shows all of that and much more, and oh my god, I just like these characters so much.

Counteractive Measures by rikke_leonhart (9159 words, loosely Kirk/Spock) - The thing is – giving Jim Kirk a dare will never ever work. “Enlist,” she repeats to herself as Pike’s back disappears out the door. She snorts. It’s one of those things that just keep getting funnier.

Jim Kirk’s whole life - if Jim Kirk were a girl, and slightly less cliche about her motivations and psychology. and if Spock and especially McCoy were just as awesome as ever, because of course they are!

Star Wars

The Last Poem of Jedha by @schweinsty (15486 words, gen) - How Bodhi Rook temporarily misplaced the two most important things in the galaxy, and how he found them again (with a little help).

literally every fic on this list is amazing, I promise, but this one is my favorite out of them all. if you’ve ever cared about star wars for five seconds, please read this. the world-building, the characterizations, the plot structure, the family and team relationships: all stellar!

Supernatural

In His Image by @whitmerule (153067 words, Gabriel/Sam and Castiel/Dean) - Kali can breathe life back into a corpse, but what exactly is Gabriel now? Gabriel flits around various centuries trying to work that out, Dean has another powered-down angel and a little brother to look out for, Castiel has forgotten how to trust, and someone keeps sending Sam annoying little notes on his laptop. Oh, and Bobby would like to remind you all that there’s an Apocalypse still going on. Covers season 5 from Gabriel’s death to the finale.

half season 5 AU, half historical fiction, it feels like one story thread should distract from the other but instead it all works together to make the definitive Gabriel-centric story!

Sammyverse by shangrilada (249230 words, 42 works, gen) - It’s an AU, but not a deep one, until season 4 or thereabouts, where it starts to get kind of weird. Basically, Sam has really hideous asthma, and the boys are both pretty excellent at dealing with it and each other. They’re [not] all from Dean’s POV, and even though I’m branching now into later stuff, I’m going to keep doing pre-Stanford–Season 2 for a long time because that makes me happy. Honestly it’s a lot of H/C porn of the boys just being friendly and affectionate towards each other, because that’s how I like them. It is, to put it simply, gen. To put it more honestly, it’s as fucked up as I see it in canon and not a bit more or less. You can read into it as much or as little as you like.

it’s just like the show, except Sam is chronically ill and also the boys like each other. based on the show you might think the boys already like each other, but my friends, this ‘verse will show you just how much was missing. Dean’s internal monologues are things of beauty, and I love how much Jess is featured in the Stanford-era fics. (note: this master list includes most but not all of the fic in the verse, so if you’d like the rest be sure to check the author’s page or ask me for links!)

True Blood

We Who Are Alive And Remain by @branwyn-says (10448 words, Sookie/Eric) - Terrified by changes she witnesses in herself, Sookie hides from the world and everyone in it. When Eric finds out her secret, she will either find that he is worthy of her trust-or she’ll be dead.

the non-linear timeline makes this fic shine, and from the very beginning the plot is intriguing. before the plot is resolved we get to see a lot about who Sookie is who Eric is to her, and the dynamics between Sookie and nearly everyone in her life.

The West Wing

We Don’t Notice Time Pass by pene (1304 words, gen) -  “I’d no idea you’d even met her.” It’s friendship and it’s women.

focusing on female friendship within The West Wing is annoyingly difficult, but this story focuses on what relationships among women can be. Mrs. Landingham acts as a bit of a mentor to Ainsley, and Ainsley’s relationship with her childhood best friend is achingly and heartwarmingly true to life.

Define Your Terms by candle_beck (4443 words, Josh/Sam) -  It’s very complicated inside Josh’s head.

Josh is manic and about five conversations ahead of Sam. it works out because these two idiots care about each other very, very strongly. I love Josh’s mental voice in this one!

Vidui by Marguerite (7358 words, gen) - In the fall of 2001, Toby went to shul. In past years he had carried sins enough to confess, sins both petty and great, transgressions against God’s ordinances and those of men.

a beautiful meditation on Toby’s relationship with the people he works with/calls his family, through an explicitly Jewish lense. Toby is the person, and the Jew, that I wish I could be <3</p>

The Thinner the Skin by Jane St Clair (2149 words, Josh/Sam) - Of couches and expensive suits, with some mention of madness.

if you’re going to write a Josh/Sam post-Noel fic, this is unquestionably the way to do it! nothing is shied away from but there’s all the best kind of comfort that h/c can offer, and nice backstory details that make the characters seem realer.

highways and byways and roads in between by @greatestheights​ (10456 words, Josh/Donna) - “Maps are for losers. Maps are for people with no sense of adventure, like you, and…I don’t know. Toby, probably.” Josh, Donna, the open road, five states, and some of the things they said while they were driving.

Josh and Donna and, just, everything that they are (that is, a well-meaning idiot and better than you, respectively), with a healthy dose of Donna/career. everyone is characterized spotlessly, the dialogue is episode-caliber, and there’s fun local geography/culture!

[eightyuh]

What about normal Glen meeting swapped Freya??? Or them meeting themselves???

Freya finds humor in it,

Glen hates being perceived.

(got a different ask for the other prompt so i'll do that next)

cameo from my cat (he helped)

[eightyuh]

genderbent glen call that a glenderbender

genderbent glen call that a glenderbender .....

[eightyuh]

og concept doodles for magical girl glen au

[eightyuh]

had a random though that Freya and genderbent Glen would both think the other was platonically pretty

(excuse my messy ink sketches)

[eightyuh]

The girl versions met, how about the boys?

og post

(sorry this is word vomit lol)