#fic: avatrice

[sevens-evan]

okay, so, 30 (tourist/knowledgeable local au) go go go

this turned into tourist/park ranger au and is heavily/entirely based on a hike i went on in arches national park years and years ago. slot canyons my beloved. please reblog if ya like it!

“Alright?”

“Great,” Ava says, trying not to look down into the canyon between her feet and the rest of the hiking trail. It’s maybe two feet wide and a long way down. Beatrice holds her hand out over the gap, and Ava takes it. She doesn’t even try not to enjoy the warmth of Beatrice’s hand or the callouses on her palm. Thirsting after her park ranger guide on a group hike definitely isn’t the highest point of Ava’s life, but it’s not the lowest, either, and she’s refusing to feel shame about it. It’s not her fault that Beatrice somehow makes a park ranger uniform look good. It should be impossible, between the pleated trousers and the baggy grey shirt and the stupid, stupid, stupid hat, but Ranger Beatrice is doing it. Ava has been at the front of the pack through the whole hike, throwing in an occasional glance at the shape of Beatrice’s arms beneath the short sleeves of her shirt amongst the views of slot canyons and rocky vistas.

“Ma’am?”

Ava blinks. She’s still holding onto Beatrice’s hand, and has yet to take the step over the canyon before her.

“Ava,” Ava says. “Ma’am was my mother.” She makes a face. What did she just say?

“Ava,” Beatrice says. Oh, Ava likes that. She really likes that, the way Beatrice’s accent turns over the second a in her name. “Just one step. The more you look down the worse it seems.”

“For sure.” Ava decides to let Beatrice think she’s afraid of heights. At least for now. She’s getting, like, major gay vibes, so maybe she can correct that misunderstanding at a later date.

Ava takes the step.

“One small step for Ava, right?” Ava says, looking up from her hiking boots to grin at Beatrice. Beatrice smiles back at her, which is just—devastating. Ava will never be the same.

“One giant leap for Ava-kind,” Beatrice agrees. She squeezes Ava’s hand before she lets it go, and Ava has to clench her jaw shut to keep from doing something embarrassing like asking her to do it again. Or moaning.

They follow the trail as a group as it narrows between two rock walls, then widens again, letting them out into a sort of split in the side of the solid rock hill, rock faces soaring a dozen feet high on either side of them. It affords them an incredible view of the desert out beneath them, sand and rocks and hills. Beatrice stops near the far end of the open space, turning and waiting as the hiking tour group files in behind her.

“Everyone doing alright?” Beatrice says. Ava watches as she does a quick headcount, following along with the numbers Beatrice mouths. If that involves staring at her lips, well, Beatrice probably can’t tell. Beatrice nods a moment later, apparently satisfied with the number of hikers gathered before her.

“This is my favorite spot in the entire park,” Beatrice says. “If you’ll all entertain it a moment, I’d like to tell you why.”

“Go for it,” Ava says. She’s the only person in the group to speak aloud. Beatrice glances at her, and Ava refuses to be embarrassed, offering an encouraging grin.

“Well, if Ava approves,” Beatrice says with a smile. She reaches up and takes off her hat. Several strands of brown hair have escaped their neat bun, and she brushes them back with one hand while the other holds her hat against her side. “My first summer in the park, I was cleaning cabins. I graduated college and lost contact with my entire family not long afterwards. It was a very difficult and confusing time in my life. I thought that I had made a mistake in coming to the US. I thought that I had made a mistake by coming here. I thought that I was in the wrong, that it was my fault somehow that my parents weren’t accepting of me. That it was my fault I was different.”

Gay, gay, super gay, totally gay. Ava agrees with the voice in her head and then tells it to shut up. There’s a rehearsed quality to Beatrice’s voice—Ava suspects she gives this speech on every one of these hikes—but there’s something genuine in it, too, and Ava wants to listen.

“One day towards the end of July—the hottest day I’d ever experienced up til then, being from England,” Beatrice says, “a friend I’d made, a ranger, took me up here. She sat me down and told me to talk to the desert, and ask it if I’d made a mistake. And then she went back up the canyon to give me some privacy. I sat here for ten minutes before I finally did it. The desert did not answer.” A ripple of quiet laughter goes around the group. Ava doesn’t join in. She’s transfixed by the look on Beatrice’s face, a little half-smile that Ava wants to stare at forever. “But on the hike back out I found a tarantula on my backpack.”

“And that made you want to stay?” Ava says. Beatrice glances at her.

“The tarantulas are a very important part of the ecosystem, Ava,” Beatrice says. Ava shuts her mouth and busies herself with the lid of her water bottle. “But yes, it did. It felt like…the desert was calling me stupid for even asking. What does a bunch of sand and rock care if I’m here or not? Have a spider for your troubles, you idiot.” More laughter, and Beatrice laughs quietly at herself this time. “But the people do care. My friend cared to take me here and show me all that sand and rock. And I care to show it to all of you. It’s my job, yes, but it’s only my job because it matters to me. And I hope that it matters to all of you.” She takes a deep breath and puts her hat back on.

“So,” she says. “On the way down the hill, if you want to, I hope that you’ll all ask the desert a question. Doesn’t have to be out loud, don’t worry. The sand won’t hear you either way. And I can’t promise you a tarantula, although some of you may be grateful for that”—no fucking kidding—“but I can promise that the desert won’t answer. And I can promise that that will be more comforting than it sounds.” Beatrice pauses for a moment. Ava might be in love with her. “Are we all ready to start?” There’s a general murmur of assent, and Beatrice turns away from the group, leading them towards the trail out of the split in the rock and down the hill. Ava hurries to catch up to her.

“So,” she says as she draws up shoulder-to-shoulder to Beatrice. Beatrice looks over at her. “Quite the story.”

“I suppose.”

“All true?”

“Of course.” Beatrice shakes her head slightly, amused and scandalized by the idea of lying.

“Got any more stories you’d like to share?” Ava says. “Maybe over a beer or something?” Beatrice is silent for long enough that Ava’s rapid, anticipatory heartbeat turns worried and even faster. “That can be my question for the desert,” Ava says. “If you want. Don’t want. Whatever.”

“Asking the desert to have a drink with you,” Beatrice says. “How unconventional.” Ava shrugs.

“I’m not really the conventional type.”

“No?” Ava shakes her head. Beatrice looks down the trail. “I’m done for the day after this tour,” she says. “There’s not many bars worth visiting around here, but if you’d like to come by my cabin, I make an acceptable gin and tonic.”

“High praise,” Ava says. “There’s literally two things in that drink.”

“Three,” Beatrice says. “There’s lime.” She pauses. “Four. And ice.”

“Sold on the ice,” Ava says. “How the fuck do you do this hike in July?” Beatrice laughs, a sharp, abrupt noise, like it’s been startled out of her. Ava’s hands clench into fists at her sides, trying to catch it in her fingertips.

“You get used to it,” Beatrice says. “Now watch where you’re going. You’ve been missing all the views staring at me.” Ava flushes pink at being caught, but she obeys, turning her head and watching the desert stretch out before her.

[lovelooksgudonu]

doodle avatrice from chapter 17 angels like you https://archiveofourown.org/works/52760176/chapters/135665764

[princington]

Another gifted commission for AlmsForOblivion's Bridgerton AU - Chapter 7 of the bane of my existence

[adlerdoodles]

“For a moment, Beatrice thought time stood still. Everyone around them seemed to disappear. With the sound of firecrackers in her ears, Beatrice imagined colors bursting from Ava in her arms.”

Soft moment from “If You Missed the Mistletoe” by Pinechips

[daisychainsandbowties]

any avatrice recs :)))) have already read all your fics and now i am depression (genuinely daydream abt ur star wars au daily)

i could hype each of these fics individually but basically if it’s here i think it’s incredible and you have to read it 💖💖🥰

///

the sweetest taboo// 1930s au &

i know now what no angel knows// fallen angel au by @dumpsterfireofsubtext

indy au part 1 & part 2// or, ava peels an orange & makes me feel insane 🫠🫠🫠 by @estherthenormal

lemon drop boy// t boy ava au

lazarus woke with a kiss// scp/ lab rat ava au &

how to stitch holes in the sky// dragon age au, all by @the-darkness-does-not-bargain

teach me to love (as you have loved me)// this is. yeah. this is beautiful. newbea au by @birgittesilverbae (💖💖 ily)

beyond our space and starlight// eldritch au by @thistleation

escape attempt number whatever thousand, some hundred and four, probably// hades au by @foulbearobservation

do a flip// aikido gfs au by @sunsafewriting

if saints and angels spoke of love// (bea is a math teacher & ava’s basically the guy from dead poets society) by @mermaidandthedrunks

choose the devil i know (over the heaven i don’t)// firefighter au by @sapphicstacks

leave the light on (i’ll find my way home)// lighthouse au by @snowandwolves

on the run from a losing game// chef au by @fiddleabout

this must be the place// lumberjack au by @littledata

love thy neighbour// my fav roommates au. pokemon strap-on fic 😌🙏

turning sun into sugar, spinning straw into gold// pnw au by @gohandinhand

the world is just an illusion (trying to change you)// roadtrip au, &

a lover, or something of mine// reincarnation au by @smokestarrules

who needs comfortable love// sentient halo au by @the-ominous-owl

this celestial glow is blinding// firewatch au

the thought of high windows// 60s au

pull back the curtains for venus// alien bea au &

of greater marvels yet to be// fleabag au, all by @seabiscuits-us

[4reology]

they feel your light...

my take on the deleted sunflower scene 🌻

find me elsewhere 🔗 • buy me a coffee ☕

[caliphoria17]

SimonDavisBarry: Ok folks, here’s the infamous scene 18 that we never shot. Comes before the running over water scene.

[call-me-maggie13]

Sometimes it still hits Beatrice hard — cracking her ribs and shredding her heart — how desperately she’d wanted nothing more to be loved. To be seen and known and still be loved. Not in spite of her imperfections nor even because of them but beside them, in the same way people love the rain and the flowers they bring. And Beatrice remembers being ten years old and wondering if anyone could ever love her brokenness.

So it still hits her and part of her rejoices but another part, hidden deep inside, wants to cry.

Because she’s doing a handstand with the sun beaming down on her in the middle of a park just because it’s making Diana giggle so hard she’s turning strawberry red and Ava is smiling at her with shining eyes and Shannon and Mary are chatting on their way back with ice cream and Beatrice knows. Beatrice knows that she is loved. She is loved and she is known and she is seen. 

And Beatrice knows her ten-year-old self has no need to cry herself to sleep.

Find more here!

[smokestarrules]

this scene just makes me so insane, the way Michael is Right There and neither of them pay him any attention at all until he speaks up, the way they’re so attuned to each other. 

Beatrice having just gotten her back, holding onto her with both hands. 

[this-blog-needs-a-new-name]

Oh…

[littledata]

what are these "best fics youve ever read that barely have any hits" you mentioned? can you give us a top 5 or sonething?

Oh God, you've really shamed me here because I read a LOT of random fics from fandoms I'm not even part of and the stories I was referring to largely come from there.

However, in the interest of practising what I preach, I sat down today and read a bunch of Warrior Nun fics I'd never read before so I could rec you some. To be totally clear, these aren't necessarily going to have "hardly any hits" but are fics that I think could use more love in general.

In no particular order:

I was seeing black and white (and now I'm living in color) by gayestcatra - 1281 words, a beautifully soft fic set in Switzerland with gorgeous description. By the same author I also enjoyed (your life was) my life's best part, an angsty Mary/Shannon exploring Mary's (heartbreaking) grief after Shannon's death.

Cat’s Cradle security checkpoint logs by @jtl07 - 518 words, have I raved enough on tumblr yet about how much I love their writing? No? Oh okay I'll do it again then. JT is one of my favourite writers in the fandom and I love this series of fics they did giving creative looks into the characters - this particular one is the contents of their bags but the whole series is worth checking out (and everything else they write too, obviously).

Lauds by @sisterdivinium - 3152 words, Mother Superion/Jillian Salvius. WE LOVE A RAREPAIR. Gorgeously written fic where you feel the weight of every single action. The author has a TON of fics if you liked this one too.

you're my best friend (in a world we must defend) by @daisychainsandbowties - 3980 words, avatrice and Pokemon. Beatrice's characterisation in this drives me insane. I MUST know more. If you know nothing about pokemon here's your primer: they're funny little guys you catch and make fight, exactly like the Catholic church did to Ava. There, now you've got no excuse not to read it.

Dead People Don't Shiver by waterintheshadows - 2068 words, avatrice soulmate AU set in a morgue FUCK YEAH. This is the kind of shit I live for. Great concept, great execution.

Where The River Bends by @itchyouchyz - 100,750 words, avatrice 1960s midwife AU. Full disclosure - it's 100k - I haven't finished it yet. But I LOVE what I've read so far, tender and lovely. Check the tags for trigger warnings on this one!

keep me in your mirror (but don't take your eyes off the road) by minutetuna - 26,343 words, avatrice season 2 road trip au. It made me feel this precise emotion: hnnnnnnghhhhh. There is a particular style of writing which is just bouncy and pacy and still draws you into every single emotion and this author has it in spades. LOVE.

This was so much fun! If anyone else wants to hit me up with some recs I'd love to hear them - even if (especially if) they're your fics. It's a long weekend, might as well spend it reading fanfiction.

[sevens-evan]

mmmmmmm avatrice with 11? I feel like that could be a cool one

every time i write anything remotely resembling this prompt is based on this one really good chuck fanfic i read like eight years ago. i can't escape that and i'm accepting it. have con artists beatrice and ava

"So, you guys come here often?" Ava says, leaning back in her chair. The men seated around the poker table stare at her. Ava just grins back, waiting for her generally clueless vibe to disarm them. Beatrice, who had gotten herself hired on as a dealer two weeks prior, makes eye contact with Ava as she passes out cards. Nobody else on the planet would be able to divine an emotion from Beatrice's total lack of expression, but Ava is a bit of a self-declared Beatrice expert. She detects vague concern—which is what Beatrice means to communicate, because she can't tell Ava out loud to stay on task—and beneath that, affectionate amusement.

"Few times a week," one of the men says in response to Ava's question. Ava turns her smile on him. "And I never lose, but I could make an exception for you."

"Aw, that's sweet," Ava says. She wants to grimace. They'd looked this guy up before coming here—he isn't their mark, who is, of course, the owner of the casino, but he's close enough to the owner to be relevant to their work. This guy has pretty rough record: divorce, unpaid child support, several counts of disorderly conduct, minor assault, a DUI. "So how does this game work, anyway?" She picks up her cards and starts arranging them in her hand.

Ava tunes out another player's explanation of the rules in favor of running her foot up Beatrice's calf under the table. Beatrice looks at her again. This time, she's glaring enough that an outside observer might pick up on it.

She does not, however, move her leg away.

They play more hands than they were really expecting before someone figures out that Beatrice is helping Ava cheat. They're taken to a back room and left to wait while the police are called. Beatrice, tragically, rejects Ava's request to make out with her and demands that Ava go over the plan with her.

"Cops come," Ava says with an eye roll. "I freak out and take off running when they let us out of the room. I lead the cops into the owner's office, they find his extensive collection of illegal weaponry, we make off with the money and the—whatchamacallit, the gun Lilith wants, in the confusion."

"Do not actually get the gun for Lilith," Beatrice says.

"Sure." Ava is getting the gun for Lilith. "And, duh, don't lose the wig again."

"That's a serious concern, Ava," Beatrice says. "We can never go back to Poland."

"Tragic, really."

"Ava."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ava says. "I won't lose the stupid wig. Now can we make out?" Beatrice glares at her. Ava wiggles her eyebrows.

"...Fine. Only for a minute."

[lovelooksgudonu]

w-what are you doing Ava?

[willowedhepatica]

Got this amazing commission from @thistleation for a fic I've been working on. Thank you! They look fantastic. And can never get enough of Ava with wings.

If anyone wants to check it out, it's on AO3

[hotsaucevitamins]

I’ve been out of the country sorry for lack of content, but here’s a doodle inspired by the fic As Thyself by @yashastrongarms

go read it if you haven’t already! I saw there was an update on it so I ready all of Love Thy Neighbor again on the plane too, just for good measure :)

[wordsmith30]

I feel like we’d all kind of expect Ava to be the one to propose to Beatrice because she’s generally been the initiator, but you know what would be absolutely, heart-wrenchingly beautiful? If Beatrice proposed to her.

If our religiously-traumatized, painfully-repressed, baby gay Beatrice just let it build in her until she couldn’t hold it back anymore – because she loves Ava more than life itself – that she completely just bursts out, mid-conversation, unprompted, in the heat of the moment: “Marry me.”

And Ava just whirls around, wide-eyed, internal monologue gone as she looks back into those big brown eyes – at Beatrice stiff, scared, panicking, thinking, Oh God. Oh God –

And then Ava is squealing and crying, and jumping up and down; and she flings herself at Beatrice; and they fall to the ground in a tangled heap; and Ava just showers her in kisses, saying, “Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes –”

And they lie there together, Ava laughing through her tears as Beatrice is just moved beyond words. She just looks up at Ava and brushes her hair out of her face. Thumbs a tear away from the corner of her eye. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Ava cries, and she kisses Bea full on the mouth, both of them breathing together.

Ava, later, screaming through the convent: “WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!”